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I Am Margaret
A Saint in the Family
FAITH. FORGIVENESS. FREEDOM.
Fr. Kyle Verrall has lived his life in the shadow of his famous sister, Margaret—and that's fine by him. But after his kidnapping by Reginald Hill, he must learn to cope not only with his physical injuries, but also with his unwelcome new popularity. Meanwhile, Margaret continues her fight for true democracy. But can she practise what she preaches and forgive her oldest enemy?
This volume contains two novellas, A SAINT IN THE FAMILY and PERSISTENCE, which follow on from the events of THE SIEGE OF REGINALD HILL. It also includes five short stories.
PRAISE FOR A SAINT IN THE FAMILY
A very powerful collection. I do not produce a lot of tears, but this volume brought me to tears more than once. Persistence had the deepest impact on me. I have really struggled to forgive my mother. And it was almost 8 years after she passed before I had Masses said for her. It was a book by Theresa Linden, Tortured Soul, which softened my heart, and started a healing process. The story Persistence has softened it a lot more.
STEVEN R. MCEVOY, blogger, BookReviewsAndMore.ca
A fantastic collection of short stories which enriches the I Am Margaret world with touching moments of brotherhood, sacrifice and devotion. I laughed, I cried, it made me think differently about life, death, heaven and hell—what more could you want from a book?
RUTH PASZKIEWICZ
Fr. Kyle Verrall has lived his life in the shadow of his famous sister, Margaret—and that's fine by him. But after his kidnapping by Reginald Hill, he must learn to cope not only with his physical injuries, but also with his unwelcome new popularity. Meanwhile, Margaret continues her fight for true democracy. But can she practise what she preaches and forgive her oldest enemy?
This volume contains two novellas, A SAINT IN THE FAMILY and PERSISTENCE, which follow on from the events of THE SIEGE OF REGINALD HILL. It also includes five short stories.
PRAISE FOR A SAINT IN THE FAMILY
A very powerful collection. I do not produce a lot of tears, but this volume brought me to tears more than once. Persistence had the deepest impact on me. I have really struggled to forgive my mother. And it was almost 8 years after she passed before I had Masses said for her. It was a book by Theresa Linden, Tortured Soul, which softened my heart, and started a healing process. The story Persistence has softened it a lot more.
STEVEN R. MCEVOY, blogger, BookReviewsAndMore.ca
A fantastic collection of short stories which enriches the I Am Margaret world with touching moments of brotherhood, sacrifice and devotion. I laughed, I cried, it made me think differently about life, death, heaven and hell—what more could you want from a book?
RUTH PASZKIEWICZ
355 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 25, 2021
12 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 25, 2021
In the last six years I have read a publication by Corinna Turner exactly 50 times, not counting her contributions to the three Catholic Teen Books anthologies. And one of the stories here appeared in one of those anthologies. So I have read books, novellas and shorty stories by Turner over 60 times now. And I am always excited when I find out that something new is being released. The I Am Margaret book and series is a magnificent piece of fiction, and a warning. And it is dystopian at its absolute best.
I have been thinking about this volume a lot over the last several days. It is a very powerful collection. It brought me to tears. I have been married for 18 years and my wife has only seen me cry a handful of times. I do not produce a lot of tears, This volume brought me to tears more than once.
While reading these stories I was also reading a biography of Saint Isaac Jogues, he actually had his thumb bit off by Native Americans while he was a captive. He went more than 18 months without being able to say mass. But he received special papal permission, a dispensation, to say mass not in the normal way, because of his hands. And this reminds me of pieces of The Siege Of Reginald Hill and a few of these stories that take place after that volume.
The stories in this collection are:
The Underappreciated Virtues of Green-fingered Monsters
Birthday Secrets
An Unexpected Guest: A Novella
Buttons
True to Form
Persistence: A Novella
An Unlikely Comforter
I had read about half of the stories prior to reading this collection. The stories are very moving, especially the alternate version. This story, Persistence, had the deepest impact on me. I have really struggled to forgive my mother. And it was almost 8 years after she passed before I had masses said for her. It was a book by Theresa Linden, Tortured Soul, which softened my heart, and started a healing process. And the story Persistence has softened it a lot more. And I am certain God will use these stories to touch the hearts of all who read them.
At the end of each piece in the collection we are informed how the story came about or what inspired it. C.S. Lewis in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature stated: "It is very rarely that a middle-aged man finds an author who gives him, what he knew so often in his teens and twenties, the sense of having opened a new door." And this book does just that! Both Lewis and Tolkien wrote about story as truth. And the best stories do not just entertain, they impact us after we have finished reading them. This is one of those books. It is a book that will stay with us, it will inspire us, and it will likely change us.
The stories in this collection are deeply moving. They are fiction, and faith based fiction. But they present what might be. This is an excellent addition to the I Am Margaret series, they are strong enough to stand on their own, but when read with the rest of the books in the series it is a story spanning decades. They are stories about faith, family both biological and chosen, and about friendship. Catholic fiction at its best. This is a masterfully written collection from the pen of Turner!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!
I have been thinking about this volume a lot over the last several days. It is a very powerful collection. It brought me to tears. I have been married for 18 years and my wife has only seen me cry a handful of times. I do not produce a lot of tears, This volume brought me to tears more than once.
While reading these stories I was also reading a biography of Saint Isaac Jogues, he actually had his thumb bit off by Native Americans while he was a captive. He went more than 18 months without being able to say mass. But he received special papal permission, a dispensation, to say mass not in the normal way, because of his hands. And this reminds me of pieces of The Siege Of Reginald Hill and a few of these stories that take place after that volume.
