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alyssabkaplan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment and Toxic relationship
Minor: Medical content
carlytenille's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Blood, Child death, Death, and Pregnancy
mheffner3031's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Miscarriage, Abandonment, and Pregnancy
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
carriepond's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Not long after Rose's section opens, she gets married only to quickly realize that she has made a mistake. A devout Catholic, Rose does not consider divorce and instead copes by going on increasingly long drives along the California coast in an attempt to capture the freedom she longs for. When she becomes pregnant, Rose abandons her husband and her mother (a widow after Rose's father died in a car accident when Rose was very young) and drives cross-country to St. Elizabeth's, where she intends to stay until giving up the baby for adoption. However, once there, things change, and Rose ends up keeping the baby, whom she names Cecilia, and
Patchett's characterization in Patron Saint is phenomenal: she doesn't hit us over the head with the novel's themes or characters' motivations, but in that subtlety lies depth and nuance. For example, I often didn't agree with or understand Rose's decisions but that didn't mean that I wasn't sympathetic. Rose is someone trapped by layers of circumstances-- her Catholic guilt and her internalized expectations on what women "should" do (marriage, children, etc) that conflict with her clear desire for solitude and freedom. And those circumstances have a ripple effect, hurting those who love her. At one point, Cecilia confronts her about her aloofness as a mother, and Rose replies, "I guess I always thought that just being here was enough. It's been so hard for me to stay sometimes. . . . All these years I thought I'd done a good job because I'd found a way to stay, but I guess if you didn't know those things to begin with, it wouldn't have looked like I was doing anything especially heroic." I was also happy to have Son and Cecilia take turns as narrators because seeing each of the characters through the others' eyes enriched the way I viewed all of them. For me, the end felt like a little bit of a letdown, but I still really enjoyed my reading experience overall because of how good a writer Ann Patchett is.
Before reading The Patron Saint of Liars (Patchett's debut novel), I had only read her two most recent novels (Tom Lake and The Dutch House), both of which I immensely enjoyed. It was an interesting experience to move so far back in the timeline of work, but the biggest takeaway for me was that it cemented my interest in reading a lot more of her work.
I think the layered characters whose actions are sometimes difficult to understand would make The Patron Saint of Liars a really good book club read-- there would be plenty to discuss!
Graphic: Death and Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment and Miscarriage
Minor: Death of parent and Car accident
megan_harper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Pregnancy and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: War, Death of parent, and Car accident
eliterbees's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
First, there is Rose. The first real main character we meet, Rose is a chronic liar who is to love or even like. I found Rose interesting throughout the chapters from her perspective, I was fully engaged in her sections of the book and found myself wanting to figure out more about her and follow her journey to see if she ever improved. Although she was self-aware enough in the beginning to admit some of her greatest faults from the get-go, which I found interesting, this is mainly attributed to her section of the book being retold from the future. She doesn't seem to show that same self-awareness in Son's section or in Cecilia's section, which I found hard to get through as a result. I found it really compelling to follow the themes of motherhood and maternity through the eyes of someone who was reluctant to be a mother, but that left a sour taste in my mouth in later chapters. Rose is a fascinating character that I didn't find myself liking as a person, but it was interesting at times to analyze what made her so unlikable (which seems to be a goal of the author, judging by Rose's connection to the book's title).
This seems to be a personal opinion, but I found it very hard to like Son throughout the novel. His introduction as a side character was endearing and fun, but when he became a main character by proposing to Rose, I found myself actually losing interest in him. This might be because of their age gap, and the repetitive descriptions of Son being a fatherly figure to most of the girls living at Saint Elizabeth's, including Rose, but I digress. I wish the novel followed June and Sister Evangeline more than Son, I was so intrigued by their dynamic.
Cecilia's section of the book made me sympathize with Son, however. Cecilia was an interesting character to bring in as the third and final perspective in the book, seeing as she united the three previous sections of the book and explored their dynamics through new eyes. I only wish that Cecilia was given more time to grow, primarily through the truth of her parentage and her mother's life, but in a book titled "The Patron Saint of Liars" it is easy to understand why that cannot be so.
All in all, I did enjoy the majority of this book, even if the ending left me dissatisfied but understanding.
Graphic: Pregnancy, Miscarriage, and Child death
The main character marries a man twice her age.barbn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Moderate: Pregnancy and Miscarriage
hunkydory's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Abandonment and Pregnancy
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, Car accident, Child death, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
nothingforpomegranted's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Told in three perspectives, the book follows the life of Rose Clinton. Born and raised in California, Rose steals her husband's car and drives east, attempting to escape the unrequited love of her marriage and to determine the true purpose of her life, seeking a sign from God. She arrives at Saint Elizabeth's somewhat in denial, slowly building relationships with the other women, the groundskeeper, and especially with the nun Sister Evangeline. In part two, we see Rose establish herself as the Saint Elizabeth's primary cook, told through the perspective of her new husband. This section introduces the tension that characterizes the final third of the book, narrated by Rose's daughter.
Patchett's writing is enchanting, evident from the very first page of this, her debut novel. I was absolutely enthralled by the concept of this healing spring, and excited to see how the history of the land and the family that owned it would develop throughout the story, but ultimately, the book went in an entirely different direction. Rose is troubling and intriguing, a curiously selfish character, whose drive to discover a purpose impacted every relationship in her life. Far more sympathetic were her husband and daughter, whose devotion and emotional expression distinguished them significantly from Rose, but both of whose narration started to fall flat towards the end of their respective sections.
Indeed, I was underwhelmed by the ending of the book.
Graphic: Pregnancy
Moderate: Abandonment