Announced on June 18,1997
About the Book
It's the summer of 1960 in Atkinson, Vermont. Marie Fermoyle is a strong but vulnerable divorced woman whole loneliness and ambition for her children make her easy prey for dangerous con man Omar Duvall. Marie's children are Alice, seventeen - involved with a young priest; Norm, sixteen - hothead and idealistic; and Benjy, twelve - isolated and misunderstood, and so desperate for his mother's happiness that he hides the deadly truth he knows about Duvall.
We also meet Sam Fermoyle, the children's alcoholic father; Sam's brother-in-law, who makes anonymous "live" calls from the bathroom of his failing appliance store; and the Klubock family who - in contrast to the Fermoyles - live an orderly life in the house next door.
Songs in Ordinary Time is a masterful epic of the everyday, illuminating the kaleidoscope of lives that tell the compelling story of this unforgettable family.
About the Author
Mary McGarry Morris is married and the mother of five children. She lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of two earlier novels: Vanished, nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and A Dangerous Woman, which was made into a major motion picture.
Book Reviews
"A gritty, beautifully crafted novel rich in wisdom and suspense ... secures Morris's status as one of our finest American writers."
— Miami Herald
"An extraordinary novel ... a deeply satisfying story .... There is grace and poetry in Morris's prose."
— USA Today
"Songs in Ordinary Time is deep and thick as a long, hot summer, a fully realized world ... wrought with fearless detail .... the narrative of a town reminiscent of the collective ache of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."
— The Boston Globe
"Songs in Ordinary Time is real life cruising small-town USA with the top down and the volume up. In her graphic, stiletto chapters, Mary McGarry Morris is a cross between Elizabeth Gaskell and David Lynch."
— Minneapolis Star Tribune
Morris's powers of observation create a depth that makes the characters' dilemmas seem as real as the reader's own. The book is alternatively touching and sinister, but it resonates with authenticity. At every moment, it is all too familiar and real."
— The San Diego Tribune
Get more resources on Songs in Ordinary Time, an Oprah's Book Club selection.
View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
It's the summer of 1960 in Atkinson, Vermont. Marie Fermoyle is a strong but vulnerable divorced woman whole loneliness and ambition for her children make her easy prey for dangerous con man Omar Duvall. Marie's children are Alice, seventeen - involved with a young priest; Norm, sixteen - hothead and idealistic; and Benjy, twelve - isolated and misunderstood, and so desperate for his mother's happiness that he hides the deadly truth he knows about Duvall.
We also meet Sam Fermoyle, the children's alcoholic father; Sam's brother-in-law, who makes anonymous "live" calls from the bathroom of his failing appliance store; and the Klubock family who - in contrast to the Fermoyles - live an orderly life in the house next door.
Songs in Ordinary Time is a masterful epic of the everyday, illuminating the kaleidoscope of lives that tell the compelling story of this unforgettable family.
About the Author
Mary McGarry Morris is married and the mother of five children. She lives in Massachusetts. She is the author of two earlier novels: Vanished, nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, and A Dangerous Woman, which was made into a major motion picture.
Book Reviews
"A gritty, beautifully crafted novel rich in wisdom and suspense ... secures Morris's status as one of our finest American writers."
— Miami Herald
"An extraordinary novel ... a deeply satisfying story .... There is grace and poetry in Morris's prose."
— USA Today
"Songs in Ordinary Time is deep and thick as a long, hot summer, a fully realized world ... wrought with fearless detail .... the narrative of a town reminiscent of the collective ache of The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."
— The Boston Globe
"Songs in Ordinary Time is real life cruising small-town USA with the top down and the volume up. In her graphic, stiletto chapters, Mary McGarry Morris is a cross between Elizabeth Gaskell and David Lynch."
— Minneapolis Star Tribune
Morris's powers of observation create a depth that makes the characters' dilemmas seem as real as the reader's own. The book is alternatively touching and sinister, but it resonates with authenticity. At every moment, it is all too familiar and real."
— The San Diego Tribune
Get more resources on Songs in Ordinary Time, an Oprah's Book Club selection.View the Complete Oprah's Book Club List.
Published 06/18/1997
