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Saint Sebastian's Head
1997, Boston -- Fifteen years ago an eleven-year-old girl died an unspeakable death in a small Midwestern city....
As a child, Weeble earns her nickname for her ability to stand up under difficult circumstances. Despite the squalor, neglect, and abuse of her home, Weeble adopts the role of protector, first for her younger sister, Annie, and then for her best friend, Lauren. When Lauren dies, Weeble hides her stark, painful childhood from herself in order to survive.
Years later and now a civil engineer living thousands of miles away, Weeble's tenuous hold on her emotional state has started to unravel. The methods she uses to cope with her shame and grief no longer work. After winning a grant to create a Web site dedicated to the victims of serial killers, Weeble shuts out longtime friends and begins training for the Boston Sprint Triathlon. Running hard has always kept the nightmares at bay. Then during an early-morning run, she's caught off guard by a Freegan named Tom Paul, a glass artist and modern mystic. Weeble's numb detachment shatters. As her past increasingly invades her present, she will be forced to confront the truth of what happened that long ago summer.
Using a structure that switches abruptly between radiant present and dark past, Saint Sebastian's Head tells the ultimately healing love story of a damaged woman and the faithful man who can see the hidden beauty of her soul.
- GenresFictionLiterary Fiction
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2011
3 people are currently reading
1420 people want to read
About the author
LeAnn Neal Reilly
5 books88 followersAccording to Kirkus Reviews, LeAnn Neal Reilly writes novels "about resilient women caught in magical, otherworldly circumstances." She grew up in the Midwest, migrated east to Pittsburgh for graduate school, and then migrated even farther east to the Boston suburbs where she raised three children. Now she mothers a large goldendoodle.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 9, 2022
Saint Sebastian’s Head is a darkly enchanting tale of a young woman's haunting past, and love's power to melt its icy grip on her heart. The story opens with Weeble meeting a somewhat mystical artist – Tom Paul – when he emerges from a dumpster on the route of her training run, and alternates between her present life in Boston and reminiscences of her childhood in the Midwest. In the present, she is four years out of college with an engineering degree, a dog, a cat, and a few friends. She takes on large tasks – training for triathlons and researching the lives of serial killers’ victims – but loses focus when the projects don’t lead to the release she needs from the memories that haunt her. In her childhood, she is a pre-teen struggling to establish her own identity, her place in her blended family, and at least one lasting friendship. In the process, she assumes the role of protector of her younger sister, Annie, and her friend, Lauren; a role in which she ultimately fails. Weeble’s past has led her to avoid revealing anything substantial about herself, even to the few friends she made in college and with whom she maintains regular contact. Her attraction to Tom Paul – and his obvious attraction to her – is the catalyst for her to finally deal with her memories and the self-imposed punishment for her supposed failures.
This is an excellent book in several ways. Reilly’s writing is direct, forceful, and lyrical at the same time. She deals with difficult and complex subjects in a compelling way that is easy to read while evoking strong emotions from the reader. She transitions seamlessly from Weeble’s first person, present narrative to her childhood memories and flawlessly includes a few third person sections of Tom Paul’s perspective. She blends difficult topics with fairy tales and some paranormal activity to create a superb tale of guilt and redemption. To read this book is to experience, with Weeble, the painful loss of childhood innocence and the equally painful surrender of all we hold onto for safety and security. I look forward to reading many more beautiful stories such as this from Ms. Reilly.
This is an excellent book in several ways. Reilly’s writing is direct, forceful, and lyrical at the same time. She deals with difficult and complex subjects in a compelling way that is easy to read while evoking strong emotions from the reader. She transitions seamlessly from Weeble’s first person, present narrative to her childhood memories and flawlessly includes a few third person sections of Tom Paul’s perspective. She blends difficult topics with fairy tales and some paranormal activity to create a superb tale of guilt and redemption. To read this book is to experience, with Weeble, the painful loss of childhood innocence and the equally painful surrender of all we hold onto for safety and security. I look forward to reading many more beautiful stories such as this from Ms. Reilly.
April 25, 2015
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." --Gospel of John 1:5
Author LeAnn Neal Reilly doesn't use the above Bible verse as an epigraph for this gut-wrenching novel, but it would serve very aptly. Both light and darkness are very powerfully in evidence here; indeed, though I haven't actually read Dante's The Divine Comedy: Inferno/Purgatory/Paradise/Life of Dante, and although this is solidly realistic fiction set in the modern U.S. (roughly from 1974-1997), I'm inclined to say that in her own metaphorical way, Reilly takes us on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. It's not a journey for the squeamish or fainthearted, because the gradually-disclosed hell that narrator Weeble (a childhood nickname explained at the outset) endured, growing up in the abhorrent bowels of America's drug culture and victimized by depraved sexual abuse of the worst sort, is something that might even have appalled Dante. We're spared actual direct, graphic descriptions of the abuse itself, but we're not spared anything else --not the full awareness of what the atrocities were, nor the experience of the emotional trauma of the victim(s).
