The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Later, the nuns were moved to Ohio and the Hotel Louisa remained empty for some time before it became a Roman Catholic home for unwed mothers. It was shortly used as a home for nuns to live out their days. When the spring dried up and the stock market crashed in 1929, the hotel was given to the Catholic church and renamed Saint Elizabeth’s. The hotel was opened in 1920 as Hotel Louisa in honor of Lewis’ wife, Louisa Nelson. Upon discovering that there wasn’t a hotel in Habit, Lewis Nelson commissioned a hotel to be built to create space for all the visitors seeking out aid from the spring. The healing qualities of the spring attract visitors from afar including the Nelsons, wealthy horse breeders from Lexington. In 1906, George Clatterbuck witnesses a miracle as his daughter, June Clatterbuck, is healed by water from a spring in the back pasture of their property. The book is divided into four sections: Habit, Rose, Son, and Sissy As she watches girls give birth and disappear from the home, she must think of her own plans and what the future has in store for her. She leaves for Kentucky and takes residence at a home for unwed mothers that is owned by the Catholic Church.

The novel focuses on a young woman named Rose who abandons her life in California as a married woman. Patchett completed the manuscript for The Patron Saint of Liars during a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

This is the first novel published by Patchett, and it was selected as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Nevertheless it does provide an ultimate resolution that it would be a shame to miss.The Patron Saint of Liars is a 1992 novel, written by Ann Patchett. The ending may be less than satisfying but then the entire story is. I could have bailed out several times along the way, but I kept coming back, intrigued to know 'what happened next.' I'm glad I lasted to the end. The story is rich in symbolism that remains subtle throughout. The weaving together of their lives is honest and believable. Patchett has taken difficult subject matter and woven a story through the viewpoint of three characters, each a unique voice. That said, it is well-written and well-crafted. But there is just no getting around the fact that it is a sad story. It would have been helpful to have shown the reason for this more clearly - certainly the ending doesn't do it. While there are many characters that evoke sympathy from the reader, the book overall is a depiction of one unfortunate character after another passing through life with their own struggle, each isolated in a unique way.

I dislike books where there are no likable characters - unfortunately this is one. Well-crafted, Painful But Worth Finishing

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett