The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett

Ann Patchett wrote Bel Canto which I really liked so when a friend offered me up this one I was excited to check it out. I did enjoy this book but what kept me from loving it was that the main character, Rose, is such a damn, selfish bitch. I mean maybe there are reasons for running off on your husband but what she did to her Mom and eventually to her daughter just sucked. Sure, they had other support in their lives, not just Rose but something like that does long term damage (in real life, books sometimes not so much). If, you are going to run off on someone can’t you lie and tell them you have yellow fever and are taking yourself off to the sanitarium to die or some such nonsense? This reminded me of how I felt about some of the characters in The House of Sand and Fog. I hated them so much, I wanted to jump into the pages and slap them. Rose wasn’t that nuts but still. Although the people suck, I guess it means the writers are good because they are creating such believable characters. The good thing about The Patron Saint of Liars is that Rose was the only sucky character in the book. I liked Rose’s Mom and Sister Evangeline was a really great character. Son was ok, kinda lame but ultimately at least a good person although the original Cecelia seems like an awful person too so maybe there were two “bad” people. This is definitely a good read, but it will not leave you as satisfied as a more “happy ending” book with all the loose ends neatly tied up.