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Captivating Narrative Choice!

Reviewed in the United States on September 19, 2017

Here’s the gist of my review of “The Ninth Hour”, by Alice McDermott: I loved it and I didn’t want it to end. Keep reading and I’ll tell you why.
Beginning with a suicide on a dismal winter’s day in Catholic/immigrant Brooklyn near the beginning of the 20th century, McDermott completely and vividly captures the time, place and denizens of this moment in the history of New York, the US, and of the Catholic Church.

The novel is narrated by a collective “we”; the children and grandchildren of the main characters. This narrative choice was captivating and thoroughly realistic for me, as I am the great-grandchild of Irish Catholic immigrants whose stories and faith were handed down from generation to generation.

McDermott centers the story around two families and the nuns belonging to the convent of the “Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor, Congregation of Mary Before the Cross”. I became particularly fond of the nun characters as McDermott fully renders each as individuals; sweet Sister Jeanne, stern Sister Lucy, pragmatic Sister Illuminata, and manipulative Sister Saint Savoir who starts the whole story rolling. So often modern literature depicts nuns in a negative light, it was refreshing to meet nun characters who were “real”: neither all good nor all bad, each with their own motivations and beliefs. Sister Jeanne especially focuses her faith on “fairness” and the belief that God will make everything balance in the end, even though in life we see so much unfairness: the good suffer, evil is rewarded. This is a running theme throughout the novel.
McDermott’s neighborhood is filled with details that are but a memory today:
- Milk Men
- Nuns begging for alms and nursing the poor
- Wakes
- Statues covered in purple cloth during Lent
- The certainty of Heaven and Hell

Midway through the novel there is a chapter that takes place on an overnight train ride between New York and Chicago that is both perfect and genius, and the reason why McDermott is an acclaimed author. Her writing puts the reader right on that train with the character Sally, who is going to Chicago with the intention of becoming a nun like the Little Sisters she grew up with (her mother worked in the convent laundry). I could almost hear, smell, taste, and feel, along with Sally on her transformative ride.

Kal

Thoughtful and thought-provoking

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2017

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Read on one level, "The Ninth Hour" is the story of a young widow and her daughter who find work and emotional support at a local convent of nursing nuns in Brooklyn in the early 20th century. The story follows them from the suicide of the woman's husband through the decades as narrated by her grandchildren.

On another level, it's a story about the sacred and the profane, sin and redemption, as reflected through the nuns' actions over the years, from selfless devotion to murder. As they deal with the tragedies and harsh realities that surround those in their care, the sisters inhabit a world where they are both cloistered and street-savvy.

The narration and sometimes elliptical explanations of the characters' connections can be confusing, but McDermott weaves a thoughtful and thought-provoking book.

J. Wegman

Remarkable

Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2017

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This is a remarkable book. I read it in one sitting because, quite simply, I could not put it down. I am a McDermott fan, but she has outdone herself with this story of sacrifice, and love, and redemption. You'll not be disappointed.

A very good read that didn't tickle my literary fancy

Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2017

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I often wander out of my preferred genres in the hope that I will discover a new vein of literary gold. In this case I found a very competent read by a highly accomplished author, but not the excitement of discovery I had hoped for.

The story unfolds in Brooklyn in the early 20th century, bouncing around, but in an organized way, between three generations of well-developed and interesting characters. At the center of it all are the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor who live in the gritty neighborhood and administer to its needs.

The characters are skillfully filled out but a little packaged, much like the subjects of a Normal Rockwell painting, but with a lot more gravitas. A few are stereotypical but never clichéd. And the main characters ultimately prove to be multi-faceted and fairly complex, giving the story a mystery that is unexpected early on.

It is a book of descriptive storytelling and the author creates scene after scene that instill a down to earth familiarity akin to that created by Jan Karon in the deservedly beloved Mitford series.

The book is written from the feminine perspective but does not play gender favorites. There are many different takes on issues of morality, perhaps best summed up by the Sister Jeanne perspective: “Sister Jeanne believed that fairness demanded this chaos [the suffering that is life] be righted. Fairness demanded that grief should find succor, that wounds should heal, insult and confusion find recompense and certainty, that every living person God had made should not, willy-nilly, be forever unmade.” Life, in the end, is difficult, but ultimately reasoned.

That perspective of morality does, however, lead to some actions and their aftermath, or lack thereof, that stretch the reader’s ability to suspend disbelief. Or at least mine. My own life hasn’t been harder, but it has been messier.

There is also a strong theme of love and, as in the case of morality, it takes many shapes and forms. All, however, are candidly honest and not romanticized into fantasy. Solid, down to earth, and the kinds of love every reader can relate to.

The story starts very slowly and takes some time to build up steam. To some extent, however, I think that is common to the brand of descriptive narrative employed. By the finish you’re reading along at a brisk trot.

In the end I gave the book a four not because I enjoyed it that much but because fans of this author surely will. The writing is very strong. It didn’t tickle my own literary fancy but that’s okay. It was a good read nonetheless.

Top reviews from other countries

GeordieReader

Beautifully-written but didn’t fully engage me

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 4, 2018

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This is a series of episodes, some mundane, some rather too sentimental for me and others genuinely shocking. I’m not sure I’ll read anything else by this author but I admire the quality of the writing and the way the characters acquire depth as the book progresses. At the end, I felt I knew everything about everyone but the final revelation came as a complete surprise.

Jo Hatfield

Catholicism and family strife

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 31, 2018

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Adored this book. Love her stories of Catholicism and family strife

Julian Bell

Gripping family saga

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 13, 2018

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Magnificently engaging saga of an Irish American family in the early twentieth century. The characters and their dilemmas are believable and compelling.

Snapdragon

Beautiful

Reviewed in Australia on November 14, 2017

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The unnamed "we" of the narrator are the adult children of Sally and Patrick Tiernan, recalling in vivid depth the lives of Sally, the Tiernans, and Sally's mother Annie, who was widowed while Sally was still in the womb. It's also the story of the heroic nuns who nursed the sick poor way back when in Brooklyn: of their kindness to Annie and Sally, their care of the embittered Mrs Costello who is minus half a leg, and others. Priests are described as "mama's boys", a greedy bishop has his eye on the nuns' convent, and we hear the story of the lying French priest who claimed he had set up the ministry for outcast women that was in fact founded by a woman. The narrator notes that even then, the kind of service that the nuns gave, relying on "sacrifice and delusion", was on its way out. The novel ends with Sister Jeanne describing heaven with a lyrical Irish simile, while mysteriously declaring that she won't be going there. A beautiful window on a time gone by, with thoughts on what life is, and is for, that will always be true. Alice McDermott is a top class author.

Amazon Customer

Educational

Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2020

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While this book wasn't a "gripping, compelling read", it was interesting. I could "see" and "hear" all the main characters easily in my mind. I thought it was very educational about that particular time in our history.

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