The Quality of Mercy

"The narrative begins in Ireland with a fatal steeplechase accident where the grandfather is trampled to death. It traces the father's life as an Irish Catholic boy and his journey to the Scarboro Missions. It documents his service in the jungles of Guyana and his rise through the bureaucracy of the Vatican in Rome. When he falls in love with a young woman, he decides to leave the Church and spends the rest of his life trying to raise a family. The Quality of Mercy reveals the inner workings of the Catholic Church and explores the struggle of a family consumed by secrets, guilt and then, death."--