“The Patron Saint of Liars” by Ann Patchett

This was Ann Patchett's very first novel. It was published while I was in college, though I wouldn't even become aware of it until years later. And it's the second to last book of hers that I've read. If I'd thought about it ahead of time, I would have read this first one last, but it’s too late for that neat symmetry now. 

This is the story of St Elizabeth's, formerly a grand old hotel but now a home where unwed girls hide unwanted pregnancies. The hotel was first built near the site of a miraculous spring reputed to have healing powers, but when the spring dried up, eventually the hotel's clientele did as well, and the hotel was gifted to the Catholic church. 

All of that information is laid out prior to the first chapter of the book, and at that point I wasn't sure if I was really going to enjoy reading it. (But it's by Ann Patchett! There's always hope when it's Ann Patchett.) And then Rose was introduced, and I was even less sure that I was going to enjoy reading.

I did not like Rose. She was cruel and alien. I didn’t understand her or identify with her. She also vaguely reminded me of Sabine from The Magicians Assistant, a character I could never really grasp. But I kept powering forward. And I can tell you exactly when I realized I was hooked: after Sister Evangeline met Angie, and Rose knew the truth but Angie did not. (Sorry, I know that sentence is meaningless to you if you haven't read the book, but it is meaningful to me.) From then on I was invested. And by the time I was about a third of the way through it, I was further rewarded when I found out that the entire book is not from Rose's point of view. 

Despite a somewhat rocky start, I ended up loving this story. Especially the ending--mostly the very last paragraph, right down to the last sentence--which I think is unusual. How often is the end of a book a slight letdown, a slight disappointment? It either tells too much or not enough, it's either to sweet or too banal, it's either too sudden (with a feeling like the author figured "this has got to end somewhere" and thus randomly decided to just cut off the narrative) or too drawn out, blathering on and on, wrapping things up and then wrapping up the wrapping ad nauseum. 

I want to make a statement, but first you have to promise me one thing: you will never just go read the last paragraph of this book without reading the rest of it first. I don't think it will work that way. But now that you've promised, here is my statement: This book may have the most perfect ending I've ever read.