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Saint Monkey
Fourteen-year-old Audrey Martin, with her Poindexter glasses and her head humming the 3/4 meter of gospel music, knows she’ll never get out of Kentucky—but when her fingers touch the piano keys, the whole church trembles. Her best friend, Caroline, daydreams about Hollywood stardom, but both girls feel destined to languish in a slow-moving stopover town in Montgomery County.
That is, until chance intervenes and a booking agent offers Audrey a ticket to join the booming jazz scene in Harlem—an offer she can’t resist, not even for Caroline. And in New York City the music never stops. Audrey flirts with love and takes the stage at the Apollo, with its fast-dancing crowds and blinding lights. But fortunes can turn fast in the city—young talent means tough competition, and for Audrey failure is always one step away. Meanwhile, Caroline sinks into the quiet anguish of a Black woman in a backwards country, where her ambitions and desires only slip further out of reach.
Jacinda Townsend’s remarkable first novel is a coming-of-age story made at once gripping and poignant by the wild energy of the Jazz Era and the stark realities of segregation. Marrying musical prose with lyric vernacular, Saint Monkey delivers a stirring portrait of American storytelling and marks the appearance of an auspicious new voice in literary fiction.
That is, until chance intervenes and a booking agent offers Audrey a ticket to join the booming jazz scene in Harlem—an offer she can’t resist, not even for Caroline. And in New York City the music never stops. Audrey flirts with love and takes the stage at the Apollo, with its fast-dancing crowds and blinding lights. But fortunes can turn fast in the city—young talent means tough competition, and for Audrey failure is always one step away. Meanwhile, Caroline sinks into the quiet anguish of a Black woman in a backwards country, where her ambitions and desires only slip further out of reach.
Jacinda Townsend’s remarkable first novel is a coming-of-age story made at once gripping and poignant by the wild energy of the Jazz Era and the stark realities of segregation. Marrying musical prose with lyric vernacular, Saint Monkey delivers a stirring portrait of American storytelling and marks the appearance of an auspicious new voice in literary fiction.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 24, 2014
66 people are currently reading
2456 people want to read
About the author
Jacinda Townsend
8 books99 followersJacinda Townsend grew up in Southcentral Kentucky. She studied at Harvard University and Duke University Law School before receiving her MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Since receiving her MFA she has been a Fulbright fellow to Côte d’Ivoire, a Carol Houck Smith fiction fellow at the University of Wisconsin, and a Hurston-Wright Award finalist. She lives in Bloomington, Indiana and teaches creative writing at Indiana University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
January 27, 2015
I fell in love with Townsend's rendering of friendships between damaged girls, down on its luck Appalachia, and 1950's jazz age, Apollo Theater Harlem (and the impermanence of attraction that comes along with that scene).
However, this book has a "what in the hell, why would you ever do that" ending for one of its main characters that weakened the whole thing for me.
For the curious:
But given that that's about three pages of this whole thing, and the other 345 pages are excellent, this is still a very good book. A back cover blurb-er saw echoes of Toni Morrison. I did too. No faint praise for a first book.
However, this book has a "what in the hell, why would you ever do that" ending for one of its main characters that weakened the whole thing for me.
For the curious:
But given that that's about three pages of this whole thing, and the other 345 pages are excellent, this is still a very good book. A back cover blurb-er saw echoes of Toni Morrison. I did too. No faint praise for a first book.
July 9, 2015
I guess I'm in the minority, but I thought this book was actually terrible, and a real chore to finish. Infuriatingly vague on details that matter, preciously specific on the details that don't. Plus deeply troubling "talented tenth" politics. There's amazing art and writing out there about the Great Migration, but this, unfortunately, is not one of those works.
September 16, 2017
From the book jacket: Fourteen-year-old Audrey Martin, with her Poindexter glasses and her head humming the ¾ meter of gospel music, knows she’ll never get out of Kentucky – but when her fingers touch the piano keys, the whole church trembles. Her best friend, Caroline Wallace, daydreams about Hollywood stardom, but both girls feel destined to languish in a slow-moving stopover town in Montgomery County.
