The Fitzgeralds are buttressed by wealth and privilege, but they are
also buffeted by crisis after crisis, many of their own creation. Even
so, they live large, in love and in strife, wielding power, combating
adversaries and each other. The Good Family Fitzgerald is a saga of
money and ambition, crime and the Catholic Church, a sprawling,
passionate story shaped against a background of social discord.
Padraic Fitzgerald is the up-from-nothing, aging patriarch whose
considerable business interests appear anything but legitimate, but he
has bigger problems than law enforcement. A widower, Paddy becomes
enmeshed with a young woman who will force him to re-examine his
cardinal assumptions. Meanwhile, he has cultivated thorny relationships
with his four children, all of whom struggle over the terms of
connection with their father. Anthony--oldest son, principled criminal
defense attorney, designated prince of the family--and his cherished
Francesca are devastated by tragedy. In the aftermath, Frankie comes to
play a vital role in Fitzgerald lore. Philip is a charismatic Catholic
priest spectacularly torn between his lofty ideals and aspirations and
his all-too-human flaws and longings. Matty has wandered aimlessly, but
once he finds his purpose, he precipitates turmoil in all quarters.
Colleen, the youngest, is a seeker who styles herself the outsider and
the conscience of the clan. Her hands are full, as no Fitzgerald is left
untested or unscathed, and by the end the whole family, as well as those
venturing into their realm, will be stunned into illumination.
