Wayward Saints by Suzzy Roche: Review by AimeeKay

Mary Saint, the rule-breaking, troubled former lead singer of the almost-famous band Sliced Ham, has pretty much given up on music after the trauma of her band member and lover Garbagio's death seven years earlier. Instead, with the help of her best friend, Thaddeus, she is trying to piece her life together while making mochaccinos in San Francisco. Meanwhile, back in her hometown of Swallow, New York, her mother, Jean Saint, struggles with her own ghosts. 

When Mary is invited to give a concert at her old high school, Jean is thrilled, though she's worried about what Father Benedict and her neighbors will think of songs such as "Sewer Flower" and "You're a Pig." But she soon realizes that there are going to be bigger problems when the whole town--including a discouraged teacher and a baker who's anything but sweet--gets in on the act. 

Filled with characters that are wild and original, yet still familiar and warm--plus plenty of great insider winks at the music industry--Wayward Saints is a touching and hilarious look at confronting your past and going home again.

*sigh* What a beautiful story. I wasn't sure at first. Almost like a song that you've never heard before. It comes on the radio and the beginning is slow and sort of halting, but by the end you just want to hear it over and over again...

The beginning of Wayward Saints almost put me off. The flips between the past and the present and then back again made it hard to connect at first. Then it got set in one time frame and went forward from there and wow, just wow.

The story is full of broken families, broken hearts, broken lives, and how no matter how broken something is love seems always able to pull it back together. Maybe not always in the same way as it was before but in the end it is just as good if not better than before. If only because one can appreciate the joy even more after having to taste the sorrow.

I was irritated by Mary at first. She seemed so arrogant and out of it. But slowly as the book progressed so did she. I felt the same with her mother. Numerous times I just wanted to slap them both for their self absorption. But then characters like Thaddeus and Vincent were introduced. Both had souls just as broken as Mary and her mothers, and they both seemed to be the "other Mary's" that were needed to bring each woman back into a world they had both in separate ways walked away from.

I loved the way the story portrayed real life people struggling through real life emotions. There were many parts that almost brought me to tears. However there were also many clever parts and even some that had me laughing out loud.

While I wouldn't have said this at the beginning of the novel by the end I gladly recommend this for a great read this summer. Whether at the beach, in the car, or simply sitting at home. I also definitely recommend that when you read it, plan to sit down and read it all the way through. Make sure you set aside the time, because you won't want to put it down.

Amazing, really amazing.

Til next time.

AimeeKay