Like Weeble, Reilly was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and moved to Boston after she grew up (one fervently hopes for her that this is the only part of the book that's autobiographical!) She evokes both settings with a deft hand obviously born of actual familiarity with localities and topography. Here she eschews straight linear narration, moving back and forth between Weeble's 1997 present (using present tense) and the experiences of her childhood (using past tense), with the third-person perspective of her leading male character, Tom Paul Theophilus, interjected in a few sections. This kind of disjointed structure takes real authorial skill to pull off successfully; the author does it with flying colors, and it's exactly the structure this tale has to have. Though Reilly herself is a Roman Catholic, Tom Paul is a believing Greek Orthodox layman, whose faith is the principal (though not only) vehicle of Christian light and truth in the novel. But it's light and truth that's conveyed gently and subtly, without preaching and beating readers over the head.
It's been estimated that one in five American women are sexually assaulted or abused before they reach the age when students graduate from college (about 22). I personally am closely acquainted with at least two women who were victimized in this way; whether you know it or not, you probably are too. This isn't, as readers might like to think, "just a book;" it's an unflinching look at a pervasive reality that most people want to ignore and look away from as much as possible. Reilly doesn't look away; she lays bare the very real psychological damage this kind of thing does to women: the erosion of self-worth, the self-blaming and feeling unfit and contaminated, the crippling of healthy sexuality, the PTSD-like symptoms. And she also doesn't spare us any of the reality of what kind of rearing kids can expect in a household of pot-head parents, and what results that kind of rearing has. (Her focus is descriptive, not political or social; but a discerning reader can't help connecting the dots to a political and social order based on hedonism and nihilism that fosters these kinds of pathologies and does everything possible to multiply and spread them.) It's clear here that the remedy for darkness is simple (but not simplistic) faith, hope and love; but it doesn't help for those who can extend faith, hope and love to bury their heads in the sand. This is the kind of fiction more Christians should be writing and reading, not running and trying to hide from because it truthfully reflects the hideous ugliness of the world we're called to minister to.
Some readers will object to the language here. Lost and messed-up characters here talk like they do in real life, which includes the f-word and other profane and gutter vocabulary. No, I don't talk that way, and don't encourage others to. But encouraging that kind of speech isn't Reilly's purpose in reproducing it. She's realistically depicting the kind of milieu she's describing, and that's an artistic choice she owes no apology for. Others will object to the idea that a Ouija board, for a child who's not approaching it with a demonic intent, could be a vehicle for Divine communication in her particular case. (Personally, I've become chary of making sweeping pronouncements that God would "never" do this or that.) The same objections would be made by some readers to Tom Paul's and his sister's slight psychic abilities. Readers who don't like the idea of insta-love will object to the "love at first sight" idea here. But I don't think the idea of strong attraction on first acquaintance is as unrealistic as some people suppose (I've experienced it myself, and the lady and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary in September!). And finally, Reilly isn't afraid to hint, at one point, at the possible difference between adherence to the spirit of Divine law and the letter of it, which won't be to every reader's taste either. (I wasn't scandalized by it.)
It's also worth mentioning that the book gives you a naturally-flowing mini-course (without feeling like an eye-glazing lecture) on the real-life techniques of glass sculpture, which Tom Paul does so well; this was handled in such a way that (to me, at least) it was interesting rather than boring. (The title grows out of this aspect, and is very apt.) Reilly's mastery of symbolism shows in the discussion of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, "techniques for dealing with light and dark" (as her fiction does!) and the deft use here of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen."
IMO, Reilly is one of the best authors writing fiction today, and she's earned the status of a favorite of mine. I'm honored that she and I are Goodreads friends; but this book earned its stars on its merits, not through the friendship. (And while her The Last Stratiote was a book I received from her as a gift, this one is one that I bought, because I feel that her writing is worth supporting!)
Author LeAnn Neal Reilly doesn't use the above Bible verse as an epigraph for this gut-wrenching novel, but it would serve very aptly. Both light and darkness are very powerfully in evidence here; indeed, though I haven't actually read Dante's The Divine Comedy: Inferno/Purgatory/Paradise/Life of Dante, and although this is solidly realistic fiction set in the modern U.S. (roughly from 1974-1997), I'm inclined to say that in her own metaphorical way, Reilly takes us on a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. It's not a journey for the squeamish or fainthearted, because the gradually-disclosed hell that narrator Weeble (a childhood nickname explained at the outset) endured, growing up in the abhorrent bowels of America's drug culture and victimized by depraved sexual abuse of the worst sort, is something that might even have appalled Dante. We're spared actual direct, graphic descriptions of the abuse itself, but we're not spared anything else --not the full awareness of what the atrocities were, nor the experience of the emotional trauma of the victim(s).
