Sunday, January 01, 2012

Patron Saint of Liars- Patchett [Book #1]

After reading Ann Patchett's beautiful epic novel Bel Canto I immediately set about finding her other books to quickly devour. [Warning: small spoilers may follow] Patron Saints of Liars does not disappoint to a certain extent as her debut novel does have a similar beautiful writing style, an easy way with sentences and character creation that makes you lose yourself completely in the story. I liked this story for the most part but I had a really difficult time understanding the percipitating event that led to everything in this novel. I have a hard time believing not loving your kind husband is enough of a reason to run away and leave behind everyone including the mother who desperately loves you and who you also desperately love in return particularly when Rose knows that her mother would help her and support her through a divorce if she wanted. Taking on the life she took instead makes zero sense to me. I also really wish the author hadn't divided the novel into three sections one of Rose a woman leaving behind a loveless marriage and heading to an unwed mother's home to give her baby away, the second of Son the man she meets at the Home, and the third the story of the daughter she gives birth to. I will say that this is another one of her novels that makes me think and that leaves characters who stick with me for some time to come, so I'm glad to have read it, but it was a library read, not one that I should have purchased.

No comments: