the patron saint of liars by ann patchett

But I kept asking myself 'what is Rose doing?!' I don't want any spoilers here because lots of readers love backlist, but I could not for the life of me get inside her head - she was one of the most complex and mysterious characters I've ever encountered. Patchett's writing is always stellar and she wove in a bit of her dry humor in both Cecelia and Rose's characters. It's also a story about how well we know the people we love. Elizabeth's is a character, really the main one, and everyone revolves around it. Whether it's research scientists on the Amazon, a family saga with lots of gin, a home for unwed mothers, she is original to a fault. When you grab many (most?) author's books you know what you're getting (beach read, crime novel, romance etc.) but Patchett is the most versatile author I can think of right now. So here are my immediate thoughts.Īnn Patchett's imagination is boundless. I often go to reviews when I finish a book and I was validated because many readers felt exactly the same way I did. I am almost speechless that the book ended with so much left incomplete. This is the second Ann Patchett backlist in a month and my sixth (maybe seventh?) of her books. I don't ever remember finishing a novel and being left so conflicted. You can’t pick up and leave everything behind because there is too much sadness in the world and not enough places to go. Elizabeth or later by the birth of her daughter Cecilia.Įnchantingly graceful, Ann Patchett’s first novel is about sanctuary and pilgrimage, pain and healing and the helping hand of chance.People die, terrible things happen. Nor can she remain untouched by those she has left behind by the ever-watchful Sister Evangeline by the love of Son, the handyman at St. Elizabeth’s is home to a healing spring, and when Rose’s time draws near, she realises that she cannot go through with her plans. Rose plans to give her baby up because she knows she cannot be the mother it needs. As penance, she has also abandoned her widowed and much loved mother, with no mention of her condition.

Rose has fled her dull but loving husband without telling him she is pregnant and has decided to be ‘a liar for the rest of my life’. Rose Clinton arrives at St Elizabeth’s, a Roman Catholic home for unwed mothers in Habit, Kentucky. The first novel from the bestselling author of The Dutch House, Commonwealth and Bel Canto, Winner of The Women’s Prize for Fiction and the Pen/Faulkner Award.

The patron saint of liars by ann patchett