Fiction. Most of us remember the mystery and innocence of first love and its inevitable loss. Far fewer ever have a chance (or the desire, the obsession, or the destiny) to attempt late in life to make whole again what broke apart. This is the story of one of those attempts—the tale of MARY O'HOULIHAN, told with wry humor and affection by author Mike O Connor. In a way, this book is a sequel to O'Connor's 2010 book, UNNECESSARY TALKING, the humorous and spirited tales of a small-town American childhood.