All Saints [Hardcover]

Liam Callanan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 27, 2007

The acclaimed author of The Cloud Atlas returns with a wondrous second novel. Set in a small beachfront Catholic high school, narrated by a beautifully complex heroine–theology teacher Emily Hamilton–All Saints is at once a mystery, a love story, and a powerful rumination on secrets, temptation, and faith.

By life’s midpoint Emily has seen three husbands, dozens of friends, and hundreds of students come and go. And now her classroom, long her refuge, is proving to be
anything but.

Though her popular, occasionally irreverent church history course is rich with stories of long-dead saints, Emily uneasily discovers that it’s her own tumultuous life that fascinates certain students most. She in turn finds herself drawn into their world, their secrets, and the fateful choices they make.

A novel of mystery and illumination, calling and choice, All Saints explores lives lived in a fragile sanctuary–from Emily and her many saints to a priest facing his own mortality and a teenager tormented by desire. Told with grace and compassion, this is a spellbinding novel of provocative storytelling.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A rarified Southern California Catholic high school serves as the setting for thrice-divorced, 50-year-old Emily Hamilton's reckoning in Callanan's oddly luminous novel (following The Cloud Atlas). A teacher who finds her life intertwined with three of her students', Emily revisits relevant stages of her past (nicely interspersing an abundant knowledge of saints' lives) as she gets around to telling how she kissed Edgar Mandeville, an upstart student in her church history class (dubbed "Saints and Sinners" by everyone, including Emily herself). Refreshing insights into teenage angst (including secondaries such as the sexually confused Paul, the aforementioned Edgar and the shy but longing Cecily) are matched by midlife crisis candor—including that of irreverent department chair Fr. Martin Dimanche, with whom Emily has an ambivalent relationship. Emily herself has been struggling for personal redemption for nearly four decades: her teenage pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage are just the beginning. The book's stark events are handled while retaining sympathy for Emily: no mean feat. Callanan gets into her head with page-turning panache and authority. (Feb.)
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Review

“A stunning piece of writing by a genuinely precocious talent: haunting and smooth and wise.”—Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You for Smoking

“Liam Callanan is that rare thing, a writer adept and creative enough to inhabit the mind of character entirely different from himself. He does so completely, with absolute authenticity and emotional truth. Emily Hamilton is unapologetically acerbic and a delight to spend time with. This book is every bit as good as The Cloud Atlas, and that is saying a lot.”—Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

“All Saints asks a very private question: How do you move forward in life when faced with your own failures?... The desires of the soul, the impulses of the flesh and the confines of the human condition drive the novel’s story until the line dividing the saints from the sinners is blurred.”—Los Angeles Times

"All Saints is a jewel of a book: bright, sharp-witted,  full of the fantastical lore of the saints and the secret yearnings of everyday American life, full of secrets and surprises.   In particular, this novel is the story of Emily Hamilton who I found myself thinking about long after I closed the book.  Missing her rueful wit and intelligence.  Realizing that I'd maybe even fallen a little in love with her.  I imagine other readers will fall for her, too—and for this book."  —Dan Chaon,  author of You Remind Me of Me

“Luminous.... Callanan gets into [his heroine’s] head with page-turning panache and authority.”—Publishers Weekly

"All Saints is about the mystery and danger of love, all kinds of love—so intense and funny and wise.  Emily Hamilton has such a complicated, appealing voice—at once guarded and full of passion, energy, irreverence. She is a great and serious character, a real triumph.  I couldn't put it down."—Susan Shreve, author of A Student of Living Things

“Consider this your crash course in theology.”—Marie Claire

“Callanan doesn’t shelter his heroine.... She speaks in a voice that is frustratingly real and endearing, bestowed with a truthful grace.”—Entertainment Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition, First Printing edition (February 27, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385336969
• ISBN-13: 978-0385336963
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,913,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All Saints Rocks!, March 26, 2007

