The Patron Saint of Liars: A Novel (P.S.) Reviews

• Lovely and lyrical

  
  By A2ODBHT4URXVXQ on 2003-07-19
  This is Patchett's first novel, and she's gotten better and better. If I hadn't read Bel Canto before this one, I'd have awarded 5 stars.
  Divided into 3 parts, the book spans the lives of its three main characters: Rose, a woman with 'issues' who has trouble attaching to people but tries to do her job in life as well as she's able. Son, Rose's 2nd husband, is a giant of a man who is damaged by a tragedy and finds a place for himself as handyman in a 60's home for unwed mothers. And Cecelia, named after a tattoo on Son's arm of his first love, damaged by her weird upbringing but a complete person nonetheless, thanks to the mothering of the 'saint' in the story,, a clairvoyant nun who mothers them all.
  I loved this book.
  
  

• Stupid and Corny

  
  By on 2002-04-14
  Rose, the protagonist of "The Patron Saint of Liars" seems to have an answer for all of life's problems and it always seems to be the same...running away. Rose seems to think that out of sight is definitely out of mind.

  When we meet Rose, she is a very confused, Catholic woman who realizes after some years of marriage (and despite the fact that she's pregnant), that she simply doesn't love her husband anymore. Perhaps she never did. Rather than getting help from her local priest or even a marriage counselor and, even short of confiding in her husband (about her lack of love for him or her pregnancy), Rose does what Rose does best...she simply leaves.

  With no destination in mind and no money (Rose's preferred method of travel), Rose ends up in a home for unwed mothers in Kentucky. She lies to the nuns about her family and eventually meets Son, the handsome, charismatic handyman at the home. All the pregnant girls are in love with Son, but of course, it is Rose who ends up snaring him...and marrying him. The fact that Rose already has a husband is simply glossed over. This is a woman who doesn't want to be bothered with details.

  Fifteen years later, Son is a good father to Cecilia, the daughter that isn't really his...at least in a biological sense. Whether Rose is a good (second) wife and mother, is a more subjection question.

  Rose and Son have inherited the mansion belonging to the founder of the home and while both Son and Cecilia are happy to live there, Rose chooses instead to live in Son's small cabin. It seems, for reasons not made completely clear, that this woman simply can't bear life in a mansion with her gorgeous husband and daughter. Strange? Maybe for you and I, but definitely not for our Rose. She seems to feel a compulsion to do everything more than just a bit off-key.

  Complications arise when Rose receives a letter from her first, and real, husband. It won't take a very astute reader to guess what Rose does next and it gives nothing of the plot away to say that yes, she does. She leaves.

  This is a very forgiving book, however, and it ends on a very cliched note...with a miracle. A hot spring that had been dormant since the 1930s begins to bubble and flow. And all due to Rose, no doubt!

  To say that this book has unlikable characters is putting it mildly. Rose is the most selfish and self-centered character I've encountered in a long time, in fiction or in real life. Her propensity for running away was as tiresome as a child's temper tantrum and when she finally did decide to face something she, herself, had created, her motivation for doing so was vague and cliched. She's the type of woman anyone with any sense would just love to slap across the face while telling her to grow up and count her blessings!

  Son was just as bad. He was a nice person, but he may have been a little "too nice." The fact that he took all of Rose's stupid antics without much complaint at all was beyond belief and made me actively dislike him. Cecilia was a brat, but here, at least, we could understand why.

  There really wasn't much substance to this book. I can't for the life of me understand why it was even published, let alone made into a television play. I've seen the television play and for those of you who are wondering, no, the book isn't more fleshed-out. It's every bit as bad.

  There are more good books in this world than any one of us will ever be able to read. This isn't one of them. Do yourself a favor and skip it.
  