My reactions:
I’m about a generation behind these girls, but I was interested in a story set in the late 1950s – an era when I was first becoming acutely aware of popular music and could hardly wait to grow up and join my cousins dancing to Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino records. Audrey and Caroline are in a similar hurry to grow up, to be done with school, and to go out into the world. They desperately want something MORE out of their lives than small town Mt Sterling, KY can give them.
When the book opens Audrey is reeling from the death of her father, in the Korean War. She and her mother live with her Grandpap, who adored his son, and who encourages Audrey to play the piano like her Daddy used to do. Her mother, lost in grief, tries to find solace in a bottle of bourbon. Caroline’s family is still intact; her father, Sonnyboy, has a steady job “down to the ice plant,” while her mother, Mauris, does alterations in the back room of the local department store. But both girls are loners. Neither one deemed pretty or popular, they stick together until ….
Townsend has the two girls take turns narrating, so that several chapters are told from Audrey’s point of view, followed by several chapters from Caroline’s point of view, then back to Audrey, etc. In this way, the reader gets more of the story than either of the girls, who go long stretches without talking to one another, despite their very close friendship as children.
I remember the pain when my best childhood friend seemed suddenly to have “outgrown” me; when our interests diverged and we were no longer exclusively one another’s confidante. My heart broke for both Audrey and Caroline as I witnessed their growing pains.
Despite being able to connect with these characters, at least in theory, I found this a very slow read. It took me 12 days to read the book. I did NOT dislike it, but it just never really captured my attention. Still, Townsend is a talented writer, and some of the scenes she paints are very vivid. I’d definitely read another book by her.
My reactions:
I’m about a generation behind these girls, but I was interested in a story set in the late 1950s – an era when I was first becoming acutely aware of popular music and could hardly wait to grow up and join my cousins dancing to Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Fats Domino records. Audrey and Caroline are in a similar hurry to grow up, to be done with school, and to go out into the world. They desperately want something MORE out of their lives than small town Mt Sterling, KY can give them.
When the book opens Audrey is reeling from the death of her father, in the Korean War. She and her mother live with her Grandpap, who adored his son, and who encourages Audrey to play the piano like her Daddy used to do. Her mother, lost in grief, tries to find solace in a bottle of bourbon. Caroline’s family is still intact; her father, Sonnyboy, has a steady job “down to the ice plant,” while her mother, Mauris, does alterations in the back room of the local department store. But both girls are loners. Neither one deemed pretty or popular, they stick together until ….
Townsend has the two girls take turns narrating, so that several chapters are told from Audrey’s point of view, followed by several chapters from Caroline’s point of view, then back to Audrey, etc. In this way, the reader gets more of the story than either of the girls, who go long stretches without talking to one another, despite their very close friendship as children.
I remember the pain when my best childhood friend seemed suddenly to have “outgrown” me; when our interests diverged and we were no longer exclusively one another’s confidante. My heart broke for both Audrey and Caroline as I witnessed their growing pains.
Despite being able to connect with these characters, at least in theory, I found this a very slow read. It took me 12 days to read the book. I did NOT dislike it, but it just never really captured my attention. Still, Townsend is a talented writer, and some of the scenes she paints are very vivid. I’d definitely read another book by her.
December 18, 2014
Saint Monkey, started out slow for me. But as I started reading more about Caroline and Audrey I couldn't put it down. Caroline and Audrey are two young Black girls growing up poor in Kentucky. They call themselves friends. But, their friendship is really based on loss. Audrey's father dies in the war. Caroline's mother is killed by her father. They are very different. Caroline is reckless. She has the responsibility of taking care of her young sister and her grandmother after her father murders her mother. Audrey is quiet, reads a lot. She learns to play the piano by ear. The book goes from Audrey to Caroline's voices. It takes us from Kentucky to Harlem. We hear names like Count Basie and Thelonius Monk. Audrey's talent takes her away from Kentucky right when she needs it to. The book was very colorfully written. I could imagine the Jim Crow era as it was. The characters came to life. My only complaint is when "bookish" characters like Audrey are painted like they have no backbone and no common sense. Other than that, Saint Monkey surprised me. It's a good historical read.
