Ambitions: Volume II

The Life and Love of John and Susannah Morrissey

By: Frank Baillargeon

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

How does an impoverished and illiterate Irish Catholic immigrant rise from abject poverty and discrimination in mid-19th Century America to become America’s boxing champion, a millionaire gambling entrepreneur, a twice-elected member of the United States Congress, and a twice-elected member of the New York State Senate?

The accomplishments of John Morrissey (1831-1878) are well-documented. What’s missing is how? Certainly, luck, timing, resolve, and intelligence played key roles. Still, there was something else, something more powerful and motivating, that helped lift him, against all odds, to the pinnacle of success in sports, business, and politics during a time when hatred of Irish Catholics permeated American society. That something was the unlikely marriage to a young woman from a respected Protestant family, a recent graduate of Emma Willard’s Troy Female Seminary, and a person with driving ambitions as powerful as her husband’s.

In Ambitions: Volume II of this three-novel series, the author continues the story about the love between Susannah Morrissey and John Morrissey. Her love and guidance push John to a new level of success by teaching him moderation, education, and purpose. Her ambitions play a critical role in this extraordinary story of love, struggle, perseverance, and triumph.