Saints for All Occasions

A Novel

By: J. Courtney Sullivan

Narrated by: Susan Denaker

Length: 15 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's summary

A sweeping, unforgettable novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Maine, about the hope, sacrifice, and love between two sisters and the secret that drives them apart.

Nora and Theresa Flynn are 21 and 17 when they leave their small village in Ireland and journey to America. Nora is the responsible sister; she's shy and serious and engaged to a man she isn't sure that she loves. Theresa is gregarious; she is thrilled by their new life in Boston and besotted with the fashionable dresses and dance halls on Dudley Street. But when Theresa ends up pregnant, Nora is forced to come up with a plan - a decision with repercussions they are both far too young to understand.

Fifty years later Nora is the matriarch of a big Catholic family, with four grown children: John, a successful if opportunistic political consultant; Bridget, quietly preparing to have a baby with her girlfriend; Brian, at loose ends after a failed baseball career; and Patrick, Nora's favorite, the beautiful boy who gives her no end of heartache. Estranged from her sister, Theresa is a cloistered nun, living in an abbey in rural Vermont. Until, after decades of silence, a sudden death forces Nora and Theresa to confront the choices they made so long ago.

A graceful, supremely moving novel from one of our most beloved writers, Saints for All Occasions explores the fascinating, funny, and sometimes achingly sad ways a secret at the heart of one family both breaks them and binds them together.

©2017 J. Courtney Sullivan (P)2017 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I hope to read another novel as strong and wise and beautiful and heartbreaking as J. Courtney Sullivan's Saints for All Occasions, but I'm not sure I will." (Richard Russo)

Entertaining book

Loved the characters. Great narration. Some questions were left about the motives of the characters at the end of the story, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Predictable ending.

A family full of secrets!

What a riveting book. All the characters are well-developed, the Boston/Dorchester/Irish immigrant scene well-drawn. I had read very little about that social and religious dynamic and it gave me an understanding of the area and the 50s to 00's era. In some ways, the ending was just the beginning. The narrator is excellent, adept at Irish and American accents as well as children's voices. I highly recommend it!

Nice book, overdramatic reading

Any additional comments?

With the tight plotting of this book, the last thing needed is the narrator's overly dramatic reading. The story speaks for itself and doesn't need emotion ladled on thickly. It's a tribute to the writing that I was able to finish listening to it despite my dislike of the narration.

entertaining

I didn't love the ending. But it was entertaining enough. A little hard for me to keep focused

Complex and interesting family drama

Normally if I don't like the main characters, I don't like the book. And in the beginning of the book, I didn't care for either of the sisters. Nora was unbearably uptight and kind of a *itch, and Theresa was ungrateful and flighty. Flash forward and all of a sudden there's a chapter about one of Nora's kids (as an adult), and I was sucked in.

The book flashes forward and back to various years to various characters, and the story unfolds. Again, usually not my favorite structure (it seemed kind of random as to which character and which year popped up) but I enjoyed it.

I liked Nora less and less as the book went on--she's kind of horrid--but at least I understood her (to a certain degree), which made it palatable. Theresa's storyline was quite interesting, as were Nora's adult children and their families and lives.

Like others, I was a bit disappointed in the ending, but near the end of the book, Nora's son Brian says something and I thought, oh, no. The author is going to leave the central plot point hanging. And she did. But given what Brian said, at least I was prepared.

The audio narrator...not a fan. Hello, in the US, we don't pronounce double t's in the middle of words (Kitty, letter, butter) as t's. We pronounce them as if they were d's, so the reading felt very stilted.

Nooooo!

Such a good book but then the ending was so abrupt! A little disappointing at that point

Not at all what I expected

Recommend this book I knew nothing about it going in but I was pleasantly surprised hope you will too

Disappointing ending

I wanted the book to end differently. To avoid a spoiler, I won’t say how I wanted it to end, but after reading it, I bet you’ll come to the same conclusion that I did. Otherwise, it’s a good book. Happy reading.

Fantastic

I loved this book, although I would have liked the ending to include more of a wrap up… Maybe the movie will have that!

The narration ruined it

The narration is cloying. A saccharine style is used that is more suitable for reading to preschoolers. However, I am an adult as are the characters in this book.