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HOLY DAYS
Holy Days is about the sexual, psychological seduction of Gloria Wisher. Spanning 20 years, Gloria's story begins with her life as an innocent 3-year-old in a sensual and loving extended family of Italian-American grandparents in East Boston.
When she is 8 years old, her father and mother move away from this Italian-American enclave to Revere, where her life degenerates into a twisted mix of perverse pleasures and traditional values. Gloria is never safe, even in her own bed. In a dangerous urban environment, Gloria must struggle to find the meaning of womanhood, despite her domineering father and the mother who turns a blind eye to reality.
Together, family and neighborhood conspire to force Gloria to cling like a captive to her abusers. Desperately searching for help, Gloria discovers real friendship with another troubled young girl who lives nearby. For the first time, Gloria receives the genuine love and inspiration she needs to break free of the family and community that threaten her life.
Left with only one path to salvation, Gloria commits a sensational murder that catapults her beyond the role of survivor to feminist icon.
Fearlessly told in Goodwin’s lush, bold style, Holy Days is perhaps the first novel to explore the love and compassion that survival too frequently demands.
As Gloria said, “They tried to kill me in this place of love and horror. They tried to kill me, but they couldn’t because I loved too much.”
When she is 8 years old, her father and mother move away from this Italian-American enclave to Revere, where her life degenerates into a twisted mix of perverse pleasures and traditional values. Gloria is never safe, even in her own bed. In a dangerous urban environment, Gloria must struggle to find the meaning of womanhood, despite her domineering father and the mother who turns a blind eye to reality.
Together, family and neighborhood conspire to force Gloria to cling like a captive to her abusers. Desperately searching for help, Gloria discovers real friendship with another troubled young girl who lives nearby. For the first time, Gloria receives the genuine love and inspiration she needs to break free of the family and community that threaten her life.
Left with only one path to salvation, Gloria commits a sensational murder that catapults her beyond the role of survivor to feminist icon.
Fearlessly told in Goodwin’s lush, bold style, Holy Days is perhaps the first novel to explore the love and compassion that survival too frequently demands.
As Gloria said, “They tried to kill me in this place of love and horror. They tried to kill me, but they couldn’t because I loved too much.”
570 pages, Paperback
First published April 11, 2015
2 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Goodwin
13 booksPatricia Goodwin grew up in an Italian American neighborhood outside of Boston. She was the first in her family to finish high school and go on to college. She graduated cum laude from Salem State College, Salem, MA where she earned a BA in English Literature. In the early days of the natural foods movement, she created and taught macrobiotic educational programs for the East West Foundation, Brookline, MA (now the Kushi Institute, Becket, MA). She is currently a writer and a publicity agent for artists and independents. She promoted Women in the Arts, 2003, which raised funds for H.A.W.C. (Help for Abused Women and Children). In addition to many articles of non-fiction, which have appeared in publications such as The Boston Herald, American Express OnTime, AAA Horizons, The Marblehead Reporter and The North Shore Sunday.
She has three books of poetry, Marblehead Moon (Plum Press, 1993), Java Love (Plum Press, 1997) and Atlantis (Plum Press, 2006). "A Child's Christmas in Revere", a chapter from her novel, Holy Days was published in the anthology, Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America (Seal Press, 2004) She is currently working on another book of poetry, The Housewife, and a novel, Oxygen. Patricia lives with her husband and daughter in an historic seacoast town in Massachusetts.
She has three books of poetry, Marblehead Moon (Plum Press, 1993), Java Love (Plum Press, 1997) and Atlantis (Plum Press, 2006). "A Child's Christmas in Revere", a chapter from her novel, Holy Days was published in the anthology, Under Her Skin: How Girls Experience Race in America (Seal Press, 2004) She is currently working on another book of poetry, The Housewife, and a novel, Oxygen. Patricia lives with her husband and daughter in an historic seacoast town in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 31, 2016
Holy Days, by Patricia Goodwin, is a difficult book. It is a novel that has the unmistakable feel of a memoir. Gloria Wisher is born into an Italian-American family in East Boston, where she feels loved and protected by her large, loving extended family. From this safe nest, she is uprooted when her immediate family moves to Revere, Boston's gritty suburb.
Moving is an uprooting experience for a child at best. Moving from a city to a suburb can be a cultural shock. Growing up an intelligent woman in a family that does not value education for girls is difficult. Becoming a woman during the 1960s was fraught with difficulties and clashes with parental mores and morals. But adding sexual abuse to the mix makes for a toxic environment, one that could easily destroy a young woman in so many ways.
