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Vatican Waltz
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
The new novel from the award-winning author of Golfing with God and Revere Beach Boulevard is the story of a young Catholic woman jolted from a quietly devout life in Boston by a miraculous call to action.
Cynthia Piantedosi lives a quiet, unassuming life with her elderly father just outside of Boston. When she loses her beloved grandmother as a child, her faith takes a turn for the devout, and she begins experiencing what she describes as "spells" - moments of such intense prayer that she loses herself. Uninterested in boys and a social life, she develops a deep friendship with the parish priest, whose ideas are often seen as too provocative by his congregation but who encourages her to explore her spells. When he dies in a suspicious hit-and-run accident, the spells intensify, and their message begins to take shape: God is asking her to be the first female Catholic priest. She reaches out to other unreceptive officials within the Catholic establishment and is met with ridicule. Unable to tune out the divine messages, she leaves behind all that she knows, letting the power of her unswerving faith drive her all the way to the Vatican in pursuit of a destiny she doesn't fully understand - and a turn of events that will rock the church to its foundation.
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What listeners say about Vatican Waltz
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer
- 08-03-16
Is Priest Her Vocation?
Quirky story about a young Italian-American woman from Revere (outside Boston) with a strong prayer life who believes that God has asked her to become a priest, despite long Catholic tradition against this. Simple plot, engagingly written and a thoughtful presentation of how she arrives at her understanding of God's wish for her ... and what happens when she tries, within the Catholic tradition, to act on it. Gets well beyond stereotypes of priests.
I'm not Catholic; I believe in a higher power but not an entity, and I really enjoyed the implicit and explicit discussion of what a spiritual life might look like. It might be considered a discussion of the difference between religion and faith.
4 people found this helpful
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- Pam
- 08-15-16
I enjoyed it until the last page.
I appreciate a book about beautiful faith. Deep prayer, yearning for a relationship with God. For those who understand why Jesus came to earth the last page will be a disappointment. Until that moment I was highly engaged. At the end I was left puzzled with the author's choice. Not necessary, already been done.
5 people found this helpful
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- Annie Meeks
- 01-12-17
Good not as entertaining
Not as thought out and well spoken as the Buddha trilogy. No matter still one of my favorite authors
1 person found this helpful
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- S. Rogers
- 11-30-16
Beautifully Narrated
Is there anything you would change about this book?
The ending. I was very disappointed. It ended so abruptly and on a note that seemed very removed from the rest of the story and almost sacrilegious, given the overall theme of the book. It felt like the author needed to wrap things up, and rather than resolve the issues the main character was facing, he blind-sided the readers/listeners with something new, and then ended the book. There was no resolution to anything, and I was personally left with my mouth hanging open is disbelief for a few moments.
What could Roland Merullo have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?
Resolved a few of the key mysteries and questions surrounding the main character. What was the real purpose of her calling to the priesthood? Why all the mystery behind Father Bruno? Why a sudden close attachment to the cardinal at the very end, for no apparent reason? Why the revelation at the end that had nothing to do with the rest of the story? The fact that she had the ability to heal her patients and/or remove their pain and suffering was severely downplayed. I was sure that was going to come up again later in the book, but it never does. I feel like that's a pretty significant aspect of the characters life that shouldn't have been brushed aside.
Which character – as performed by Cassandra Campbell – was your favorite?
Cynthia, of course. Cassandra Campbell's beautiful and fluid narration is the only reason I'm not returning this audiobook to get my money back. I was disappointed in the story at the very end, but I adored listening to Cassandra reading.
Could you see Vatican Waltz being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?
I can see it happening, but that doesn't mean that it should.
Any additional comments?
I really wanted to write about this book on social media. There were so many things about it that I found inspiring and thought-provoking, but the ending was just too disappointing for me to want to recommend it to others. There were also several points in the book that dragged quite a bit, but I was really interested in the story, so I kept at it. Very sad.
1 person found this helpful
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- Kila
- 10-06-16
The end
This book has some memorable moments. I found the ending to be terrible, unpredictable but not worth reading. I skipped through a lot because the pacing of the book was at a snails pace.
1 person found this helpful
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- S.J
- 08-12-16
Stunning, fresh imagery, intimately conveyed utterly absorbing.
I felt time stood still as I listened and I inhabited the inner world of the central character. A master contemporary story-teller. The narration was authentic to the voice, powerful and perfect.
My best listen for 2016.
1 person found this helpful
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- chip mccain
- 04-01-22
Loved this book but it ended too soon
I want more it ended too soon. What happened next? Is this linked to another book?
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- Sylvia McInerney
- 01-26-17
Weird ending
Liked the Buddha series a lot but not so sure about this story. The premise is intriguing slot of the story you need to suspend your disbelief sort of like Biblical stories
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- Chiwiz
- 09-18-16
Slow to start. Getting-going middle. Fantastic last third.
It takes this story a looooong time to get off the ground. It needs a more vertical takeoff. That being said it was an excellent story once it got going. I actually think it ended too soon - just when it got REALLY good; a twist that made me want it to not end. I think the author has a great concept going. Perhaps a sequel is in order! If so I would encourage him to move the plot along a little faster. I also really liked the spiritual philosophical and religious musings sprinkled throughout the book. Very thought-provoking and added to my enjoyment of the story. Truly, the only thing that keeps me from giving it 4.5 stars is how long the story takes to get going.
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- joanne blodgett
- 09-05-16
Catholic Woman in America?
The performance kept the "sappiness" at a tolerable level and the narrator's voice was sincere. The subject is definitely a hard sell and I was surprised and pleased to find I enjoyed the book...if the ending was disappointing...