Thirteen-year-old Danny Bates is obsessed with becoming a Catholic priest, and he enters Southport, Wisconsin's, Resurrection Seminary in 1957. But a tragic fire in Chicago ignites doubts about the God Danny is so eager to serve, and he falls in love with Jessica Fernettan, his best friend Pat's twin sister. As Jessica urges both Danny and Pat to leave the seminary, and with the Church in a period of dramatic change following its second Vatican Council, the young seminarians face agonizing choices. In a powerful and sensitive account of competing personal values, To Become a Priest-a Love Story follows the intertwined lives of Danny, Pat, and Jessica over the next forty years to a memorable ending at the place where their story began. "An engrossing account of the seminary and priesthood during this period, with the best depiction of the troubled terrain of sexual longing among seminarians that I have read." -Raymond Hedin, author of Married to the Church Professor of American Literature, Indiana University "A conflict of fundamental values, and a great love story besides." -Phillip Gaustad, author of The Ordnance "An incredibly sweet story." -Christine DeSmet, author of Spirit Lake University of Wisconsin-Madison