July 4, 2015
In Mt. Sterling Kentucky where live goes on no matter what happens and the dream of leaving is a fantasy. Caroline Wallace is a young girl who dreams of leaving and hitting it big in Hollywood as a movie actress. Her best friend Audrey Martin dreams of nothing. As fate would have it, Audrey leaves Mt. Sterling for New York city to hopefully find her future in music, with the bands of the time, and the Apollo theatre. Instead she finds a journey of life not a destination. Caroline does not leave Mt. Sterling and finds her destination.
With poetic words, vernacular of Eastern Kentucky, rhythms of the north, and the sage of being free, this book was well written to captive a simple story of what happens to you when you start to actually live another life. Or as the old saying goes "grass is not always greener on the other side."
With poetic words, vernacular of Eastern Kentucky, rhythms of the north, and the sage of being free, this book was well written to captive a simple story of what happens to you when you start to actually live another life. Or as the old saying goes "grass is not always greener on the other side."
March 6, 2014
I liked this book. I wrote about it at Flavorwire: http://flavorwire.com/442688/book-of-...
May 8, 2014
Good writers keep coming from everywhere with all sorts of stories. It's a wonderful thing to experience. Ms. Townsend has burst onto this scene with a crafty literary novel for her maiden voyage.
Essentially a coming of age story focused on the lives of Audrey and Caroline aka Pookie. The novel takes turns alternating between these two voices. Despite starting the girls' narrative at an early age the skillful writing helps to avoid that young adult feel. Her writing is engaging and she has some memorable phrases sprinkled throughout the novel. "The whole world might not be broken, but the right way in it was."
The girls are reared in a small Kentucky town and are united by proximity and tragedy. One incident that impacted Caroline was of such a heinous nature that her ability to soldier on was only because of the superior writing abilities of Ms. Townsend. I can't remember a crime of that nature in any recent past reads. The author however handles this evil doing so deftly, that although you are reading it and understand its' gruesomeness, it is not written in a gory, graphic manner, so she manages to keep the story moving right through this event. That's fantabulous!
Audrey has also suffered a misfortune and attempts to create a closer bond with Pookie with tragedy as the bridge. Pookie however rejects this notion and a lifetime of resentment is built. As the girls grow, their lives take divergent paths, with Audrey moving to the big apple NYC while Caroline is left behind in small town Kentucky, with Hollywood dreams never realized. Audrey writes frequently to Caroline keeping her updated on experiences from NYC but most of these letters go unanswered. She is just wanting for Caroline to share in her success, but Caroline doesn't receive it that way.
When Audrey returns to Kentucky everything is brought full circle and the energy between Audrey and Caroline is clumsy, but was it ever anything else? You will have to read this one to make that determination. It will be a fun and zesty literary ride.
Essentially a coming of age story focused on the lives of Audrey and Caroline aka Pookie. The novel takes turns alternating between these two voices. Despite starting the girls' narrative at an early age the skillful writing helps to avoid that young adult feel. Her writing is engaging and she has some memorable phrases sprinkled throughout the novel. "The whole world might not be broken, but the right way in it was."
The girls are reared in a small Kentucky town and are united by proximity and tragedy. One incident that impacted Caroline was of such a heinous nature that her ability to soldier on was only because of the superior writing abilities of Ms. Townsend. I can't remember a crime of that nature in any recent past reads. The author however handles this evil doing so deftly, that although you are reading it and understand its' gruesomeness, it is not written in a gory, graphic manner, so she manages to keep the story moving right through this event. That's fantabulous!
Audrey has also suffered a misfortune and attempts to create a closer bond with Pookie with tragedy as the bridge. Pookie however rejects this notion and a lifetime of resentment is built. As the girls grow, their lives take divergent paths, with Audrey moving to the big apple NYC while Caroline is left behind in small town Kentucky, with Hollywood dreams never realized. Audrey writes frequently to Caroline keeping her updated on experiences from NYC but most of these letters go unanswered. She is just wanting for Caroline to share in her success, but Caroline doesn't receive it that way.
