Redemption

Not gonna lie, I picked up this book solely for the peacock that adorns the cover. ( )

Absolutely loved this novel featuring Flannery O'Connor as a main character. I don't know how I missed it back in 2011, but I am definitely buying the other book by this author. Delightful! ( )

This would have been 4.5 stars if I had the ability to rate it that way. Very well-written. The author did a great job of developing the characters and of interweaving the various plot lines. The climax was unexpected and the consequences were well thought out and expertly executed. Definitely recommend. ( )

i don't know about you, but if i am going into a fictionalized version of flannery o'connor, i go in expecting things to be a bit dark and twisty. so i am glad ann napolitano went down those paths and embraced the complicated and more wicked/sad sides of life. while o'connor is part of a larger cast of characters, and the novel isn't solely about her, i enjoyed the portrait created in this book and she certainly serves as the centre around which the action and characters move. having read much of o'connor's fiction, and Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor, by Brad Gooch (along with a whole bunch of articles and essays), the way napolitano presented o'connor (and her mother, regina) was quite believable, and i liked the view of milledgeville and its citizens as invented in a good hard look. i feel as though napolitano writes with a huge amount of empathy and sensitivity so that even though there is a lot of wretchedness, hope sustains.i felt the book wobbled a bit near the end, and i did end up a bit disappointed with the arcs of a few characters. after all of the time and build-up things ended with a bit of a fizzle for me and felt a bit limited. but i was quite absorbed in the book and its themes of happiness, duty/obligations, and consequences. this book did nothing to endear me to peacocks though. heh. ( )