Absolution

A Novel

By: Alice McDermott

Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky, Rachel Kenney

"A breath of fresh air."—BookPage

"Both narrators bring deep emotional tonality...this exceptional listen will foster deep book club discussions."—Booklist

"Alternately gripping, moving, and thought-provoking...this is an audiobook to savor."—AudioFile

A riveting account of women’s lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award.

You have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives.

American women—American wives—have been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Absolution they take center stage. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the era’s mandate to be “helpmeets” to their ambitious husbands with their own, inchoate impulse to “do good” for the people of Vietnam.

Sixty years later, Charlene’s daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlene’s altruistic machinations, and discovering as they do how their own lives as women on the periphery—of politics, of history, of war, of their husbands’ convictions—have been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed America’s tragic interference in Southeast Asia.

A virtuosic new novel from Alice McDermott, one of our most observant, most affecting writers—about folly and grace, obligation, sacrifice, and, finally, the quest for absolution in a broken world.

A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

©2023 Alice McDermott (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

2023 Vogue Magazine Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2023 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2023 Esquire Magazine Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2024 Missouri Mark Twain Award, Winner

2023 Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year, Long-listed

2023 NPR Best Book of the Year, Long-listed

2023 Time Magazine Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2024 PEN/Faulkner Award - Nominee, Short-listed

2024 Mark Twain American Voice in Literature, Short-listed

2023 Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2023 Oprah.com Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

2023 Los Angeles Times Best Books of the Year, Long-listed

"Rachel Kenney and Jesse Vilinsky each deliver spellbinding interpretations of Alice McDermott's superb new novel.... Kenney performs the remarkable feat of personifying the young Tricia and her wry older self, fierce Charlene, and many local Vietnamese and GIs. Vilinsky, as Charlene's daughter, Rainey, creates an invaluable vocal throughline for the characters while crafting a believable adult child tussling with the legacy of a complicated parent. Alternately gripping, moving, and thought-provoking, this is an audiobook to savor." (AudioFile; winner of AudioFile Earphones Award)

"Damning and dazzling, this is the story of a Vietnam we never got in history class—a story of innocence lost, the bounds of womanhood tested, and our nation held to account."—Charley Burlock, Oprah Daily

"For more than 40 years, McDermott’s deep understanding of human nature and wizardry in creating characters has been the seedbed of one bestselling, award-winning novel after another. Now she has outdone herself with an exquisitely conceived and executed novel that explores her signature topic, moral obligation, against the backdrop of the fraught time preceding the Vietnam War . . . This transporting, piercing, profound novel is McDermott’s masterpiece."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

McDermott’s pitch perfect writing

What I liked most were the deeply explored thoughts & emotions of Tricia & Rainey. What an unforgettable character McDermott created in Charlene. The others, like Lily & Dominic, were expertly drawn, too, as were the descriptions of Vietnam’s climate & places. Absolution is a captivating winner.

Seemed thin, superficial in some ways, unfocused

I usually thoroughly enjoy the many books I’ve listened to here. This reader was a problem to my ears from the beginning… too glib and kind of knowing in her tone. As things got more serious, the glibness disappeared, but I had a hard time really connecting with the narrator/main character. Which brings me to the story, a story that never really got off the ground. Was this about a false friend, a woman’s quest to find her own voice and her own mind, a glimpse inside the corruption of our govt (no surprise!) and the mercenary ambitions of all involved in the Vietnam War, a story about men and women’s roles in mid 20th century, or what?? It could be all those and presumably become a novel of great depth, but this isn’t it! Finished as it’s for my book club, but I really didn’t enjoy it, I’m sorry to say.

Had a hard time getting into this book :(

I was bothered by the narrator for the first half of the book. Chapter 1 that lasted forever. I liked the narrator for chapter II and by chapter III I guess I was used to her style of narrating .
I felt parts were dragged out and how it ended with Lily was just ehhhh
Sorry but disappointed in this book yet glad to get the tiniest bit of an insight to these women’s experiences.

The point of view of the narrator.

A frank description of some of the American civilians who live in Saigon in the Vietnam during the 1960s

Insight into the emotions of the times and characters

Good insight into times and characters involved in this story especially the view of women that are involved

Doing good

I think this book is really about how best to do good in the world. The phrase white savior is mentioned in passing, and really so many of us try to do good things while making false assumptions about what others need and want. Having a good and open heart is essential and certainly Charlene in the book has one. She’s also very good at organizing and implementing plans that she hopes will help people but in the end our narrator sees the flaws in Charlene’s personality — her insistence on doing everything her way, Dom is another essentially good character who knows how to love the world and to do good. I feel that we can learn from each of these characters and in our own flawed ways attempt to do some good while always remembering the importance of self determination and dignity.

Thought provoking

Excellent character development in a well written story about relationships. Relating to place, others and reflecting on how you are seen by others.

Interesting but…

I appreciated the unique historical perspective and it’s an important story to be told. Still I wonder about the ultimate point. So please listen and chime in.

The meaning, or purpose of the story was not clear

Really like the character Charlene, and would have liked for the book to be more about her. There were many times where I thought more detail would come with an interesting situation, but that never seemed to develop. Mcdermott’s writing is so beautiful but I found this book boring

Takes a long time to get into the story.

The narrator is too animated and therefore distracting to the initially boring first half. The second half of the story is well done and more interesting.