Like Weeble, Reilly was born in St. Joseph, Missouri and moved to Boston after she grew up (one fervently hopes for her that this is the only part of the book that's autobiographical!) She evokes both settings with a deft hand obviously born of actual familiarity with localities and topography. Here she eschews straight linear narration, moving back and forth between Weeble's 1997 present (using present tense) and the experiences of her childhood (using past tense), with the third-person perspective of her leading male character, Tom Paul Theophilus, interjected in a few sections. This kind of disjointed structure takes real authorial skill to pull off successfully; the author does it with flying colors, and it's exactly the structure this tale has to have. Though Reilly herself is a Roman Catholic, Tom Paul is a believing Greek Orthodox layman, whose faith is the principal (though not only) vehicle of Christian light and truth in the novel. But it's light and truth that's conveyed gently and subtly, without preaching and beating readers over the head.
It's been estimated that one in five American women are sexually assaulted or abused before they reach the age when students graduate from college (about 22). I personally am closely acquainted with at least two women who were victimized in this way; whether you know it or not, you probably are too. This isn't, as readers might like to think, "just a book;" it's an unflinching look at a pervasive reality that most people want to ignore and look away from as much as possible. Reilly doesn't look away; she lays bare the very real psychological damage this kind of thing does to women: the erosion of self-worth, the self-blaming and feeling unfit and contaminated, the crippling of healthy sexuality, the PTSD-like symptoms. And she also doesn't spare us any of the reality of what kind of rearing kids can expect in a household of pot-head parents, and what results that kind of rearing has. (Her focus is descriptive, not political or social; but a discerning reader can't help connecting the dots to a political and social order based on hedonism and nihilism that fosters these kinds of pathologies and does everything possible to multiply and spread them.) It's clear here that the remedy for darkness is simple (but not simplistic) faith, hope and love; but it doesn't help for those who can extend faith, hope and love to bury their heads in the sand. This is the kind of fiction more Christians should be writing and reading, not running and trying to hide from because it truthfully reflects the hideous ugliness of the world we're called to minister to.
Some readers will object to the language here. Lost and messed-up characters here talk like they do in real life, which includes the f-word and other profane and gutter vocabulary. No, I don't talk that way, and don't encourage others to. But encouraging that kind of speech isn't Reilly's purpose in reproducing it. She's realistically depicting the kind of milieu she's describing, and that's an artistic choice she owes no apology for. Others will object to the idea that a Ouija board, for a child who's not approaching it with a demonic intent, could be a vehicle for Divine communication in her particular case. (Personally, I've become chary of making sweeping pronouncements that God would "never" do this or that.) The same objections would be made by some readers to Tom Paul's and his sister's slight psychic abilities. Readers who don't like the idea of insta-love will object to the "love at first sight" idea here. But I don't think the idea of strong attraction on first acquaintance is as unrealistic as some people suppose (I've experienced it myself, and the lady and I will celebrate our 35th anniversary in September!). And finally, Reilly isn't afraid to hint, at one point, at the possible difference between adherence to the spirit of Divine law and the letter of it, which won't be to every reader's taste either. (I wasn't scandalized by it.)
It's also worth mentioning that the book gives you a naturally-flowing mini-course (without feeling like an eye-glazing lecture) on the real-life techniques of glass sculpture, which Tom Paul does so well; this was handled in such a way that (to me, at least) it was interesting rather than boring. (The title grows out of this aspect, and is very apt.) Reilly's mastery of symbolism shows in the discussion of chiaroscuro and tenebrism, "techniques for dealing with light and dark" (as her fiction does!) and the deft use here of Hans Christian Anderson's "The Snow Queen."
IMO, Reilly is one of the best authors writing fiction today, and she's earned the status of a favorite of mine. I'm honored that she and I are Goodreads friends; but this book earned its stars on its merits, not through the friendship. (And while her The Last Stratiote was a book I received from her as a gift, this one is one that I bought, because I feel that her writing is worth supporting!)
August 18, 2011
An intense and emotional page-turner you won’t want to miss...
Think back, if you can bear it, to your life’s darkest regret. Could
you have done anything differently? And without the benefit of hindsight,
of maturity, of age and education? This doubt is the specter that haunts
Weeble, a young woman who has experienced trauma and survived – barely.
