Under Watchful Eyes (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781638673828)

Ben met Edna in Sydney, Australia during the tumultuous time of World War II. Ben wishes to join the army at fourteen, but his mother insists he becomes a priest, causing friction in the home. When Ben and Edna run away and spend an innocent day together, their mothers become furious, and Edna and her family move three thousand miles away to Perth. Ben's mother tells him nothing of Edna's whereabouts. And Ben becomes desolate.

Ben is now determined to search for Edna, and escape from an oppressive religion, which proves to be the same quest. As he matures and heads off to school, he meets a new crowd, some of whom aid him in achieving his goals, and others who hinder him: the Lord Bishop of New South Wales, a denounced theologian, a gypsy tarot card reader and her daughter, a decorated war hero, and newspaper reporter, a woman cultivating a garden inside a walled enclosure, and the owner of a call-girl service who is intent on murdering him.

Under Watchful Eyes is no ordinary coming-of-age story. A complex morality burns through to the surface. As the poet Delmore Schwartz wrote, "The great value of art is the exercise of an observing faculty able to confer on commonplace experience a universal value and thus restore significance to the life of the individual."

About the Author

Carter Gregory is a theologian, retired chaplain, and certified counselor with the State of New York Psychiatric Hospitals. He also worked as an educator in public schools, and as a counselor for mental health services. He graduated from Hunter College and was elected to Phi Betta Kappa in 1957. He completed his graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania and holds two master's degrees in psychology and theology. His chief interest in his retirement is to spoil his four grandchildren. He enjoys being close to them as their interests broaden and expand beyond classroom learning. When not with his children, he enjoys talking with friends.