Alice McDermott

I have been away from the blog while I travel and do summer things. I read The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott and it is one of those books that stays with you. I have been a fan of McDermott's since I happened on Charming Billy.

This one follows the lives of a widow and her daughter in early 20th Century NY, after her husband's suicide and the ways their lives are impacted by the nuns in a local convent whose vocation is to serve the poor. Yes, this is a Catholic-infused book but it also offers a glimpse into the all-too-human lives of its characters and takes a hard look at the all-too-human failings of the Church, its hypocrisy, its misogyny at times, the rigidity of its rules. But, as I was reading, I kept thinking, "I get it." I came away genuinely liking the characters (even Sister Lucy and her often barely confined rage). Read it.