  

• filled with pain, but full of grace

  
  By A2FEGRJQNU51P9 on 2005-04-20
  "The Patron Saint of Liars" is the debut novel of author Ann Patchett. Patchett has also written the extraordinary "Bel Canto." This novel, originally published in 1992 was the announcement of a major new talent in literature. The story she tells is a simple one, but filled with grace and written with skill. In the 1960's, pregnant, Rose Clinton leaves her husband in California with nothing but a note saying that she is unhappy and that he should not try to find her. She has no intention of coming home. Her destination is in Kentucky: St. Elizabeth's home for unwed mothers. It is where women from all over go to give birth and give up their children. It is a Catholic home in a Baptist town. Rose does not believe that she can be a good mother to her child and that she shouldn't be a mother. Not now. Perhaps not ever.
  
  The novel is told in three sections. The first section is told from the perspective of Rose. Through her eyes and with her words we learn about why she left California, how she ended up at St. Elizabeth's and what that experience was like. Patchett writes Rose so well that when her section ended I couldn't imagine that the next section of the novel could possibly be as good as what it was that I just read. Section two is told by Rose's husband. The final section of the novel is given to Rose's daughter. "The Patron Saint of Liars" is a remarkable novel. It is filled with insight into the characters and it seems at times also into our own lives. This isn't a story of faith, but it is also filled with a sense of grace and healing at all turns, even when the characters are facing personal difficulties.
  
  With "Bel Canto" I knew that Ann Patchett was a talented author and I wanted to experience her other novels. After "The Patron Saint of Liars" it is clear that Patchett ranks among my favorite authors. She doesn't slam the reader with hard hitting slamming dialogue, but rather allows that sense of grace and healing which is so much a theme of the novel come out in nearly every sentence. As a first novel this is even more remarkable as accomplished authors would be fortunate to write a novel as beautiful as this. I would give "The Patron Saint of Liars" my highest recommendation.
  
  -Joe Sherry
  
  

• Left me sad

  
  By A39RITJ1S8QK0Q on 2005-03-10
  I am a new Patchett fan. I was blown away by Bel Canto, loved Taft, and am saving Magician's Assistant. But I found Patron Saint of Liars to be, ultimately, just too terribly sad and melancholy. And I saw no redemption in the story at all. Well written, sure but . . . what was the point? I felt like I was being told some kind of parable that I failed to see the point of. Okay, WARNING: READ NO FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT THE PLOT TO BE SPOILED FOR YOU. Some reviewers have expressed puzzlement over the Rose character. I thought it was puzzling how people kept falling madly in love with her--she was such a cold fish! Her daughter I could understand, but why such extraordinary devotion from her 2 husbands and Sr. Evangeline? The loneliness of Son--and in the end, the loneliness in the portrait of Thomas Clinton--was just devastating. And I also felt there was a certain spiritual tragedy in the conclusion. It was Cecilia's right to know about her father, and for that matter, Thomas had a right to know too. But both Son and Sister Evangeline were, at that point, too terrified of losing Cecelia, so they kept the fact of her genetic parentage hidden, robbing her of her own history, and cheating poor Thomas who really went away with nothing. Those two very sympathetic characters--Son and Sister Evangeline--in the end caved into their own desperate emotional needs, and placed those needs ahead of Cecilia's ultimate best interests. So it goes; I guess when people are vulnerable and desperate, that's what they do. But the whole picture is so darn sad. What the heck are they doing spending their lives at St. Elizabeth's in the first place--especially Son? Couldn't he get over his guilt over the first Cecilia? Or has the power of the ancient healing spring turned evil and voracious?
  
  

• A bold tale, with no compromises

  
  By A19MSXAB0CUFD4 on 2005-06-05
  Patchett takes the reader through the painfully honest, searingly personal account of how the life of Rose--an interminable escapist--impacts the lives of those around her.
  
  The novel draws its strength in part from Patchett's ability to tell her story from multiple perspectives: a single mom, daughter and second husband. Each point-of-view feels as fresh and true-to-character as the last.
  
  If you're looking for a tidy, happy fairy tale ending, look elsewhere. Patchett's characters will make you love them, hate them, and think deeply about your own relationships and secrets--very much a must read.
  
  
• "Everything else in the world gets modern...
  By A2ZHBGPYUOFTZG on 2001-04-09
  But babies just stay the same." So says Sister Evangeline, a nun who has worked for most of her life at St. Elizabeth's, a Catholic home for unwed mothers.