So Holy Days is a triumphant novel at its heart. Goodwin describes the North Shore area, which Gloria explores as she grows old enough to do so, and immediately puts anyone old enough to remember the 60s right back there! There is a caution for the reader: That attractive young girl? The one who, with her girl friend in tow, is laughing and flirting, seemingly without a care in the world? She may be concealing the most shocking secrets - shameful things done to her in her home. And her reactions may be confused as she sometimes experiences pleasure as well as shame, and wonders if there is something wrong with her, if she somehow invites the abuse.
Holy Days stands as a tribute to its author and to all the young girls who have managed to grow up strong despite hideous secrets in their pasts.
Moving is an uprooting experience for a child at best. Moving from a city to a suburb can be a cultural shock. Growing up an intelligent woman in a family that does not value education for girls is difficult. Becoming a woman during the 1960s was fraught with difficulties and clashes with parental mores and morals. But adding sexual abuse to the mix makes for a toxic environment, one that could easily destroy a young woman in so many ways.
So Holy Days is a triumphant novel at its heart. Goodwin describes the North Shore area, which Gloria explores as she grows old enough to do so, and immediately puts anyone old enough to remember the 60s right back there! There is a caution for the reader: That attractive young girl? The one who, with her girl friend in tow, is laughing and flirting, seemingly without a care in the world? She may be concealing the most shocking secrets - shameful things done to her in her home. And her reactions may be confused as she sometimes experiences pleasure as well as shame, and wonders if there is something wrong with her, if she somehow invites the abuse.
Holy Days stands as a tribute to its author and to all the young girls who have managed to grow up strong despite hideous secrets in their pasts.
May 13, 2015
"If Patricia Goodwin were a man, I would most probably not be writing this review. I would be reading it--in the NY Times, the LA times--there would be a possible movie deal. No need to add my name to the list.
But Holy Days, a poetic and sometimes difficult description of growing up in Revere, MA, could not be written by a man. It is a woman's coming of age story. A gifted, intelligent and beautiful woman, surrounded by depression, violence and rape. How she survives to achieve her dreams is worth knowing about as her many perpetrators die in the violent and depressing way that they lived.
It is, in my wide experience of books, a rare book. Why? Because most intelligent people can identify with the protagonist, but they would never be able to endure the environment in which she lives. A rough Jack Kerouac predictably writes "On the Road" and continues the life he was born into. But Gloria Wisher cannot continue into poverty, disrespect, and abuse.
So this is a story of transformation or how one woman climbed out of the dark, dark places she endured, into a place of safety and light. It is a rare story because not many women can do what she did. Nor can they tell the story in the beautiful language of Ms. Goodwin. But unfortunately, every woman can relate to the abuse. And that's what makes this book worth reading." - Amazon Reviews
But Holy Days, a poetic and sometimes difficult description of growing up in Revere, MA, could not be written by a man. It is a woman's coming of age story. A gifted, intelligent and beautiful woman, surrounded by depression, violence and rape. How she survives to achieve her dreams is worth knowing about as her many perpetrators die in the violent and depressing way that they lived.
It is, in my wide experience of books, a rare book. Why? Because most intelligent people can identify with the protagonist, but they would never be able to endure the environment in which she lives. A rough Jack Kerouac predictably writes "On the Road" and continues the life he was born into. But Gloria Wisher cannot continue into poverty, disrespect, and abuse.
So this is a story of transformation or how one woman climbed out of the dark, dark places she endured, into a place of safety and light. It is a rare story because not many women can do what she did. Nor can they tell the story in the beautiful language of Ms. Goodwin. But unfortunately, every woman can relate to the abuse. And that's what makes this book worth reading." - Amazon Reviews
July 15, 2015
This "novel" is 570 pages of worthless, contrived, dribble. My dog barked more profound thoughts when the UPS man came to the door to deliver this book. I will never get that money back, and it would have been better spent on a box set of LazyTown (that show has a better story arc and character development than this author could ever supply). How did this get published? Gloria Wisher is the most one dimensional, cookie cutter character I have ever come across. Most intelligent people can identify that this is an awful work of amateur scribble. Take my advice and read the Berenstain Bears collection instead. You will save time, learn more, and have a more enriching experience. Books like this one make me think that censorship might not be a bad idea.
March 27, 2016
Not an easy book to read. Life can beautiful and brutal, and so it is with this book. The writing is exquisite, and much of the subject matter is hard to take. If you read the whole thing, you're entitled to consider yourself brave, or at least tough. It must have been difficult to write.
It is still beautiful.
It is still beautiful.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews