Book Review

The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the book but couldn't understand the motivation behind Rose. She is the most self-centered and thoughtless character I've read in a long time. Married and pregnant, she leaves her husband because she is unhappy. He does not know she is pregnant with his child. She ends up in Kentucky at a home for unwed mothers, never admitting she's married. The girls there are all single and have been abandoned by their boyfriends. Son (Wilson Abbott) a big, burly, handyman at St. Elizabeth's is captivated by her. One night he finds her wandering in the snow and asks her to marry him. She immediately accepts, although it is clear she doesn't love him. When she gives birth to her daughter, who she names Cecilia, because Son has tattooed that name on his arm, Son is listed on the birth certificate as the father. Cecelia was the name of an old girlfriend of Son's who died accidentally while she and Son were swimming. He begs Rose not to name their baby Cecelia but Rose always does what she wants regardless of others feelings, including Son and her daughter Cecelia. The ending was unbelievable but to say more would be a spoiler for those who haven't read the book. Good writing but strange story.


View all my reviews