  Sister Evangeline usually doesn't get to see the babies - the mothers are taken to Owensboro and they are then given up to adoption. But one day, one mother who comes to St. Elizabeth's breaks all the rules. This woman is Rose, a married woman who drove from California to birth her baby and then give her up, because she knew she couldn't be the mother it needed. But when the time comes, she chooses to follow another path, and keeps her child and stays on at the home.

  Patchett's books is divided into three chronological stories of Rose's life at St. Elizabeth's - told by Rose, her second husband Son, and her daughter Cecilia. Throughout the book, the language is lyrical, helping to set the scenes where the plot is carried out. In the end, perhaps none of the characters are truly sympathetic. But they are all memorable, and ultimately we perhaps come to realize that no one with a story to tell is completely sympathetic. Overall, I found this book to be a lovely read.
  
  

• An Almost Wonderful Book
  By A3MW7FPOSMW5SF on 2002-01-13
  First, Patchett can write very well--she carries you right along on a beautiful stream of words--so she is a joy to read no matter what else you might say about her. What I would say however is that while this is a really good book, she gets better in later books. It is probably not fair to judge this book by what she accomplishes later--but ah, we are human - and so we do unfair things. Just like Patchett's characters. I like her characters...not personally but as literary devices. They are complex. They are not presented in neat little packages so that we, the readers, are given a complete overview of who they are and why they do what they do. They are often contradictory and we have to keep asking why are they doing this -or that. I think we look for characters that are easy to understand because we are so desperate to try and make sense out of the world-and we are hoping that literature will help us do that. But I think good literature helps us see how complicated it really is and that there are no simple answers about why people do what they do. So Patchett gives us characters that make us crazy based on the decisions they are making-but who are good people, regardless of their decisions. We realize in the process that people do not have to do specific things to be good people-and that we don't really know -and don't have to know why a person makes the decisions they do- you can still care about them. Why, for instance, would a married woman, with a husband who adores her abandon him and go to a home for unwed mothers. Why would a woman who adores her mother decide to never communicate with her mother again? You read along saying to yourself-no! Don't do that. But she does it and, she is still a good person-a deeply good person-with a scar that is never explained to us but that drives her and diverts her-and we don't have to know and we have no right to judge. I guess my very favorite thing about Patchett is not that her characters are complex, contradictory and allusive but it is in the relationships Patchett builds between her characters--they are not relationships we recognize. Love between men and women may or may not be romantic. The love of a mother for a child does not have to fit into a cookie-cutter--all good or all bad. Loyalty maybe demonstrated by non-action as well as action. We may choose to move on-or stay-in any relationship or place but it won't change who we are. I think Patchett is masterful--here and in her other books--at creating these 'non-standard' relationships--and in the process broadening our thinking about what it means to be human. And while I like her later books better than this one--and I imagine it isn't fair to judge this book by her later work--I am still doing it...so this one gets four stars -- primarily because her others deserve five.
  
  
• Ridiculous book
  By A23EVBHGJ50K17 on 2006-02-17
  Everyone loves Rose, the first narrator of this story and the central character in the book. Her mother loves her, her first husband, Sister Evangeline, her best friend, her second husband, and her daughter. The only people with any real reason to love this woman are her mother and daughter, both of whome she abandons completely to work as a cook in an unwed mother's home for almost no pay for 15 years without a vacation or ever having dinner at home alone with her family. She is completely unlovable in that the only feeling she ever expresses is toward her mother. She says she misses her everyday. So why does she never go back to see her before she dies? Why does she never share with her the granddaughter that she took away from her? Rose's idea of fun is to drive aimlessly, rent a hotel room on the coast, sit on the bed for five minutes, and drive all night to be home to the husband she doesn't love by morning. It's idiotic. Apparently this episode was so much fun to Rose that 15 years after it happened she relates it to her daughter as oh yes, it was so much fun. Sounds like a blast. She can't even carry on a conversation, much less show any tenderness or affection. It makes the people around her who love her so much seem ridiculous. Son can barely stand to go into the kitchen at St. Elizabeth's after she leaves because he misses her so much, even though she never considered his feelings at all when she named her child Cecelia against his wishes because it held such a painful memory for him, and when she left him to go live by herself in the small cottage. Also Sister Evangeline confides in Cecelia that she misses Rose so much she can hardly bear it. Why? She was a humorless, inconsiderate (to put it mildly), cold-hearted bore. Cecelia is the only one totally frustrated by her mother, as she should be, but even she accepts her behavior in the end. It was a well written book that you thought might lead somewhere but went absolutely nowhere, like Rose. When she leaves you wonder what new relationships is she striking up that she could not care less about now? I won't read Bel Canto or the Magician's Assistant. This book was foolish in the extreme and completely pointless.
  
