The Visitation

by Sue Reidy

The Flynn girls, just two of a seemingly endless number of Flynn children, are naturally curious about where their little siblings come from. Well versed in the bizarre lives and gruesome deaths of their favorite saints, they have yet to crack the mysteries of the more earthly concerns of procreation and human relations. Blessed enlightenment comes, however, when the Virgin Mary appears and asks them to buy her suitable clothes for her earthly mission -- a campaign for birth control.
Set against the backdrop of the impending Vatican II decisions that wreaked havoc on many Catholic lives and the sprawl of the more permissive 1960s, this crackling, smart, and thoughtful novel is sure to delight.

Genres: Fiction, Womens

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

The synopsis given on this novel is a bit misleading. If you expect this novel to be a story about the virgin Mary campaigning for birth control you'd be wrong. The crux of this book is the lives of a Catholic family living in New Zealand, more specifically it centers around two of the daughters, Theresa and Catherine. It deals with their relationships with their religious zealot, bully of a father, who is a brute and uncaring of anyone's feelings but his own. Their relationship with their mother and their anger towards her for not standing up to their father and letting him control her. The reader watches the two sisters grow and question their faith, the fallibilty of their parents, the monsignor and the pope. They begin to think for themselves, and find strength in one another, they even come to understand their father a little more towards the end of the book. The virgin Mary has a small part in this book and they author never really delves into her role. This character is there specifically to bring about a better relationship and understanding between the mother and her two daughters.

[bookboundb! · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was everything I hoped it would be and then some!! I absolutely adored it.

The Visitation is an intimate portrait of a large Catholic family living in New Zealand in the 1960s. The story is particularly centered around the two oldest daughters as they move through childhood and adolescence. Through quick scenes, like snapshots, you experience their quest to discover the mysteries of sex and love and human creation.

The Flynn sisters are visited by the Virgin Mary, who asks for their help in her pro birth control mission. I expected this to be the main driving force of the story and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it wasn’t. The miracle of the Virgin’s visitation was almost mundane compared to the Flynn family’s every day realities and hardships, which I found to be an incredibly powerful bit of storytelling.

This book is so witty and charming, but also so raw and painful at times. With its themes of female sexuality and bodily autonomy, I found The Visitation to be particularly impactful given our current social and political climate. The messages conveyed in this book, about the struggles Catholic women faced in the 1960s and 1970s, are just as relevant today as they were almost half a century ago.

[Noelani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome!!! Reminded me so, so much of growing up in a Catholic/Baptist family. Really captured the confusion of childhood in that sort of environment and the frustrations of being a young woman when you have no say over your own body and beliefs.

[Shari Mellin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disjointed; not well written. The story was interesting but I was distracted by the lack of cohesion.

[Naomi Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this coming of age book filled with Catholic juju.

[Sophie Naughalty · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Story was great and I definitely didn’t want it to end!
Only thing that stopped it being a 5 star was the writing not being amazingly well crafted

[Evanston Public Library]

It’s 1966 and in the large, devoutly Catholic Flynn family, the two eldest girls, Theresa and Catherine, don’t spend their time playing with dolls or playing house. Even an exciting round of cops and robbers is not their cup of tea. No, the Flynn girls play a game called Martyrs and Suffering Virgins. They act out the lives and agonized deaths of their favorite saints: Teresa of Avila, Agatha, Joan, and Lucy among others, and they dream of a day when they, too, will join the ranks of the holy and blessed women. But a surprise appearance of the Virgin Mary in their scruffy backyard where she asks them to deliver a letter to the Pope on the importance of contraception throws a huge monkey wrench in their plans for sainthood. First of all, they wonder what the heck is contraception. Mary does not elaborate, nor does their overworked, continuously pregnant mom. Mrs. Flynn offers a vague answer about stopping babies and the standard you’re-too-young-to-understand speech. Of course, Mr. Flynn is not approachable—he’s strict, repressed, and likely to fly off the handle cuffing ears right and left if any of his children so much as look unfocused during the nightly family rosary session. So begins a coming-of-age story that relates the difficulties of trying to figure it all out yourself. Theresa and Catherine work together to find some answers, but part ways on others, especially when Catherine spends a few months wearing a miniature nun’s habit to prepare for her expected calling. Over the next few years, it’s not only contraception and sex that puzzle them; it’s the bigger questions of faith and suffering, family loyalty and independent thinking. Using the momentous Vatican II decisions and the 60s era of youth rebellion as a backdrop, Reidy’s telling of this warm and often funny story is adept and honest. (Barbara L., Reader’s Services)

[Sally]

I loved the first part of this book. It was funny, touching, and everything a screwed-up childhood story should be. Similar to some of my favorite books, it made an effective transition into the teenage years, as more details emerge and the implications of the previous chapters become darker and more real. I found the last couple of chapters were kind of a let down, and written as if the author was in a completely different frame of mind. I didn't really like how everything was resolved, but I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed Playing with Scissors, All the Fishes Come Home to Roost, or Little Alters Everywhere.

[Suanne Laqueur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took this out of the library because it sounded hil-ar-ee-ous! It really was a scream. Loved it. It was laugh-out-loud funny, and a little tight-in-the throat poignant.

A really offbeat look at Catholic girlhood.