The Patron Saint Of Liars

My first Ann Patchett novel was Bel Canto, and I was hooked. I could see Renee Fleming as the opera singer and wondered why it had not been made into a movie. I assumed Patchett and Fleming were close friends. Then I went on to read The Magician's Assistant. It's odd to describe a book in which nothing much happens as good, but it was. Seinfeld was about nothing much, and it was good too. Then came that stinker of a book State of Wonder where a woman calls her lover 'Mr Fox,' and he calls her by her first name. I read about 20% of it and gave up on it. But I didn't give up on Ann Patchett, and this book make me glad I didn't. I can't believe it's a first novel. Maybe State of Wonder was really her first novel that she pulled out of a trunk after her name had been made. This wonderful book is about something. It is about the unknowing of another person, no matter how intimately you live with them. No matter how you see them every day. The human spirit remains a mystery forever. The book is divided into three sections. In the first we meet Rose. Married and pregnant, she leaves her husband in California, gets in her car drives. She ends up at an old hotel that has been converted into a home for unwed mothers. The mother superior doesn't believe Rose's story about having a husband (all the girls claim to have had a husband), but she takes her in anyway. Rose is different from the other girls. Making herself indispensable in the kitchen, she keeps her daughter, and stays on at the home. The second part is about Son, the only male on the place. All-around handyman and nice guy, he comes to love Rose. He is stunned when Rose agrees to marry him, and give the baby a name. It is his name on the birth certificate. He has secrets of his own, and he doesn't like it when Rose gives the baby the name of his first girlfriend. Part three is told by her daughter, Cecilia. Growing up in an home for unwed mothers is strange enough without being mistaken for one of the unwed mothers by the new girls. Cecilia tries to cope with a distant mother who tolerates her, but doesn't seem to love her. For love she turns to her father and the nuns. This lovely story, told from three points of view, succeeds on every level. I wonder why they don't make this story into a movie. Not enough superheroes I guess, but all the characters are heroic enough for me.

Ann Patchett has a brilliantly straightforward writing style that kept me engaged even as I was first mystified and then frustrated by her characters' failure to face up to the messes they had made. Only after reading several reviews on Amazon was I able to formulate my own opinion of the message. Spoiler alert:: The first section introduces the place: a hamlet in Kentucky known for nothing but the hot spring that is discovered by a farmer whose daughter is cured by the waters healing properties. After a succession of miraculous healings, "Baptist miracles", a developer builds a luxury hotel that draws the rich and famous to partake. The Crash of 1929 dries up much of the flow of paying guests and a drought dries up the spring. But still the hotel serves as a haven for miracle seekers. The Catholic church takes possession, first to use as a retirement home for nuns, then as a home for unwed mothers. The rest of the story can be seen as a succession of pilgrims for whom the hotel, now called St. Elizabeth's, is a refuge from a world they cannot face because of their inability to handle their own lies. The characters are complex, the story intriguing as the unwed mothers and the nuns learn to rely upon each other. The format of three narrators fills in the storyline with depth and creates an urgency for the reader. But I shared with many other reviewers a frustration with Rose who could not love and with her husbands and daughter who could not stop loving her too much. Perhaps the enigmatic title refers to the dependence of the characters on a sign from God through prayers to one saint or another, signs that lead to decisions of desperation, clinging to a microcosmic escape from the tangled web of their lies. The ending, which was deeply unsatisfactory to many reviewers, seems to be a clue to the continuing power of the place to draw in workers who dream of a purpose beyond the untenable life outside.

Ann Patchett writes a well crafted story that meanders through the lives of ordinary people. It’s a very satisfying read.

Some people are a mystery. What they think, what motivates them to act in the way that they do and why they tell the half-truths or lies to those closest to them. The reasons for all of the above are only known to themselves. In Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett, Rose is a mystery. Rose is married to a sweet man, who allows her the freedom to spend all day doing what she loves – driving. For Rose the destination isn’t important, just the journey and the freedom it brings. Rose discovers that she’s pregnant and takes off driving across to the other side of America. She leaves her husband a simple note. Rose heads for St. Elizabeth’s. St. Elizabeth’s is a former hotel, that is run by Roman Catholic Nuns. It is a place where women go to complete their pregnancy, give birth and then give their baby up for adoption. But nothing works out like Rose planned. Rose meets Son, a handyman more than twenty years her senior. She finds a place in the kitchen, helping Sister Evangeline out with the cooking. Sister Evangeline and Rose become close friends, but that’s because Sister Evangeline accepts that Rose will never open up about her past or herself. Rose also meets the kind June Clatterbuck, who owns the land St. Elizabeth’s is on and lives across a field. There’s nothing I could writes in this review to explain the brilliance of this Patron Saint of Liars. The first person perspective is perfect and the changes between the three main characters happens at exactly the right times. The description is ideal, informative and ignites the readers imagination. The pacing, set over a lifetime is impeccable. Each of the characters and their development is superb. Patron Saint of Liars is a pleasurable read, that captivates throughout and will leave the reader wanting more. It is Patchett’s writing at her very best. It would make a blockbuster of a film. I don’t grade reviews, but if I did Patron Saint of Liars would get 12 out of 10. You simply must read this fantastic and life-changing work of fiction. Review soon, Antony

Left me flat

Agree that the main character probably was on the spectrum otherwise she was pretty frustrating. Just thought things might wrap up better at the end.

Was very disappointed with this book. I loved the Dutch House but this did not compare. I couldn't empathise with any of the main characters - particularly Rose who was selfish and cruel. I found all the characters very 1 dimensional and couldn't understand how everyone loved Rose who was just cold and indifferent to the needs of others. I really didn't see the point of the story and found it all very frustrating.