When Audrey returns to Kentucky everything is brought full circle and the energy between Audrey and Caroline is clumsy, but was it ever anything else? You will have to read this one to make that determination. It will be a fun and zesty literary ride.
August 18, 2014
I first began reading the print version of this novel. I found the poetic language in the first few pages so dense and rich (like the best flourless cake) that I was unable to consume it in very large bites. When the audio version became available, I was able to let the words wash over me while I washed produce and dishes and countertops.
It's as though Jacinda Townsend's story pulled out the part of my brain that I call "my guts," rearranged things a bit, then put it all back in, in the way that only experiencing a time you've never seen through the eyes and lives of two other, disparate, people can.
Allyson Johnson brings out the resonance, sensitivity, liveliness and depth of this story. As a narrator myself, I dream of one day doing what she does here.
It's as though Jacinda Townsend's story pulled out the part of my brain that I call "my guts," rearranged things a bit, then put it all back in, in the way that only experiencing a time you've never seen through the eyes and lives of two other, disparate, people can.
Allyson Johnson brings out the resonance, sensitivity, liveliness and depth of this story. As a narrator myself, I dream of one day doing what she does here.
October 8, 2014
Good literature. Set in 1957. I thought it was just another coming of age story until I got to page 26. I related to so much of what the characters endured.
Here's and example: On page 82 Caroline thinks Audrey acts like a white girl, "like she ain't got the White Kids' used school-books just like the rest of us, handed down to the Montgomery Colored (school) with 'Nigger, can you read this?' written across all the pages in red ink pen." Ouch. Townsend is really good at describing pain.
Thoughtfully and lyrically written. This story has to be read mindfully, not just swallowed without chewing, like fast food.
Here's and example: On page 82 Caroline thinks Audrey acts like a white girl, "like she ain't got the White Kids' used school-books just like the rest of us, handed down to the Montgomery Colored (school) with 'Nigger, can you read this?' written across all the pages in red ink pen." Ouch. Townsend is really good at describing pain.
Thoughtfully and lyrically written. This story has to be read mindfully, not just swallowed without chewing, like fast food.
August 6, 2014
Loved this book. Some of the most beautiful writing I've read in a long time. Deserves 4.5 stars.
September 2, 2014
Gritty luscious novel on par with Hurston and Morrison. I loved it and can't wait to read more of Jacinda Townsend's work.
July 28, 2018
Grade:B-
Jacinda Townsend’s Saint Monkey is the story of two friends growing up in rural Kentucky in the fifties. Narrated by Allyson Johnson and told in alternating first person narrative, Saint Monkey allows readers into the lives of AUdrey and Caroline and their struggle to navigate life, love, family, and friendship. Allyson Johnson’s expert narration in a soft southern accent allows listeners to experience the emotions of the girls. Listeners will have no problem distinguishing the two characters as Caroline learns life gives few breaks and Audrey realizes that dreams may just not be enough. Saint Monkey is a character study that is at times both dark and hopeful but ultimately about dealing with the harsh realities of life as two girls come of age in Kentucky.
Jacinda Townsend’s Saint Monkey is the story of two friends growing up in rural Kentucky in the fifties. Narrated by Allyson Johnson and told in alternating first person narrative, Saint Monkey allows readers into the lives of AUdrey and Caroline and their struggle to navigate life, love, family, and friendship. Allyson Johnson’s expert narration in a soft southern accent allows listeners to experience the emotions of the girls. Listeners will have no problem distinguishing the two characters as Caroline learns life gives few breaks and Audrey realizes that dreams may just not be enough. Saint Monkey is a character study that is at times both dark and hopeful but ultimately about dealing with the harsh realities of life as two girls come of age in Kentucky.
February 27, 2024
Tragic, then uplifting, then soul-shattering. An excellent exploration of friendship, ambition, and love. Every little detail is flailing with character and charm, and the book masterfully twists a dancing POV to make you love and hate and love every character all over again.
Admittedly, there are perhaps too many characters to keep track of, and the ending definitely comes out of left field, but I don’t mind; I’ve never had a book capture my fear of losing connections so accurately. It captures my deepest paranoias so brilliantly. It grabs sadness and hope and shoves it down your throat, too, and its sheer bitterness and its potent sweetness is enough to make me completely forgive it for all its shortcomings.