Weeble has shielded herself with every possible layer of insulation from
her fears – estrangement from her family, education, isolation,
preoccupations with work and running. Still, she cannot entirely escape
the memories of a day 15 years earlier when life, as she knew it, came
to an end. St. Sebastian’s Head traces her courageous journey toward
internal peace, with the support of remarkable friends and a man who challenges
her to trust once again.
LeAnn Neal-Reilly’s second novel captures the essence of sorrow
engendered by childhood trauma, and offers hope that we can come
to terms with our demons, and reconcile the worlds of our present
with our past.
Think back, if you can bear it, to your life’s darkest regret. Could
you have done anything differently? And without the benefit of hindsight,
of maturity, of age and education? This doubt is the specter that haunts
Weeble, a young woman who has experienced trauma and survived – barely.
Weeble has shielded herself with every possible layer of insulation from
her fears – estrangement from her family, education, isolation,
preoccupations with work and running. Still, she cannot entirely escape
the memories of a day 15 years earlier when life, as she knew it, came
to an end. St. Sebastian’s Head traces her courageous journey toward
internal peace, with the support of remarkable friends and a man who challenges
her to trust once again.
LeAnn Neal-Reilly’s second novel captures the essence of sorrow
engendered by childhood trauma, and offers hope that we can come
to terms with our demons, and reconcile the worlds of our present
with our past.
December 26, 2011
I was fascinated by the play of light and dark in this luminous novel about a young woman dealing with a personal atrocity to which she was both a witness and victim. This novel is layered and the deeper one looks into the meaning of this germinal work, the more light that is shed upon it. The protagonist, Weeble, is a runner who seeks to fortify herself through fitness training from the worst possible, recurring reinactments in her mind of an atrocity. She runs, bikes and swims in circles but the training leaves her physically stronger, helps to vent the nightmares and ultimately leads her to Tom Paul, a sculptor who works in glass and seeks to build a work of cast glass entitled the "Illuminated Soul." As Weeble is an engineer, she offers to help Tom Paul light his "Illuminated Soul." Tom Paul is a sensitive and fit man of the fine arts, a dumpster diver who seeks to rescue spare parts and discarded pieces to give new life to them. His role is no less as he struggles with Weeble -- named after a durable Playskool toy that wobbles but doesn't fall apart -- to put back together the brittle aspects of her life so that the horrific nightmares cease. Tom Paul's name itself is symbolic of a Biblical battle between doubt and deep faith. Nietzsche in "The Birth of Tragedy" attributes the battle of Appollo, the Greek God of Light and Order, against Dionysius, the God of Darkness and Chaos as the source of tragedy. So it is that in "St. Sebastian's Head" the interplay of light and darkness affords a largely tennebrous effect -- extremes of light and dark in the interplay with a narrative style that effectively switches, often abruptly, in the exposition between radiantly bright light and stark, disturbing darkness. The story line is engaging and ultimately gripping in a crescendo involving the torso of the nearly martyred St. Sebastian rescued by a caring woman from his martyrdom after being wounded from arrows. The symbolic sense in the storyline about the brittle, sensitive art of scuplting with glass and the risks associated with heat, time, talent and patience will not be lost to sensitive readers of this wonderful book. While we do not have a free will about much of the tragedy which intrudes upon everyday life, this novel closely examines how we are free to react and strive to recover from it: this novel is an important story about a heroic path to recovery from tragedy. "St. Sebastian's Head" is a keeper and will be especially valued by those who have had to deal with incredible hardship, violation and personal loss. I highly recommend this powerful, gripping, well crafted and enlightened novel.
December 12, 2011
"When you finish a serious novel, you're older, wiser, and sadder..." according to one of the characters in "Saint Sebastian's Head" and I feel that is so true! This was an upsetting topic which was well written into an excellent novel that was in parts deeply troubling and, yet, let a little light shine through in the support of a young adults close group of friends that refused to give up on her. Not only was it an excellent read, the author is donating a portion of her sales to a group that helps people of child abuse! Visit her website to see the details!
July 9, 2012
Saint Sebastian’s Head is an incredibly moving novel about one woman’s journey from a childhood of dark tragedy to the light of healing that can come from love.
When Weeble, an engineer training for a triathlon, meets artist Tom Paul as she runs by him one night while he’s dumpster-diving, the pretend okay world she’s constructed for herself begins to crumble, forcing her to face the traumatic past that still haunts her subconscious, ruling her life and relationships despite how hard she’s tried to bury it. Revealing the inner demons that torment Weeble through flashes to her childhood, author LeAnn Neil Reilly slowly introduces readers to a harrowing tale of neglect, abuse and, ultimately, horror, while the present-day relationship between Weeble and Tom Paul and the intricate interplay of mysticism and harsh reality, faith and doubt, light and darkness, underlies her journey to healing.