  
• A sensitive, moving story
  By on 2002-03-28
  The Patron of Saints is a book chosen for our monthly book club meeting. I had never heard of the author before so knew not what to expect. The story is written with much feeling. I loved the style of the book. Breaking the story up into three sections, Rose, Son and Cecilia, gave the reader an insight into each character. I loved the story - it brought out many emotions while reading it. I was angry at Rose, sad that she was the way she was - loved the character of Son - he was such a good man - and sad for the daughter who could not feel the love of her mother. I also kept thinking of the husband Rose left behind and the fact that he would never know his child and the mother Rose loved so deeply but betrayed so completely because she left her. As a mother myself I couldn't help but feel the pain that Rose brought to everyone in her life. This is a really good read. I look forward to reading the other books this author has written. I know this will definitely be a great book to discuss at our book club meeting. I highly recommend it!
  
  
• Evocative
  By A3IVJV38QGE5QY on 2004-07-06
  I didn't want this book to end - I wanted to keep reading the inner monologues of Rose and Cecilia and Son. What better compliment or recomendation is there about a story? What captured me was the vulnerability and honesty, the unflinching self-evaluation of the characters. I loved the relationships, the language, the almost tangible landscape. Some moments between Rose and Cecilia, Son and Cecilia - were so rich and so raw - I had to look away from the page for a moment. That's writing worth reading - and sharing!
  
  
• A Real Novel
  By A30DBZ1ZH5LVZJ on 2004-04-22
  This is the kind of contemporary novel I yearn for, yet seldom find. Everything that happens in this novel is unexpected and inexplicable, yet powerful and magical. Detail is complex, as is theme. I so loved reading it that I drew it out for days because I did not want the novel to end. Lovely.
  
  
• Regrettable Rose
  By A24L4YRDNQ1U91 on 2004-05-18
  The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett is well written, but not exactly exciting. The story line was inventive and seemed to have a lot going for it, but I kept expecting something to happen that would somehow complete it. Nonetheless, each of the characters in the novel, especially the ones who had a narrating section, was very well developed.
  I think that the author had a way of connecting herself with each of the characters so that they seemed real. Even the characters that had relatively minor roles were very tangible, like someone that every reader would have met at some point in their life. The main character, Rose, however, somehow made the novel feel incomplete because of her emptiness as a person. The fact that she was such a secretive character, even up until the end, left me feeling unsatisfied. Her personality is sympathetic yet despicable at the same time. Overall, I feel that the novel was passable, granted that it was Patchett's first novel. I would recommend this book for a light read, but not if you want to get something lasting out of it.
  
  
• Complex yet ultimately disappointing
  By A23G5KD2H54RB3 on 2004-08-20
  I have read other reviews of this book and feel as if I must have missed something along the way. I do think the book was written well and it had some high points but all in all I found the story to be disappointing. I realize that human beings are not categorically the same and we have to allow for behavior we don't always comprehend but I felt like Rose's character was just not developed enough. I kept wanting to know what was driving her to behave as she did. She leaves one loveless relationship where her mother was present in her life to enter another loveless relationship where she was cut off from her mother whom she loved deeply. There didn't seem to be any kind of explanation for such bizarre behavior which makes the book somewhat unsatisfying to me. Perhaps there are those who find this thought provoking and stimuating but I would need a little more character development to get to that point. I must admit that Rose left me feeling very annoyed and frustrated, so if that is the mark of a well-written book, then I guess it was so. I just thought the story had so much more to offer if the author had opened up more and allowed other things to flow. All in all, I found the book left me empty and alone with Rose.
  
  
• endearing characters need not apply
  By on 2000-01-28
  I couldn't figure out why she waited until she was pregnant to walk away - then couldn't figure out why she married Son - then after marrying so she could keep her baby, she deserts her daughter (in more ways than one). There just were no characters that I particularly liked in this book, except maybe the aged nun who just kept doing her thing. I never felt any emotion and none of the characters seemed to either. It was no more than a story of a woman whose life continues to go wrong and never gets any better.
  
  
• A Rose by any other name would stay put.
  By on 1998-12-02
  Themes throughout the book - Those Who Stay and Those Who Leave, resonate, particularly through Son's narrative. The placement of the story is unique and offers a look at those who can neither stay nor leave, but are simply waiting. But while I was touched by sections of the story (particularly through Son's narrative), I was frustrated by Rose's actions. I reread her narrative and had a difficult time understanding the extremeness of her actions - what function in her past told her to run instead of facing those who loved her - and what would catapult her into the life she chose to lead. Other than that, the novel is lovely, soft and warm and sad. There's a lot to discuss. I look forward to reading more Patchett.
  
  
• Beautiful
  By AUC18WUW3HPF on 2005-04-23
  I read Bel Canto and was blown away by Ann Patchett. Such heart-breakingly beautiful writing, I wouldn't care if she was writing about the mating habits of slugs because I know her writing would make it wonderful. I followed Bel Canto with Patron Saint of Liars and was not disappointed, only affirmed. She quickly became one of my favorite authors. I could see the clouds rolling lazily over Habit, Kentucky. I could smell the grass. I didn't want it all to end.
  
  
• Why Do People Love It?
  By A195DW2IBQ41UM on 2006-01-05
  This book got great reviews and was recommended to me by someone whose taste I trust, but I've got to say, I just don't understand its appeal. It starts out as mildly intriguing, and some of the scenes with the unwed mothers in the first section are evocative, but the lovably twinkly and clairvoyant old nun is just too saccharine to bear, and the narrator of the middle section, salt-of-the-earth gardener Son, is not only too good to be true, he's also deathly boring--a dull-witted drone. I've read Bel Canto and The Patron Saint of Liars only confirms my belief that Ann Patchett's novels are overrated.
  
  
• I would like a different ending...
  By A1VK8ELQO6RZA8 on 2006-03-04
  I didnt think the book was bad until the further I got. I could understand why Rose decided to leave California. I was glad that she decided to keep the baby. Even when she married Son I thought for sure that she would finally grow to love someone, including her daughter. The fact that she remained so flat and uncaring really bothered me. I would have loved to see Thomas show up with no warning and finally see all the truth come out and see some resolution for all the caracters that Rose touched. I almost felt that Patchett lost her steam, and found it easier to let Rose disappear and end the book than to deal with what was really happening. At the very least, I would have liked an explanation from Rose at the end as to why once a again she couldnt stay and deal. As far as being a Saint, I didnt see any redeeming quality about Rose for that kind of title. It was frustrating and disappointing. Its the kind of book that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
  
  
• Inspiring exploration of mother/daughter relationships
  By A3FBVK0QNL7MSM on 1998-05-26
  Setting...a metaphor for the gift of birth, rebirth, love...Rose is an unforgettable literary character. Her choices make sense to her but she causes so much pain and fall-out. Overall, this novel is a masterpiece. I will reread and listen to audiotape. Much to learn about the journey of human experience. A model for a study of archetypes. Patchett equals Anne Tyler.
  
