Crooked Lines: God writes straight with crooked lines. —a Portuguese proverb - Tapa blanda

Is the Bishop making a deal with the Devil? During the Great Depression, a tycoon with dark secrets in his past approaches Bishop Leo McNaulty of the Pittsburgh diocese. Ever the savvy businessman, George Keane, elderly but unrepentant, offers to anonymously fund a new cathedral with ten million dollars. In exchange, he wants an on-site priest to provide deathbed absolution -- his only chance for eternal salvation. Weighing the needs of his poverty-wracked diocese against the ethical quagmire he s entering, Bishop McNaulty assigns recently-ordained Father Ted Ames to this unusual post; he concocts a cover assignment that Ames is to revise the Baltimore catechism to be more relevant to adolescents. Frustrated with this task, for which his sheltered upbringing and celibate nature have left him ill-prepared, Father Ames gets advice from Dori Capellini, a high-spirited Catholic college student. Despite mutual good intentions and pure motives, their shared work sparks unsuspected passions and they veer toward a forbidden love affair. Meanwhile, timid Father Mark McMillan, a priest of fifteen years, loving God sincerely but desperate for human love, seeks to withdraw from his vocation, to be legally defrocked. Will he fall from grace, or will a compassionate, middle-aged nurse who sings like a lark, turn out to be his salvation? These people face their challenges, sometimes bravely, sometimes close to despair, as they struggle through to bittersweet conclusions.

Ann Hall Marshall, 90, has been writing since her childhood; her kindergarten poetry was circulated throughout the Schenectady, New York, school system. Her later short stories, articles, and other work have been published in many venues. Throughout her busy life---raising ten children, building a home (literally), earning a graduate degree, and winning awards for her teaching adult education---she always aspired to write a good novel with likeable characters struggling through turmoil and crises to a satisfying conclusion. That's Crooked Lines. She enjoyed writing it, and hopes you enjoy reading it.