Play Book Tag discussion

Ann Patchett characters are not always easy to love, but her books are always thought provoking. The Patron Saint of Liars was her debut novel. Rose Clinton married a very nice guy, but she eventually realized she didn’t really love him, and she was restless. She was only really happy when she was driving. When she got pregnant, she didn’t tell her husband or her mother (even though they were close). She got a referral from a priest, and drove all the way from California to Kentucky to a home for unwed mothers. This was the 1960’s when they still had such places. I really liked the back story of the town and the inn that became St Elizabeth’s. The book is told in 3 major sections, each from the pov of a different character. It was very difficult to understand Rose’s actions after the POV change. The last section was my favorite, told from the pov of Rose’s daughter Cecilia. The ending felt unfinished. This is literary fiction after all, a genre which seems to dislike tying up loose ends in big HEA bows. (But my imagination grabbed onto one crucial fact and extended Cecilia’s story several years in the future.) I will round up my 3.5 rating for now, but it might drop down to 3 later on. I’m really looking forward to my book club discussion of this book. We will have a lot to talk about.

Rose becomes very close a nun at the home. This reminded me of the memoirs I read by Ann Patchett during our favorite author challenge. In her real life, she was really close to a nun (a former teacher perhaps) and helped take care of her in her old age. Those two memoirs continue to enrich my reading of her novels.

14 Wishlist tags
19 Coming of age tags