Beautiful prose, wonderful character development and a fairy tale-like symbolism make what could have otherwise been only a painfully dark story into a poetic and spiritual read about the human strength we don’t always realize we possess, even when crippled by tragedy, as well as a touching, light-filled love story. Because there was quite a bit of emphasis on Tom Paul’s Orthodox spirituality and the mystic nature he brought out in his art, I would have been interested in a bit more understanding of his past relationships, as these do play a part in the story but sometimes left me wondering about his desire for a deeper relationship with Weeble before a physical one, while it seemed he might not have required or found this with past romantic relationships. However, this could be simply due to my own interest in theology and how one’s worldview impacts every part of one’s life, and the sense that maybe I didn’t have as much insight into his character as I might have liked, in this particular regard, didn’t in any way take from the story. In the end, I found it extremely well-written and a fascinating and meaningful novel with much to reflect on long after reading. Highly recommended for outstanding writing and its emotional and spiritual complexity, I look forward to reading more by this talented author.
When Weeble, an engineer training for a triathlon, meets artist Tom Paul as she runs by him one night while he’s dumpster-diving, the pretend okay world she’s constructed for herself begins to crumble, forcing her to face the traumatic past that still haunts her subconscious, ruling her life and relationships despite how hard she’s tried to bury it. Revealing the inner demons that torment Weeble through flashes to her childhood, author LeAnn Neil Reilly slowly introduces readers to a harrowing tale of neglect, abuse and, ultimately, horror, while the present-day relationship between Weeble and Tom Paul and the intricate interplay of mysticism and harsh reality, faith and doubt, light and darkness, underlies her journey to healing.
Beautiful prose, wonderful character development and a fairy tale-like symbolism make what could have otherwise been only a painfully dark story into a poetic and spiritual read about the human strength we don’t always realize we possess, even when crippled by tragedy, as well as a touching, light-filled love story. Because there was quite a bit of emphasis on Tom Paul’s Orthodox spirituality and the mystic nature he brought out in his art, I would have been interested in a bit more understanding of his past relationships, as these do play a part in the story but sometimes left me wondering about his desire for a deeper relationship with Weeble before a physical one, while it seemed he might not have required or found this with past romantic relationships. However, this could be simply due to my own interest in theology and how one’s worldview impacts every part of one’s life, and the sense that maybe I didn’t have as much insight into his character as I might have liked, in this particular regard, didn’t in any way take from the story. In the end, I found it extremely well-written and a fascinating and meaningful novel with much to reflect on long after reading. Highly recommended for outstanding writing and its emotional and spiritual complexity, I look forward to reading more by this talented author.
August 1, 2021
Author LeAnn Neal Reilly's first novel,
The Mermaid's Pendant
, is an epic re-imagining of Hans Christian Andersen's classic The Little Mermaid, full of whimsy, magic, and romance. It also contained some darker elements, but in Saint Sebastian's Head, Reilly crafted a story that explores darkness and pain in depth. She studies the impact that childhood sexual abuse and violent crime have on a little girl who was nicknamed Weeble because, like the toys, she refused to fall down. Now twenty-five years old, Weeble is still standing -- but just barely.
Reilly tackles her subject honestly and unflinchingly, making Weeble's first-person recollections of her painful childhood difficult to read, but also fascinating. As she relates the way her parents drank, used drugs, and essentially left their children to fend for themselves, Reilly draws readers into Weeble's courageous fight to keep little Annie from experiencing the same horrors she had. Weeble became Annie's protector, even though she was but a young child herself. She longed to have friends and be like the other kids which, ultimately, led to what she perceives as her failure to shield Annie.
As if what happened in Weeble's own home wasn't bad enough, Reilly heaps more suffering upon her. Weeble noticed a mysterious man outside their school who looked like a scarecrow. None of the other girls saw him lurking, but Weeble instantly recognized him a few weeks later when she realized that he had come for Lauren. Weeble was not powerful enough to save Lauren, either, and now she lives with unremitting guilt about surviving. Although she graduated from college and began a successful career, the emotional scars have left her functioning at only the most basic levels and her well-being is a constant source of concern for her devoted friends, none of whom know the whole truth about her past. Even Weeble can't face the whole truth.
Against the backdrop of Weeble's dark existence Reilly contrasts the artistic vision and spiritual soul of Tom Paul who instantly recognizes Weeble's inherent goodness and fragility. He is drawn to her, but knows that he must be cautious and patient. Tom Paul's funky dumpster-diving frugalism and belief in truth is, remarkably, as believable and compelling as Reilly's portrayal of the emotional abyss in which Weeble dwells. Weeble must confront and make peace with her past before she can embrace her future, but can Tom Paul gently lead her out of blackness into the light? Readers will find themselves fervently hoping so.
