The honeymoon death by drowning of Sheila Moran in the company of her husband for which there is no immediate forthcoming explanation is the intriguing opening of "Philly Moran." Mysterious circumstances surround the incident while the two are sail-ing off the coast of Kusadasi, Turkey. But the unexplained event is merely the subtext of a tragic love story between Sheila, a socially prominent golden girl, and her husband Philly, a high school dropout suitor, a young man of much charm, sexual attractiveness and high ambition who achieves a multi-millionaire status before obtaining the object of his affection. The novel deals essentially with the fate of these two people, a man of humble origin determined to succeed, and a privileged woman's effort to achieve recog-nition on her own terms. The mystery of Sheila Moran's death is ultimately uncovered in the last chapter, and the resultant consequences are moving and tragic for both.