Awards
A New York Times Notable Book
Synopses & Reviews
"Beautifully written...Ann Patchett has produced a first novel that second- and third-time novelists would envy for its grace, insight, and compassion."BOSTON HERALDSt. Elizabeth's is a home for unwed mothers in the 1960s. Life there is not unpleasant and for most, it is temporary. Not so for Rose, a beautiful mysterious woman who comes to the lovely ex-hotel pregnant, but not unwed. She plans to give her baby up because she knows she cannot be the mother it needs. But St. Elizabeth's is near a healing spring, and when Rose's time draws near, she cannot go through with her plans, not all of them. And she cannot remain forever untouched by what she has left behind and who she has become in the leaving....
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Review
"Beautifully written....Ann Patchett has produced a first novel that second- and third-time novelists would envy for its grace, insight, and compassion." Boston Herald
Review
"It is about pilgrimage and healing....A fairy tale. A delight." The New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Ann Patchett was born in 1963 in Nashville, Tennessee. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and has published fiction in various magazines, including The Paris Review and Seventeen. The Patron Saint of Liars was her first novel and was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She is also the author of Taft and The Magician's Assistant.