Phenomenal—a solid 9/10.
Admittedly, there are perhaps too many characters to keep track of, and the ending definitely comes out of left field, but I don’t mind; I’ve never had a book capture my fear of losing connections so accurately. It captures my deepest paranoias so brilliantly. It grabs sadness and hope and shoves it down your throat, too, and its sheer bitterness and its potent sweetness is enough to make me completely forgive it for all its shortcomings.
Phenomenal—a solid 9/10.
September 12, 2018
Other than the horrible ending which seemed to have no rationale behind it I loved this book. It tells the story of Audrey and Caroline, two black girls in 1950's Kentucky. They have a love/hate friendship with much jealousy and bitterness between them, yet their attachment and reach for each other lasts over years. In the background is the Jim Crow south and more hidden racist (and sexist) north. At 17 Audrey, a talented pianist gets a job playing piano at The Apollo in Harlem. Her time in New York is the best part of the book, very compelling. For me this author has a lyrical voice and if it had not all fallen apart at the end I would have given this a very high rating.
August 28, 2017
My rule is to give a book 100 pages to engage me. If It has not done so, I conclude that there is a disconnect between the author's intent and my expectations and that I should move on to the next book on my list. Fortunately, around page 97 Audrey suddenly sprang to life, and somewhat later Caroline seemed real. Shifting points of view has become an often tired literary technique, but Townsend plays Audrey's and Caroline's voices against one another to surprising effect. Music, family, class. and father-daughter issues serve as defining backdrops to the central theme of friendship - its growth, illusions, sustainability, compensations, and fragility.
December 7, 2021
gorgeous gorgeous prose
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November 15, 2023I really enjoyed this book when Audrey goes to New York but I found the characters to be a little inaccessible. However the writing is magnificent.
September 13, 2014
It took me longer than it should've to get through this novel and I skimmed full sections of it after awhile, but I also admire the relationship at the core of it. Caroline and Audrey's friendship feels fairly toxic but the venom that seems to course between them after a time wouldn't be potent if they'd never known a deep love for one another. The book resembles Sula in that way, except Caroline and Audrey's abandonments and betrayals if one another seem far more drastic and are never forgiven. Though it's interesting watching their lives unfurl in different directions, and I liked the shifting narrative voices when they emerged, it was hard to know which character should have my allegiance. They're both endearing and insufferable -- and I guess that's the point. But it got tedious for me, as did long passages of description and time spent in characters I couldn't possible care less about (particularly in the third act).
It's a difficult book for a few reasons, but it's beautifully written overall. (Those long passages descriptive passages and internal monologue are quite lovely at turns.)
It's a difficult book for a few reasons, but it's beautifully written overall. (Those long passages descriptive passages and internal monologue are quite lovely at turns.)
October 3, 2016
I originally selected this book to read because I saw that SOKY Reads (Southern Kentucky Reads) was using it as their One Book One Community Read for this fall. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go down for the author's presentation. I wish I had been able to because : 1. I really enjoyed the book and 2. It turns out that Ms. Townsend teaches at Indiana University and I graduated from there. The story is of 2 young friends in a small Kentucky town. Audrey is 14 and plays piano in her community church. Her friend Caroline wants to do something extraordinary, like be an actress. Audrey is finally discovered by a booking agent who gets her a gig in Harlem where she becomes immersed in the jazz scene and falls in love with a young man who is maybe not what's best for her. Caroline tries visiting Audrey and still hopes to break out of her small town life but ends up selling cosmetics to the other women in her community and continuing the same back road existence she's always lived. The story is a real coming of age tale about these 2 women set against the backdrop of Harlem jazz and the laws of segregation. I thought this was a well written and successful first novel.