Reilly effectively alternates past and present -- current events unfold in third-person, while Weeble recalls and recounts the events that have shaped her life in a matter-of-fact, realistic manner that is riveting and horrifying. Strong language and sexual situations are mandated, given the subject matter, making the supporting characters, especially Mona and Frank, realistically flawed and surprisingly sympathetic. Reilly injects a strong dose of what may prove to be her trademark -- magic and an other-worldly sensibility. Tom Paul sees others' auras and Weeble comes to believe that an angel has not only accompanied her on her journey, but warned her about various events.
The result is another book that proves impossible to put down until all of Weeble's mysterious past is revealed and the question of whether or not she can find redemption is answered. The reason is simple: Reilly deftly makes readers care about her characters not through melodrama or contrivances, but by plainly and unsparingly examining their very human condition.
Thanks to author LeAnn Neal Reilly for a complimentary copy of the book.
Reilly tackles her subject honestly and unflinchingly, making Weeble's first-person recollections of her painful childhood difficult to read, but also fascinating. As she relates the way her parents drank, used drugs, and essentially left their children to fend for themselves, Reilly draws readers into Weeble's courageous fight to keep little Annie from experiencing the same horrors she had. Weeble became Annie's protector, even though she was but a young child herself. She longed to have friends and be like the other kids which, ultimately, led to what she perceives as her failure to shield Annie.
As if what happened in Weeble's own home wasn't bad enough, Reilly heaps more suffering upon her. Weeble noticed a mysterious man outside their school who looked like a scarecrow. None of the other girls saw him lurking, but Weeble instantly recognized him a few weeks later when she realized that he had come for Lauren. Weeble was not powerful enough to save Lauren, either, and now she lives with unremitting guilt about surviving. Although she graduated from college and began a successful career, the emotional scars have left her functioning at only the most basic levels and her well-being is a constant source of concern for her devoted friends, none of whom know the whole truth about her past. Even Weeble can't face the whole truth.
Against the backdrop of Weeble's dark existence Reilly contrasts the artistic vision and spiritual soul of Tom Paul who instantly recognizes Weeble's inherent goodness and fragility. He is drawn to her, but knows that he must be cautious and patient. Tom Paul's funky dumpster-diving frugalism and belief in truth is, remarkably, as believable and compelling as Reilly's portrayal of the emotional abyss in which Weeble dwells. Weeble must confront and make peace with her past before she can embrace her future, but can Tom Paul gently lead her out of blackness into the light? Readers will find themselves fervently hoping so.
Reilly effectively alternates past and present -- current events unfold in third-person, while Weeble recalls and recounts the events that have shaped her life in a matter-of-fact, realistic manner that is riveting and horrifying. Strong language and sexual situations are mandated, given the subject matter, making the supporting characters, especially Mona and Frank, realistically flawed and surprisingly sympathetic. Reilly injects a strong dose of what may prove to be her trademark -- magic and an other-worldly sensibility. Tom Paul sees others' auras and Weeble comes to believe that an angel has not only accompanied her on her journey, but warned her about various events.
The result is another book that proves impossible to put down until all of Weeble's mysterious past is revealed and the question of whether or not she can find redemption is answered. The reason is simple: Reilly deftly makes readers care about her characters not through melodrama or contrivances, but by plainly and unsparingly examining their very human condition.
Thanks to author LeAnn Neal Reilly for a complimentary copy of the book.
March 27, 2012
Whoa! This novel was one intense read and definitely not for those who shy away from graphic portrayals of life's tragedy. The amazing part of this novel is that the author was able to weave a fairy tale within the story. Maybe that is because, to a point, life is filled with fairy tales. Definitely, the white knight who comes riding in to save the day is fiction, but if one dares to save oneself, the white knight may still be there to meet you if you are willing to open your eyes and actually see him.
I cannot say I loved reading this book because portions were torturous in their authenticity. None of the violence, however, was gratuitous. I did have to keep reading even during the hard-hitting passages because I was so engaged and concerned. Indeed, the author was careful to remain true to her story line, and only included the necessary description of adverse events for the reader to comprehend her character and the purpose for the novel. One truly got to know the protagonist and to care for her. She is true to those who have endured crisis in her self-destructive habits and her reluctance to allow others into her life. She also has strength of spirit and she is resilient, ultimately triumphing over and over again those demons that remain part of her. I applaud the author for making it crystal clear that once these demons haunt you, they never truly go away, at least not permanently. People become stronger in their endurance to live despite their visits, which may become increasingly less frequent. She may have a funny name, but Weeble lives up to it! She definitely does not fall down.