The stories in this collection are:
The Underappreciated Virtues of Green-fingered Monsters
Birthday Secrets
An Unexpected Guest: A Novella
Buttons
True to Form
Persistence: A Novella
An Unlikely Comforter
I had read about half of the stories prior to reading this collection. The stories are very moving, especially the alternate version. This story, Persistence, had the deepest impact on me. I have really struggled to forgive my mother. And it was almost 8 years after she passed before I had masses said for her. It was a book by Theresa Linden, Tortured Soul, which softened my heart, and started a healing process. And the story Persistence has softened it a lot more. And I am certain God will use these stories to touch the hearts of all who read them.
At the end of each piece in the collection we are informed how the story came about or what inspired it. C.S. Lewis in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature stated: "It is very rarely that a middle-aged man finds an author who gives him, what he knew so often in his teens and twenties, the sense of having opened a new door." And this book does just that! Both Lewis and Tolkien wrote about story as truth. And the best stories do not just entertain, they impact us after we have finished reading them. This is one of those books. It is a book that will stay with us, it will inspire us, and it will likely change us.
The stories in this collection are deeply moving. They are fiction, and faith based fiction. But they present what might be. This is an excellent addition to the I Am Margaret series, they are strong enough to stand on their own, but when read with the rest of the books in the series it is a story spanning decades. They are stories about faith, family both biological and chosen, and about friendship. Catholic fiction at its best. This is a masterfully written collection from the pen of Turner!
Note: This book is part of a series of reviews: 2021 Catholic Reading Plan!
December 5, 2021
HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THIS BOOK EXISTED.
I LOVE the I Am Margaret series, and I thought that I'd read all of the extras/short stories/novellas that went along with it, but NO I had not and I am SO HAPPY. (If that was incoherent, I apologize--I'm just excited.)
Because this collection centers around Kyle. And if you know about my love for IAM, you know that I LOVE KYLE.
I just...this was so great.
The first few short stories ("The Underappreciated Virtues of Green-fingered Monsters", "Birthday Secrets", "An Unexpected Guest", and "Buttons") were mostly just short and sweet, little snapshots of the characters' lives (although "Birthday Secrets", which I have read before, is a little heavy-handed and meta, I think. Not my favorite ever.)
BUT THEN. We get "A Saint in the Family", the novella, and I am DEAD because I am (paradoxically) extraordinarily happy. If you've read it, that'll sound weird, but it's because I love Kyle SO MUCH and he got what made him happy and <3 <3 <3 it's just perfect. Even though it's a bit sad, too. AND there's the elephant. That part was fun.
"True to Form" was again short and sweet and Good.
"Persistence", the second novella, wasn't my favorite, partially because it's just a way to see alternate history? And I don't like alternate history. But I did like the glimpse at the way the plot changed in one of her previous works as she worked. It's giving me courage to change things in my current WIP.
And "An Unlikely Comforter"...that one I just loved. I really, really did.
4 stars, unstintingly!
I LOVE the I Am Margaret series, and I thought that I'd read all of the extras/short stories/novellas that went along with it, but NO I had not and I am SO HAPPY. (If that was incoherent, I apologize--I'm just excited.)
Because this collection centers around Kyle. And if you know about my love for IAM, you know that I LOVE KYLE.
I just...this was so great.
The first few short stories ("The Underappreciated Virtues of Green-fingered Monsters", "Birthday Secrets", "An Unexpected Guest", and "Buttons") were mostly just short and sweet, little snapshots of the characters' lives (although "Birthday Secrets", which I have read before, is a little heavy-handed and meta, I think. Not my favorite ever.)
BUT THEN. We get "A Saint in the Family", the novella, and I am DEAD because I am (paradoxically) extraordinarily happy. If you've read it, that'll sound weird, but it's because I love Kyle SO MUCH and he got what made him happy and <3 <3 <3 it's just perfect. Even though it's a bit sad, too. AND there's the elephant. That part was fun.
"True to Form" was again short and sweet and Good.
"Persistence", the second novella, wasn't my favorite, partially because it's just a way to see alternate history? And I don't like alternate history. But I did like the glimpse at the way the plot changed in one of her previous works as she worked. It's giving me courage to change things in my current WIP.
And "An Unlikely Comforter"...that one I just loved. I really, really did.
4 stars, unstintingly!
March 29, 2022
A Saint in the Family is Margo's brother Kyle's time to shine. Here, Corinna Turner has collected all of her works concerning Kyle in one place - with new additions that fans of the I Am Margaret series will not want to miss. We get to see Margo and Bane and all their family, grown.
The beauty of these stories of Kyle is how sainthood is presented. The reader sees Kyle both in his service as a priest and as a brother/brother-in-law, uncle, son, and friend. He is REAL. A real man with real weaknesses and foibles and personality quirks who does little things - and big things - with great love and self-sacrifice. That is a gift to all of us aspiring saints.
The beauty of these stories of Kyle is how sainthood is presented. The reader sees Kyle both in his service as a priest and as a brother/brother-in-law, uncle, son, and friend. He is REAL. A real man with real weaknesses and foibles and personality quirks who does little things - and big things - with great love and self-sacrifice. That is a gift to all of us aspiring saints.
November 1, 2022
Great book! I love reading all the little in between moments and seeing what happened after the end of book six. Highly recommend for any I Am Margaret fan!!
August 6, 2024
Great book for crying during - I loved it
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews