“A warm, heartfelt novel about what it means to belong to a family. You won't want to put it down.” --Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author of A Lowcountry Wedding In a heartfelt story set in a picturesque small town in Virginia, Mary McDonough portrays three generations of women in a modern Irish-American family as they navigate marriage, motherhood, and independence. . . The Fitzgibbons--especially the women--have long been the backbone of Oliver's Well, Virginia. Matriarch Mary Bernadette is still striking and tireless at seventy-five, with a generous heart that belies her sometimes sharp tongue. Her husband, Paddy, owns the local landscaping business, daughter Grace is a nun, and son Pat and his wife Megan are successful lawyers. Her grandson, PJ, and his new wife, Alexis, live in a charming cottage behind the main house. Church, family, tradition, and the local historical society--everything Mary Bernadette cherishes is here. Yet below the surface, there are fractures. Megan sees the strained relationship between her husband and Mary Bernadette, who has never quite recovered from the loss of her first-born son. Megan, too, is torn between gaining her mother-in-law's approval and living life on her own terms. Alexis loves PJ deeply yet chafes against his grandmother's influence in their marriage. But when a looming scandal brings unexpected tragedy, the Fitzgibbons are compelled to determine the depth of their loyalty, find their strength--and repair the bonds that have held a town, and a family, together for so long. "A heartfelt, charming story." --Library Journal
“[Not] the typical celebrity memoir . . . as much an account of her decades-long spiritual journey as it is a look back at her TV and movie career.” —Spiritual Pop Culture “Mary is a whole lot more than Erin on The Waltons. This book shows how she’s handled all the highs and lows with grace.” —George Clooney For nine seasons, Mary McDonough was part of one of the most beloved families in television history. Just ten years old when she was cast as the pretty, wholesome middle child Erin, Mary grew up on the set of The Waltons, alternately embracing and rebelling against her good-girl onscreen persona. Now, as the first cast member to write about her experiences on the classic series, she candidly recounts the joys and challenges of growing up Walton—from her overnight transformation from a normal kid in a working class, Irish Catholic family, to a Hollywood child star, to the personal challenges that led her to take on a new role as an activist for women’s body image issues. Touching, funny, sometimes heartbreaking, and always illuminating, Lessons from the Mountain is the story of everything Mary McDonough learned on her journey over—and beyond—that famous mountain. Includes Never Before Published Bonus Chapter! “A fascinating look at what it’s like to grow up in front of and beyond the cameras.” —Eve Plumb “For someone who started out as a sweet little girl afraid to speak up, it certainly is a pleasure to hear her shout from the top of the mountain now!” —Alison Arngrim, New York Times bestselling author “[A] poignant memoir . . . the actress shares intimate, behind-the-scenes memories.” —Smashing Interviews Magazine
Now a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film! “A warm, heartfelt novel about what it means to belong to a family.” —Mary Alice Monroe, New York Times bestselling author Even in a town as picturesque and rich in history as Oliver’s Well, Virginia, there’s something special about the Reynolds house on Honeysuckle Lane. Sturdy yet graceful, well-proportioned outside and within, it’s where Andie, Emma, and Daniel Reynolds grew up—before they began to grow apart. For Danny, this first reunion since their mother’s death is a chance for him and his sisters to relive cherished holiday traditions—attending the church concert, lighting the town tree—before finally settling their parents’ estate. But readying the house for sale proves no easy task when every piece of furniture and every moment together stirs up the past. Andie, the oldest sibling, didn’t just leave home years ago, she left her young daughter too. Though she’s found fulfillment and fame as a self-help author, coming back shakes her equilibrium. How can she presume to guide others if she can’t be honest with those closest to her, much less herself? Middle child Emma struck out on her own instead of accepting her father’s offer to share his business. Yet now she finds herself drawn back to her town’s quiet rhythms and routines, wondering if it’s possible to start over. The house on Honeysuckle Lane contains a lifetime’s worth of joys and dreams, and its share of regrets too. This Christmas, it will be the place where Andie, Emma, and Danny come together to remember, laugh, fight, plan—and find their way forward as a family once more.
Originally published as The House on Honeysuckle Lane, Mary McDonough's novel is now a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries movie, Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane. Join Mary as she welcomes readers back to the small town of Oliver's Well, Virginia, in a story of holiday and homecoming, as three siblings gather for a Christmas of unexpected gifts. Even in a town as picturesque and rich in history as Oliver's Well, there's something special about the Reynolds house on Honeysuckle Lane. Sturdy yet graceful, it's where Andie, Emma, and Daniel Reynolds grew up--before they began to grow apart. For Danny, this first reunion since their mother's death is a chance for him and his sisters to relive cherished holiday traditions before finally settling their parents' estate. But readying the house for sale proves no easy task when every piece of furniture and every moment together stirs up the past. Andie, the oldest sibling, didn't just leave home years ago, she left her young daughter too. Though she's found success as a self-help author, coming back shakes her equilibrium. How can she presume to guide others if she can't be honest with those closest to her, much less herself? Middle child Emma struck out on her own instead of accepting her father's offer to share his business. Yet now she finds herself wondering if it's possible to start over. The house on Honeysuckle Lane contains a lifetime's worth of joys and dreams, and its share of regrets too. This Christmas, it will be the place where Andie, Emma, and Danny come together to remember, laugh, fight, plan--and find their way forward as a family once more.
Since the 1970s health care costs in the United States have doubled, insurance premiums have far outpaced inflation, and the numbers of the uninsured and underinsured are increasing at an alarming rate. At the same time the public expects better health care and access to the latest treatment technologies. Governments, desperate to contain ballooning costs, often see a market-based approach to health care as the solution; critics of market systems argue that government regulation is necessary to secure accessible care for all. The Catholic Church generally questions the market's ability to satisfy the many human needs intrinsic to any care delivery system yet, although the Church views health care as a basic human right, it has yet to offer strategies for how such a right can be guaranteed. Mary J. McDonough, a former Legal Aid lawyer for medical cases, understands the advantages and disadvantages of market-based care and offers insight and solutions in Can a Health Care Market Be Moral? Drawing on Catholic social teachings from St. Augustine to Pope John Paul II, McDonough reviews health system successes and failures from around the world and assesses market approaches to health care as proposed by leading economists such as Milton Friedman, Regina Herzlinger, Mark Pauly, and Alain Enthoven. Balancing aspects of these proposals with Daniel Callahan's value-dimension approach, McDonough offers a Catholic vision of health care in the United States that allows for some market mechanisms while promoting justice and concern for the least advantaged.
The most graphic depiction of the second coming that you are likely to read until you see it with your own eyes. The Return centers on giving flory to Jesus Christ in His second coming, and is unique in that it continues telling the story of what happens after His coming.
THE LAST PAIR OF EARS is a collection of poems and short stories about seeing and hearing what we aren't supposed to notice; 'lost stories' that have been overlooked, suppressed, or forgotten. FAMILY SECRETS: all families have at least one. Shameful ones, dark ones, sad ones. 'Premature' babies born before they should have been; babies who looked like family friends, rather than their fathers; women who did anything to keep food on the table, when men couldn't or wouldn't work. Most of these secrets are harboured by women; they respect and fear them enough not to misplace or forget the secrets. They love the rest of us enough not to tell the secrets publicly. I know what happens to families when the secret-keeping mothers and grandmothers die or, dementing, forget and are themselves lost. Families unravel, as if the secret no one knew or talked about was the thing that kept the family together. I hear secret things, things no one else has ever heard, and try to keep the secrets safe, because they might be all that my patients have left of who they were or were not allowed to be.
The life story of a woman who refused to accept life in one of the traditional roles assigned to Black women profiles her background on a poor North Carolina farm and chronicles her road to success
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