Saint Training

In her debut novel, Fixmer takes a look back at the roiling 1960s, when everything was in flux, even the traditions of the Catholic church. Mary Clare is one of nine children (another's on the way), and it seems one strategy for bringing order into her life is to become a saint. Well, first a nun and then a saint. So Mary Clare resolves to forgo sin, but she soon learns that black and white can unexpectedly turn into gray. When it comes to matters of family, friendship, religion, even war and race relations, the path is not always clear. Fixmer hits every hot-button topic of the day, including Mary Clare's mother's burgeoning feminism. Fewer issues more fully explored might have been a wiser editorial choice, but there's no doubt this gives readers a strong sense of what was happening during this turbulent time. Smartly delineated in part through letters to a nun, Mary Clare is wonderfully realized, and readers will find themselves pulling hard for her as she tries to do her
In her debut novel, Fixmer takes a look back at the roiling 1960s, when everything was in flux, even the traditions of the Catholic church. Mary Clare is one of nine children (another's on the way), and it seems one strategy for bringing order into her life is to become a saint. Well, first a nun and then a saint. So Mary Clare resolves to forgo sin, but she soon learns that black and white can unexpectedly turn into gray. When it comes to matters of family, friendship, religion, even war and race relations, the path is not always clear. Fixmer hits every hot-button topic of the day, including Mary Clare's mother's burgeoning feminism. Fewer issues more fully explored might have been a wiser editorial choice, but there's no doubt this gives readers a strong sense of what was happening during this turbulent time. Smartly delineated in part through letters to a nun, Mary Clare is wonderfully realized, and readers will find themselves pulling hard for her as she tries to do her best. -- B