  
• A gem of a story
  By A17TPT3FWAE5T1 on 2001-11-22
  Ann Patchett's ability to inhabit her characters' minds is stunning...In The Patron Saint of Liars, she is (in order) the wife, the husband, and the child, each of the book's three sections building upon the others, moving the story along chronologically while adding layers to each of the three main characters. All of this technical bravura, however, appears to exist solely to allow Ms. Patchett to tell us her stories. And, The Patron Saint of Liars is a wonderful, intricate story, of Rose, who refuses to believe that she is worthy of happiness and keeps running to evade the truth, Son, the man who accepts her and her child with open-hearted love, and Cecilia, the daughter she is afraid to love. Among the host of supporting characters, each fully sketched and colorful, Sister Evangeline stands out most clearly, an elderly nun who has little cooking ability and unusual powers of prophecy even though she sometimes appears unaware of what is happening before her eyes. As the book draws to a close, Patchett allows the reader to feel a bit smug in understanding what is happening to Sister Evangeline, even though the good Sister seems unaware of it herself. Throughout the book, Patchett gives the reader full warning what will happen eventually, but it makes no difference...
  
  
• A Letdown
  By A1L1NRM6YQHBKC on 2006-09-05
  I read and enjoyed Bel Canto last year. I thought Bel Canto was interesting, thought-provoking, and well-written. I was disappointed in The Patron Saint of Liars. I needed more from this book. The first third of the book is narrated by Rose, the main character. She did not give me enough reason for her to leave her life in California. She did not indicate that she tried to improve her life before leaving. She seemed to live her life like she had no control over outcomes. This continued throughout the book. If Rose can't explain her actions, I wish someone could. And no one did.
  
  Rose does not take control over her life in Kentucky. Instead she passively falls into another loveless marriage. Again, she doesn't try to salvage this marriage and take control of her fate.
  
  I could find few redeemable qualities in the main character and I did not feel her actions were adequately explained. When the narration shifted, I never got more explanation or learned to like Rose more. If anything, I liked her less.
  
  While I enjoyed the characters and narration of Son and Cecelia, I was still let down by this book. I was especially disappointed in the lackluster ending. I don't need book endings to be tied up neatly with a bow, but I would have liked more resolution.
  
  
• A Sad Sweet Fragile Story
  By on 1996-11-27
  I had an ache in the pit of my stomach for the entire story. I haven't read such a sweet sad fragile story in a long long time. Its rare that an author (and a first-time one at that!) can write about human failures and human hopes so eloquently at the same time. Not once during the story did I stop hoping for a reversal of character. A truly wonderful story . . .
  
  
• Good discussion book
  By on 2003-12-10
  This book is well written and held my interest, but I must say up front that the overall air of the book is melancholy. My book group is reading this book right now, and I know it will provide for a lively discussion. The setting, a home for "unwed mothers" in rural Kentucky, is brought to life clearly and beautifully. The two main characters, Rose and Son, are interesting and unusual. The book reveals how the choices they make when they are young stay with them the rest of their lives and are passed into the life of the child they raise together. The weakest feature of the book for me was that I had trouble believing that Rose and Son would really make some of the life decisions that they did.
  
  
• Enigmatic First Novel
  By A28LE04Y64VKND on 2007-01-11
  Patchett's novel is neatly divided into the three separate internal monologues of Rose, Son and Cecilia. Even though Rose's monologue takes up the majority of the book, the reader knows the very least about her, and she frustratingly remains an enigma from start to finish. Rose, the daughter of a very loving and devoted mother and of a father who died in a car accident when she was only three, makes impulsive decisions which have devastating consequences for those she leaves in her wake. She married Thomas, a man she doesn't love and takes off for parts unknown when she discovers she is pregnant. She abandons Thomas, her mother and her life in California, only to end up in the 1960's at St. Elizabeth's, a home for unwed mothers, where she inexplicably marries the much older handyman, Son, who raises her daughter as his own. Ultimately, Rose abandons both Son and daughter Cecilia both physically and emotionally, but the reader never gets a handle on the reasons for Rose's inablity to make meaningful and emotional connections with others. Other than the fact that Rose is physically beautiful, it is a mystery why Thomas, Son and Sister Evangeline have all fallen in love with her. Her daughter is the only one who confronts her mother about her indifference and inability to love, but to no avail. One gets the sense that Rose spends all those years as an unpaid cook in St. Elizabeth's as some kind of weird penance for abandoning Thomas and her mother, although this is never made crystal clear in any way. Rose seems more like a cardboard character because she has no redeeming qualities and the reader is never given any substantial insights into what makes Rose tick.
  Son also abandons his family in Tennessee, and he too stays at St. Elizabeth's as a sort of penance to assuage his guilt over feeling responsible for Cecilia's drowning. He is a good man who has given up his family and his past, and although he remains emotionally disconnected from his wife Rose, he devotes his life to nurturing his daughter Cecilia, whose name he fought against, but Rose insists on that name because that would explain the presence of the tatoo on his arm with Cecilia's name. Son has his daughter's birthdate tatooed right under the name of his dead childhood sweetheart, and the lie is complete.
  St. Elizabeth's clearly has some symbolic significance in this novel, although that is not made crystal-clear at any point either. The hotel-turned home for unwed mothers is built on property under which once sprang a miraculous hot spring that had healing powers. Do Rose and Son go to Saint Elizabeth's to be healed or are they incomplete individuals who are unable to face the past and move on in a healthy way with their lives? At least Son has found a purpose in life - to be a good father to Cecilia. Rose continues to abandon those who love her right to the very end of the novel, so there is no growth or redemption there.
  What truly makes sense in this novel is that Sister Evangeline, who plays good nun to Sister Corinne's bad one, is the novel's patron saint of liars. It seems everyone who comes to St. Elizabeth's has secrets. The first thing the girls do when they get there is to lie to Sister Corinne that their husbands died in a car accident. Sister Evangeline, the resident seer, offers love and acceptance to all the liars who pass through St. Elizabeth's over the years. St. Elizabeth's seems to exist apart from the world at large, and Rose, Son, Cecilia, June, and Sister Evangeline seem to form a dysfunctional family of sorts in this isolated environment. The girls have their babies and leave. It is never clear to the reader why Son and Rose have gotten "stuck" in such an odd and isolated place.
  This is a fairly quick read and the prose is sophisticated. The characters in this novel will not stay with me, whereas the characters in Patchett's later novel, Bel Canto, still resonate ,although I read it several years ago. Clearly, Patchett has honed her craft in Bel Canto, but Patron Saint of Liars is still a very acceptable read, if only for the questions it leaves unanswered.
  
  
• Very good, but eventually disappointing.
  By A1N2IG75ZK5HRT on 2004-04-14
  I enjoyed all of the characters, Son, Rose, Sister Evangeline, etc. I loved the way the plot was moving and how the characters were developing, as well as how the author used the different view points of each character to tell the story as it moved along, so as to keep the story fresh. When I got to the ending, however, I was incredibly disappointed. So much so that the book was ruined for me. The fact that Rose could have left St. Elizabeth's where she seemed to be happy, and Son and Cecilia didn't even try to go after her just didn't seem realistic to me. I also just lost all respect for Rose because she could have done that. I had hoped that she would have matured enough to finally be able to realize and value people's feelings, but apparently not.
  
  
• Disappointed
  By A3663AFO6TJZUT on 2006-08-12
  I eagerly looked forwatrd to this book . I had read Bel Canto and was blown away by the writing of Ann Patchett. I agree with all the reviewers who were disappointed as I was. I didn't connect with any of the characters and the writing was good but not outstanding. The ending was weak and the majority of the book was flat. I had read Patchett's Truth and Beauty which I thought was well written and more coherent than the Patron Saint. All in all, even though I wasn't imnpressed by this book I will read Magician's Assistant, because I want to find that beautiful author of Bel Canto again.
  
  
  
• Confusing
  By A1BI8PUEHA5CHW on 2007-11-18
  The only reason why I picked this book up was to read it for a book club. I have "Bel Canto" in one of my boxes and have tried to read it before but just could never get into it. After reading "Patron Saint of Liars" ~~ I am not so inclined to pick it up. I probably will read it ~~ it just won't be anytime soon.
  
