The Town Crazy is set in Hanzloo, Pennsylvania, a suburban Catholic community in Pennsylvania in 1961, when a single father moves to town with his son Felix. The dads are suspicious, most of the moms are smitten, and Lil O'Brien, one of the town moms, seems to be losing her mind. Felix befriends his classmate, Lil's daughter Alice, but when the town busybody jumps to a conclusion of misbehavior, tragedy follows. Meanwhile, Lil's bottled-up secret is leading to greater emotional collapse. This character-driven, captivating story will keep you engaged from cover to cover. ( )

It is 1961 in the Catholic community of Hanzloo in Pennsylvania. All the moms are enjoying their last days of freedom before school starts. All except one, Alice's mom Lil, who is having some kind of breakdown. She is a matter of discussion or gossip, if you will. Clarissa is the lead gossiper and the one that the other mother's try to emulate. Always put together, her twin girls always dressed to the T, her house immaculate. You know the type, mean girl personified.

Things will go from fairly timid, to outright tragic as we get a closer look at the inside of these people. We know how looks can be deceiving. I related to this story in unexpected ways. The atmosphere of the early sixties was spot on, and those who have gone to Catholic school or raised catholic, will identify. Sister Annunciate is the Mother Superior, and it was the same named sister who was the Superior of the Catholic School I attended. This one was much nicer. There was also a Father Aloysius, which was the name of the school I attended. Love these book coincidences.

The story is well told, a story filled with hypocrisy, innocence and sorrow. Life had such a different feel then. It is also a novel of parents, mothers and their children. The terror and bullying of childhood, the blindness of parents towards their own children, and passions for something that goes unfulfilled. Secrets and sin. Guilt and depression. Quite interesting to get a peek back at this bygone time, when things seemed simpler but often wasn't.

ARC from Gibson House Press and Library thing. ( )

Such a bittersweet and beautiful book! An excellent depiction of what can happen in a small town when opinion is swayed by a crazy, jealous, and insecure person. Alice O'Brien and Felix Spoon are innocent pawns of not only the "town crazy," but also, in my opinion, their parents. I didn't expect the kindness and generosity of Sister A, but also had no way of anticipating the surprise twist towards the end. Or, I guess I should say twists. Suzzy Roche's book, The Town Crazy, doesn't offer a "and they lived happily ever after" ending, but it does offer what I think is a realistic one and the book is very, very good. ( )

I liked this novel a lot - just a bit over 260 pages but a great view of a small suburb in Pennsylvania in the early 60's. (I've been watching Mad Men and although the locations are different, the women's lives do have similarities.) This story centers around several families. There's Lil O'Brien who suffers from severe depression and her struggling husband Jim and daughter Alice. There's loud, busybody Clarisse McCarthy with a creepy set of twins and her circle of gossipy housewives. There's handsome, mysterious Luke Spoon and his son Felix. I particularly enjoyed the nuns in the town's Catholic school - their annual All Saints Day party was quite something. This novel is gently humorous but it especially depicts loneliness and grief in very moving terms. ( )

1961 Pennsylvania small town where pretty much everybody is unhappy -- and there doesn't seem to be hope that will change for anyone.,
Roche's debut, [The Saints], was entertaining, funny bits thrown in here and there. None of that in [The Town Crazy]. But the children are wonderfully complete characters and the reason for reading this book. One gets caught up in their sad lives and will turn the pages to find out how they will or won't survive. ( )