Leann Neal Reilly wrote a truly memorable character to model for us the truth of inner strength and fortitude. She is one who truly shares that dreams can and do come true despite the sometimes gruesome reality of this life. Indeed, this author knows how to keep not only fairy tales alive, but hope. No matter what happens, she tells us, one can survive and survive not only with dignity but with joy and goodness ahead.
I cannot say I loved reading this book because portions were torturous in their authenticity. None of the violence, however, was gratuitous. I did have to keep reading even during the hard-hitting passages because I was so engaged and concerned. Indeed, the author was careful to remain true to her story line, and only included the necessary description of adverse events for the reader to comprehend her character and the purpose for the novel. One truly got to know the protagonist and to care for her. She is true to those who have endured crisis in her self-destructive habits and her reluctance to allow others into her life. She also has strength of spirit and she is resilient, ultimately triumphing over and over again those demons that remain part of her. I applaud the author for making it crystal clear that once these demons haunt you, they never truly go away, at least not permanently. People become stronger in their endurance to live despite their visits, which may become increasingly less frequent. She may have a funny name, but Weeble lives up to it! She definitely does not fall down.
Leann Neal Reilly wrote a truly memorable character to model for us the truth of inner strength and fortitude. She is one who truly shares that dreams can and do come true despite the sometimes gruesome reality of this life. Indeed, this author knows how to keep not only fairy tales alive, but hope. No matter what happens, she tells us, one can survive and survive not only with dignity but with joy and goodness ahead.
January 6, 2012
When we meet 26-year-old Weeble, she's living alone in Cambridge, MA with her rescued pets, Hero and Flat Stanley. Although she has put some distance between herself and her tumultuous upbringing as "a poor biker's daughter from Missouri," she's still struggling with the fear and shame of a childhood filled with sexual abuse and violence.
Weeble has found ways of coping with her past—training for a triathalon, and working on a memorial for the child victims of serial killers—but nothing has banished the nightmares she's had since she was eleven. As much as she needs help, she's never considered trusting anyone enough to accept it until now, when she meets an unusual glass artist who rescues things that others throw away.
There's a lot of darkness in Saint Sebastian's Head—Weeble's story is truly unsettling at times—but Neal Reilly's prose is vivid and graceful, creating a compelling picture of Weeble's chaotic childhood home and her struggles to protect herself and her younger sister Annie from their older half-brother, Tim. Saint Sebastian's Head combines a literary style with story elements of thrillers, romance, and even the paranormal. Readers who enjoy books like The Lovely Bones might also enjoy Saint Sebastian's Head.
Weeble has found ways of coping with her past—training for a triathalon, and working on a memorial for the child victims of serial killers—but nothing has banished the nightmares she's had since she was eleven. As much as she needs help, she's never considered trusting anyone enough to accept it until now, when she meets an unusual glass artist who rescues things that others throw away.
There's a lot of darkness in Saint Sebastian's Head—Weeble's story is truly unsettling at times—but Neal Reilly's prose is vivid and graceful, creating a compelling picture of Weeble's chaotic childhood home and her struggles to protect herself and her younger sister Annie from their older half-brother, Tim. Saint Sebastian's Head combines a literary style with story elements of thrillers, romance, and even the paranormal. Readers who enjoy books like The Lovely Bones might also enjoy Saint Sebastian's Head.
January 8, 2012
I won this book through the Goodreads First Reads program.
I was not sure what to make of this when I first started reading it. The narrative switches between the present and the past, using the relevant tense to tell you which you were in, which was a useful device to tell you roughly where you were chronologically.
The story is about a young woman coming to terms with a horrendous past. I especially like the way that you are drip fed the information about what made her the way she is; at first you assume that the first unpleasant event is that catalyst, but as things progress you realise that this cannot account for how she is.
It is not a comfortable read, in places it is horrific, but it does keep you interested. Not quite sure what genre to put it in, it's sort of a love story, sort of a psychological thriller, but finding it hard to pigeon hole the book is no bad thing, it is original and compelling.
I was not sure what to make of this when I first started reading it. The narrative switches between the present and the past, using the relevant tense to tell you which you were in, which was a useful device to tell you roughly where you were chronologically.
The story is about a young woman coming to terms with a horrendous past. I especially like the way that you are drip fed the information about what made her the way she is; at first you assume that the first unpleasant event is that catalyst, but as things progress you realise that this cannot account for how she is.
It is not a comfortable read, in places it is horrific, but it does keep you interested. Not quite sure what genre to put it in, it's sort of a love story, sort of a psychological thriller, but finding it hard to pigeon hole the book is no bad thing, it is original and compelling.
May 7, 2012
This book was hard for me to begin to read but I couldn't put it down after I began reading it.
The Author accomplished her mission when writing this story. I have every emotion alive inside me
after reading, "Saint Sebastian's Head." I can't say I enjoyed the book because the story is sad. I will recommend the book. It is an excellent read.