October 22, 2015
This book needs an editor. I have no idea how it was published. It has lots of scene but no plot. It reads like a nostalgic reunion of events years after they occurred. "You remember the time..." The snippets of memories never come into a story and the book doesn't have a real beginning, middle, and end. It all stays superficial without diving into emotion and meaning. It could be worked into 2-3 novels if any one thought were developed. I was drawn to read about friendships but the two characters were living parallel to one another more like acquaintances and I wouldn't have called the relationship a friendship. The author seemed to have jammed all the notes she was collecting of phrases to use for a later book and I doubt she has anything left. The most distracting thing is that she kept going into and out of dialect - within the same sentence!!!! Either the character does or does not speak in dialect. Inability to stay in it is poor and the lame attempt should have been edited out entirely.
October 22, 2015
I really didn't care for this novel. I never quite understood the bond between Caroline and Audrey. Wasn't clear to me how their childhood created a bond, as I was lead to believe by reading the dust cover. The author writing style was engaging, sometimes, I felt that there were descriptions or details that had more to do with the author wanting to use certain words or phrases, than enhancing the story line. The beginning of the story dragged on too long and the end was too abrupt. I was left feeling - nothing for either Caroline or Audrey and that was a disappointment. After I read a good book, I think about and reflect on the characters often, not this book. Caroline and Audrey will not be remembered. Shame.
April 13, 2017
A very easy book to pick up & get lost in. The central story (two friends grow up together but have very different life paths) is an old familiar one but the characters & settings are ones you don't see often, at least not in such a complex and multidimensional way as she writes them.
March 9, 2015
I had to borrow this book twice. It took me quite a while to finish it. The Author was too much into grandiose prose for me to appreciate the story line. I might have to find another book by this author to compare.
April 15, 2014
I gave it a chance based on Goodreads reviews but after 1/3 of the book, I put it down. I just could not get into it.
October 26, 2022
3.5 now but im going to sit on it
September 25, 2021
The settings and atmospheres are well-rendered and vibrant. The story never stagnates, and from one sentence to the next, just about anything could happen. And the lines are beautiful.
What I struggled with was two-fold: 1. I don't know the purpose behind Audrey and Caroline's relationship. They were tight as kids and then spend the rest of their lives bitterly and reluctantly loving each other while systematically torturing each other. Since there was no resolution, I have trouble understanding the arc/plot of the characters' lives. 2. I did not have the emotional space for this story when I read it. A blurb on the back says Townsend has a "willingness to steep her characters in heartache without relief" and that is true. There is no relief to their suffering, and paired with my blurry understanding of the purpose of their suffering in the story, I finished the book and wasn't sure what I had read, but knew it was 350 pages of characters' beautifully-written suffering.
In real life, we suffer without a purpose (unless we assign it to some god's mysterious purpose). In a novel, I feel there should be a purpose, and if there was one here, I was not keen enough to catch it.
What I struggled with was two-fold: 1. I don't know the purpose behind Audrey and Caroline's relationship. They were tight as kids and then spend the rest of their lives bitterly and reluctantly loving each other while systematically torturing each other. Since there was no resolution, I have trouble understanding the arc/plot of the characters' lives. 2. I did not have the emotional space for this story when I read it. A blurb on the back says Townsend has a "willingness to steep her characters in heartache without relief" and that is true. There is no relief to their suffering, and paired with my blurry understanding of the purpose of their suffering in the story, I finished the book and wasn't sure what I had read, but knew it was 350 pages of characters' beautifully-written suffering.
In real life, we suffer without a purpose (unless we assign it to some god's mysterious purpose). In a novel, I feel there should be a purpose, and if there was one here, I was not keen enough to catch it.
October 20, 2016
Oh my gosh. Never have I ever been so excited to finish a book and not in a good way. This book took entirely too long to get going and to read. By the end I hated both of the characters. I think this book spent way too much time in exposition and I kept waiting for something to happen for the story to actually get moving and it didn't really take off. I think this could've been told just from the view of Audrey because once she (finally) gets to NYC it mostly becomes about her and this was the most interesting part in my opinion. I feel that there were things that were focused on too heavily, like the expo which was a slog, but then not enough attention paid to other things, like where did August go? Clearly August's mother played a big role, even from a far, but we get no insight into that - why even introduce her at all? It has never taken me so long to read a novel but I know that part of the reason it took so long was because it was slow and uninteresting. I only finished this book because I had already started and was initially trying to give it a good faith effort, but it was work. I waited a long time to read this novel and now I think I might as well have just kept on waiting.