  The writing itself is lyrical. The story is not. It is very confusing and to be honest, I don't like people like Rose in real life so reading about her and her "secrets" didn't really enthrall me. Rose is probably one of the most selfish and least conflicted character I can think of at the moment. She finds out she's pregnant and drives away from her husband and her mother without a word. She ends up at St. Elizabeth, a home for girls who got pregnant in the day when having a baby out of wedlock was taboo. She stays even after her baby was born, married the caretaker, Son, and together they raised Cecilia. Sounds like a great story, right? It's not. It is one of the most tedious stories out there. Rose is loved by all but she loves no one.
  
  Son's story was mentioned too and he is a weak character in spite of his height and weight. The only redeeming factor I can see in him is that he loves Cecilia whom he raised as his own child but isn't. He was the one who took care of Cecilia when she cried or needed a hug. Helplessly in love with Rose, he took care of her daughter. Though he betrayed Cecilia at the end and ensared her with lies to keep her close.
  
  Cecilia is the only honest character in this novel. She is also the most realistic one as well. Her story is the one that lingers in my mind after the last page has been turned. Her story is regrettable as well as unforgetable. After reading about Rose and Son, the reader can't help but feel anger and pity for Cecilia's life and how it turned out. After all, the very people who are supposed to love her the best turn out to be liars.
  
  I know this novel got a lot of rave reviews and I am disappointed that I am not one of them. It is written well with the stories of three characters entertwined together in a way that keeps the reader reading, but it is so incomplete and shallow. There is something missing from this book and I want to say it's the plot but it's not that simple. The stories are sad and depressing. I am not a fan of liars and reading about how people make a mess of their lives doesn't make me want to read it ~~ there's enough drama in my own life to make me want to escape into something else. And that something else is definitely not this novel.
  
  11-19-07
  
  
• a masterpiece
  By on 1997-06-14
  the patron saint of liars is an enchanting book, magical and seductive, it unfolds in the reader's hands. the story is of rose, a woman who finds herself at st. elizabeth, a home for unmarried pregnant women. from there, she is on a process of healing and discovering herself. when she realizes that she can not go through with the routine of having her baby and leaving the next day, rose is forced to make important choices which reflect her mysterious nature and intense beauty. the writing is as appealling as the plot - sensual, tactile, and seductive, patchett wins the reader over immediately. this book is intense, beautiful, and graceful
  
  
• A pretty package with not a whole lot inside.
  By on 1997-07-26
  The Patron Saint of Liars tries mightily to engage the reader with questions of faith, fidelity and human longing. Unfortunately, the insights into these things are at best standard, and at worst, facile or dull. Patchett writes well, (her prose rarely thuds), but she writes too much, thinking that a sea of sensory detail is enough to provide enlightenment, when what the reader craves is some honest insight. For a book that is supposed to be about our deepest humanity, it leaves one feeling oddly cold. It is apparent that Patchett's mind and eyes are sharp; it is her heart that needs work
  
  
• Good Title -
  By A1F0KG9CSKXIT1 on 2001-08-28
  I have to admit, I was intrigued by the title - "The Partron Saint of Liars." Ms. Patchett wrote a descriptive and interesting book - but I found myself wanting more. The title character, Rose, is just a coward. She can't face her life, yet short of running away after she discovers she is pregnant (By her husband, no less) never does anything. I saw nothing in her character that was even interesting let alone having two men love and Sister Evangeline love her. Son is your basic "salt of the earth" kind of guy - but again, I could never understand his adoration of Rose. He obviously adores Cecelia -Rose's daugher whom he raises as his own. Ms. Patchet allows a sympathetic view of Son. My favorite charachter was Sister Evangeline. There is a scene where Rose and Sister Evangaline are talking in the kitchen and Cecelia asks if Sister if she misses her mother. Sister Evangeline cries as she answers "Every day." I wanted to cry, too when I read that. Rose has no feeling for anything or anyone, thus making it hard to care where this book was going.
  
  

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• Bel Canto (P.S.)
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