By 

T. Sanford - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Saints (Hardcover)

I had the pleasure of hearing Callanan read a few passages from his excellent new book a few weeks ago at KGB Bar in NYC. He was on the bill with two other authors -- one of whom just had his book favorably reviewed on the front page of the NYT Book Review -- and honestly Callanan blew both of his fellow writers out of the water. I started reading All Saints when I got home from the reading that night and never stopped. My sister has a copy and was so engrossed by the book that she completely missed her subway stop while reading it. Since I went to Catholic school, I suppose the book had particular relevance for me, but the central themes of the book are truly universal -- love, longing, aging, faith, how our experiences and memories shape us over time, etc. Callanan's narrator shares her hard-earned wisdom with us in a voice that is both genuine and genuinely funny. I thoroughly enjoyed "All Saints," even more than I did Callanan's outstanding first novel, "The Cloud Atlas."

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Does teenage trauma compromise later life decisions?, September 14, 2007

By 

Vermeer fan (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: All Saints (Hardcover)

Met Emily Hamilton-thrice divorced, reasonably taut, menopausal teacher of religion in a California Catholic high school perched just by the sands. Enter a trio of students-Edgar, the scenic man-boy exploring his options; Paul, the sensitive scholar who longs for acceptance and Cecily, the "good" girl who pines for Edgar. Or is it Paul?

Mr. Callanan weaves these characters into a rich stew of hormones, regrets, and true tragedy. Emily's past is strewn with rash decisions-a teenage pregnancy, a 24hr. "starter" marriage, remarks that are meant to be clever and leave a trail of hurt. And her future is not going much better...

While you might get perturbed by Emily and her decisions throughout the story, you do want to find out what happens to her when all is said and done. Rather like a long-time friend who takes life's shortcuts but would give you the shirt off her back. And Father Martin, the Catholic priest who plays a significant part in Emily's life, is a joy. Would that we all know a character like that in our lives.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Faith and Failures, March 14, 2007

By 

mfaromantic (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Saints (Hardcover)

All Saints is a very interesting novel about one woman's struggle with faith and what she identifies as the failures she's made throughout her life. Although much of the novel centers on Emily Hamilton, the complicated situation she finds herself in with several of her students, and the consequences of those actions (or lack of actions), the parts I enjoyed most dealt with her relationship with Martin, a priest teaching at the school who she has a very close connection with, and her explorations of her faith and her relationship to God.

I find religion fascinating - especially Christanity. I was raised Roman Catholic but have never felt it call to me. Despite that, I have always been interested in Christanity from a more objective, intellectual perspective and this novel gave me the opportunity to explore it in a new way. I found Emily's struggle between believing (or wanting to believe) and her critical view point on many aspects of her faith to be especially moving and interesting. Additionally, I liked that the religious figures in the novel, (Martin, the other priests, and a few nuns) were not stereotypical holy men and woman who glorify everything about their religion but rather had some of the cynicism and intellectual practicality that I think is essential in this modern world and for a true understanding of religon. It lends a level of depth to the idea of God and faith that I think makes it more powerful than a traditional and righteous view of Christianity. (I hope that makes sense!)

Finally, the focus on the saints and the humor that Emily's character brings to almost the novel was great. Even in her darkest moments, she is not so far gone as to miss the humor in the situation or to be able to put her troubles into perspective. That being said, it is in many ways heartbreaking to see what she has made of her life and to know that it could have been different.

Ultimately, I really enjoyed this novel but I only gave it four stars because I think there were a few areas where I was left unsatisfied. In the beginning of the novel, the reader learns about a transformative event in Emily's life but there is a big gap between where it leaves off and where her marriages begin. I also felt like although her ex-husbands seemed to play an important role in her life, those experiences weren't as fully explored/developed as they might have been. Lastly, some of what went on with the students could have used more development as well, particularly with Edgar. I don't want to give anything away but I was somewhat confused about what exactly went on between them - this may have been intentional, however.

Overall, this was an enjoyable and very quick read. I had picked up Cloud Atlas at one point but never read it. Perhaps I will now that I find I really like Liam Callanan's writing and storytelling ability.