The Author accomplished her mission when writing this story. I have every emotion alive inside me
after reading, "Saint Sebastian's Head." I can't say I enjoyed the book because the story is sad. I will recommend the book. It is an excellent read.
October 12, 2011
Very well written, emotionally intense. This book grabs you and does not let go. It deals with difficult issues in a very mature way.
January 6, 2012
Tough subject matter but overall very good.
August 13, 2021
After ten years, I am still moved by this story. Of course, I wrote it, so I am biased.
October 31, 2012
I enjoyed the first half of this book quite a bit. The author creates a compelling voice for her protagonist, Weeble (whose real name is not revealed until the end), a victim of sexual assault from her perverted half brother - and later, as we discover, a more serious crime while in early adolescence. The book is told from an adult perspective, but it is a perspective that is skewed by her past. LeAnn Neal Reilly deftly keeps much of the mystery surrounding Weeble's nightmares a secret, slowly unraveling it as the story progresses.
What I enjoyed much less was the atmospheric fantastical dream sequences and the mystical connections Weeble makes with the man who eventually comes to "save" her. It was so unrealistic in contrast to the earthy details of Weeble's childhood (pot-bellied step-father, doobie-smoking beer-swilling mother, et cetera) that it all felt a little bit too jarring for my taste. Cheesy. Just a bit.
What I enjoyed much less was the atmospheric fantastical dream sequences and the mystical connections Weeble makes with the man who eventually comes to "save" her. It was so unrealistic in contrast to the earthy details of Weeble's childhood (pot-bellied step-father, doobie-smoking beer-swilling mother, et cetera) that it all felt a little bit too jarring for my taste. Cheesy. Just a bit.
February 19, 2013
I picked this up because this is something I should love. I love this type of book and the reviews were really great.
I never got into the story and was so glad when I was finally finished. I did not care about Weeble and I never felt that connection with Tom Paul at all. In fact he annoyed me, that was probably the only emotion I felt for anyone the entire book.
I didn't care for the writing style of the book and the descriptions of some things just seemed over the top and trying to hard to get either some sort of shock factor or impress and both for me fell flat.
I never got into the story and was so glad when I was finally finished. I did not care about Weeble and I never felt that connection with Tom Paul at all. In fact he annoyed me, that was probably the only emotion I felt for anyone the entire book.
I didn't care for the writing style of the book and the descriptions of some things just seemed over the top and trying to hard to get either some sort of shock factor or impress and both for me fell flat.
Want to read
July 29, 2016I won Saint Sebastian's Head from First Reads. I look forward to reading it now that its arrived.
I've only had time to read the first chapter and I'm already impressed. Just 24 pages were enough to make me want to know what happens in the rest of the book. It was also a well written opening chapter and a professionally produced volume(for those of you who care about the book's cover and binding). I'll get to the rest of the story when I have some time next year. Thanks to the author for sending me Saint Sebastian's Head, it looks quite promising.
I've only had time to read the first chapter and I'm already impressed. Just 24 pages were enough to make me want to know what happens in the rest of the book. It was also a well written opening chapter and a professionally produced volume(for those of you who care about the book's cover and binding). I'll get to the rest of the story when I have some time next year. Thanks to the author for sending me Saint Sebastian's Head, it looks quite promising.
February 21, 2012
I received this as a first read giveaway.
This is a very dark novel about redemption and forgiveness. Kate is a girl that grows up in a neglectful home where she is sexually abused by her brother. She is also kidnapped by a serial killer and suffers tremendous abuse by him (although most of the abuse is simply hinted at and not explicitly discussed). She finally meets someone that can see her potential. I suppose, in the end, that this is a romance, but mostly it is about Kate finding her inner strength to take charge of her life and go after what she wants.
This is a very dark novel about redemption and forgiveness. Kate is a girl that grows up in a neglectful home where she is sexually abused by her brother. She is also kidnapped by a serial killer and suffers tremendous abuse by him (although most of the abuse is simply hinted at and not explicitly discussed). She finally meets someone that can see her potential. I suppose, in the end, that this is a romance, but mostly it is about Kate finding her inner strength to take charge of her life and go after what she wants.
February 1, 2016
I liked it, I really loved Weeble, she is so strong and she felt genuine. L.N.Reilly really managed to show us the hopelessness of Weeble's childhood.
I am not a big fan of the paranormal side and I really disliked Tom Paul, I believe she deserved someone stronger emotionally, he comes off as naive and clueless.
I am not a big fan of the paranormal side and I really disliked Tom Paul, I believe she deserved someone stronger emotionally, he comes off as naive and clueless.
February 5, 2012
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