I received this book free through the Goodreads First Reads giveaways. I really loved the characters in this book. The main character, Father John Sweeney, is very likeable and I found myself really hurting for him when he had his crisis of faith. The families that play the main roles are very interesting and the various crises that play into their lives are so applicable to today's problems that it makes a good read for anyone, not just Catholics. The fact that it centers around the Catholic church and issues that are important to Catholics makes it lean toward the Catholic community, but I think that many people would be able to identify with the struggle of the main characters as they approach things that make them uncomfortable and how they handle themselves. The way these families were left at the end of the book makes me very anxious to read the next book in the trilogy and find out what will happen to them next. They were each at an important, life changing crossroad and I can't wait to see where they go and how they cope with their various experiences. I did have three minor issues with the book. First I thought the "flash forward" was a little extreme. It harkened to the soap operas when the kids go away to boarding school at age 6 and come back 6 months later and they are getting married. Some of the jumps in time were so drastic that it confused me and I wanted to know what happened during that time. While the book doesn't leave us uninformed, I guess I just like more detail! Also it seemed that there were times that I felt like I was being "reintroduced" to a character. I found about three different occasions where Father John was written about as if we were meeting him for the first time. I found that a little disconcerting. And the last issue I had was that there were issues touched upon that I was under the impression would be addressed in more detail later in the book, specifically the storyline centering on Moia, and it never came to be. Maybe I just misunderstood and there was never any intent to more fully develop the back story of her problems, or maybe the climax of her story made the back story moot in the author's opinion, but I would have liked to have found out more detail about what happened to her that was hinted at several times. Those details were very minor in my opinion and did not at all detract from the enjoyment of the book. While it is a very well written Catholic centered novel, I think anyone that is familiar with some of the moral decay of our society would also enjoy it. Things such as what affect oral contraceptives have on women and what much of society really thinks of the standard of our television viewing are addressed in a way that would be informative to non-Catholics. The only drawback would be that much of the book is centered around the Catholic church and faith and if a person were unfamiliar with that it may lose some of the impact. However for the average Catholic, this practically falls into the "must read" category! I picked this up reading all the acclaim and rave reviews about it and was really looking forward to it. After all, it’s Catholic fiction. However, I gave it three stars and found myself a bit disappointed. The story does keep moving and there are many parts that are compelling and thought-provoking. I had the sensation of being a bit preached to throughout, and I felt like it could have been about half as long and twice as effective. Nevertheless, I’ll be reading the other two books in the series (Motherless and Childless), so don’t think I didn’t enjoy reading it enough to continue. Three stars doesn’t make it a must-read in my categorizing, but it is worthwhile and better than drivel.
What do You think about Fatherless (2008)?
this book was not for me! i received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
—carl
IF YOU ARE TAKING THE PILL YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!
—didilelillois