August 13, 2020
Can't lie. Upon reading the first few pages of this novel, I was immediately struck by how beautiful of a writer author Jacinda Townsend is. Her prose seemed to effortlessly paint a poetic picture for the reader to undoubtedly indulge.
Saint Monkey is a coming of age story set in rural Mt. Sterling, Kentucky during the 1950-60's, with some of the novel spanning to New York. The beginning of the novel opens with the introduction of the two main characters, Audrey and Caroline. The novel illustrates their budding friendship that spans years and is tested by unfortunate events.
Although Townsend's writing is quite beautiful, I was disappointed by the overall story. The ending felt undeniably abrupt. So much so, I found myself doubling back pages in my Kindle to make sure I indeed saw the 'Acknowledgments' page, signifying the end of the novel.
Despite the slight hiccups of the story, I enjoyed this novel. Great for those readers who enjoy a good coming of age tale. I rate this 3.5 stars.
Saint Monkey is a coming of age story set in rural Mt. Sterling, Kentucky during the 1950-60's, with some of the novel spanning to New York. The beginning of the novel opens with the introduction of the two main characters, Audrey and Caroline. The novel illustrates their budding friendship that spans years and is tested by unfortunate events.
Although Townsend's writing is quite beautiful, I was disappointed by the overall story. The ending felt undeniably abrupt. So much so, I found myself doubling back pages in my Kindle to make sure I indeed saw the 'Acknowledgments' page, signifying the end of the novel.
Despite the slight hiccups of the story, I enjoyed this novel. Great for those readers who enjoy a good coming of age tale. I rate this 3.5 stars.
July 9, 2020
I wanted to like Saint Monkey more than I did. Townsend is a beautiful writer and there are some gorgeous bits of prose throughout this book. Also, the book offers a detailed, well-researched account of mid-century life in the Jim Crow south and Harlem. Ultimately, though I couldn't stand the toxic friendship between Caroline and Audrey. I often felt like the girls failed to truly understand each other. They make so many assumptions about each other and there's so much name calling and judgment. The world has enough toxic, catty female friendships (if you can even called them friendships) as it is. Why bother reading about one more in fiction?
Ultimately, I didn't quite get what Saint Monkey wanted to accomplish. It could have been an informative, even moving read about the Jim Crow south and/or The Great Migration. I was hoping it to be that book. Instead, I felt all I got was this story about two girls who try too hard in the world and ultimately don't learn a whole lot a long the way but how to hate each other more and more. It's too bad, because there's a lot of gorgeous potential here.
Ultimately, I didn't quite get what Saint Monkey wanted to accomplish. It could have been an informative, even moving read about the Jim Crow south and/or The Great Migration. I was hoping it to be that book. Instead, I felt all I got was this story about two girls who try too hard in the world and ultimately don't learn a whole lot a long the way but how to hate each other more and more. It's too bad, because there's a lot of gorgeous potential here.
December 10, 2020
I love both Audrey's and Caroline's stories and the way their early years formed them. They each have strengths and skills that bring them a level of momentum in life, but they both also suffer derailing tragedies at different points.
For the first half of the book, while the two are mostly still friends, the interplay of their stories is interesting. Each girl's perspective sheds light on and rounds out the other girl's. They each seem to better understand each other than they do themselves. This was great reading.
As they grow apart though, this understanding is lost and their stories separate. They no longer have good perspective on each other. It makes sense, but since each girl still doesn't understand herself very well, a lot more is missing. I wanted more from the last part of the book. It felt like I'd lost the thread of these two as much as they'd lost each other.
For the first half of the book, while the two are mostly still friends, the interplay of their stories is interesting. Each girl's perspective sheds light on and rounds out the other girl's. They each seem to better understand each other than they do themselves. This was great reading.
As they grow apart though, this understanding is lost and their stories separate. They no longer have good perspective on each other. It makes sense, but since each girl still doesn't understand herself very well, a lot more is missing. I wanted more from the last part of the book. It felt like I'd lost the thread of these two as much as they'd lost each other.
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