Dear James (Loyola Classics) [Paperback]

Jon Hassler (Author), Amy Welborn (Editor), Joan Wester Anderson (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2006 | Series: Loyola Classics

“Characters so exquisitely rendered that even a first-time visitor to Staggerford will come to love them as old friends.” —The New York Times Book Review

“A deliciously rich, simmering brew of envy, charity, and redemptive love.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Old-fashioned storytelling at its best.”

—Kirkus Reviews

Personal and public crises descend on Agatha McGee in her seventieth year. The feisty, quick-witted, fiercely Catholic spinster travels to Italy and Ireland to shake off the malaise of a forced retirement. There, against the backdrop of IRA and Islamic terrorism, she confronts the love of her life, a priest who has betrayed her by concealing his clerical identity. Back home in Staggerford, Minnesota, two spiteful acquaintances smear Agatha’s good name with malicious stories. With the sure touch of a narrative master, Jon Hassler blends gentle satire and acute insight in a compelling story of loss, forgiveness, and renewal.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pungent humor and a shrewd eye for human foibles make this latest addition to Hassler's Staggerford saga ( North of Hope , etc.) memorable. The small Minnesota town is set on its ear by Miss Agatha McGee, an upright elderly resident with a sawtoothed tongue. At loose ends due to forced retirement from her longtime teaching post, Agatha despairs when she looks at the motley crew of friends gathered at her table for an excruciating Thanksgiving dinner (described in hilarious detail). At one time, Agatha's respite from these small-minded, albeit kindhearted people was her Irish pen-pal James, to whom she poured out her feelings, but she severed that tie when she discovered he was a priest. Now, she signs on for a tour of Italy where, unbeknownst to her, James awaits. During her absence from Staggerford, a malicious neighbor finds their correspondence and lays it on the public pillory. Agatha returns to cold shoulders from townsfolk angered by her sharp commentaries, but finds consolation in her deepening relationship with James--and with the Church. It's Staggerford's gleeful eccentrics, not the author's occasional plunges into maudlin sentimentality, that linger in the mind after reading this deliciously rich, simmering brew of envy, charity and redemptive love.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Hassler returns to his fictional Minnesota town of Staggerford for a quiet story that centers on the themes of loss and spiritual renewal. He populates this new novel with a number of characters who first appeared in his debut novel, Staggerford ( LJ 7/77). Agatha McGee, a Catholic school teacher, faces a number of crises in her 70th year. She must confront her own forced retirement, the realization that her long-time Irish pen pal (the James of the title, for whom she was nurturing more than Platonic feelings) is a priest, and the fact that the world still harbors a host of evils--from the Irish Troubles, to terrorism, to the petty jealousies that ruin lives in a small town. Hassler's usual facility with language is not as powerful as in earlier works, but his characters can still intrigue. This is a work that resonates best in context with the earlier works. Recommended for large fiction collections and collections of regional fiction. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/93.
- Martin R. Kalfatovic, Smithsonian Inst. Libs., Washington, D.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Loyola Classics; First Edition, First edition (November 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 082942430X
• ISBN-13: 978-0829424300
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #143,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lovely, insightful book with well developed characters, July 11, 1998

By 

wimadcap (Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear James: A Novel (Paperback)

"Dear James" is a sequel to "A Green Journey", further exploring the staunch character of Miss Agatha McGee and continuing her complicated relationship with James.

The book focuses closely on his characters and their interactions. Their detailed conversations and day to day activities show us just who they are and how they fit together as a community. This book is not a travelog; if you are looking for great adventure and beautiful descriptions of exotic lands, look elsewhere. Instead, it's a marvelous portrait of regular every day small town people, their values, their lives and their interconnections.

I have always been impressed with the depth and consistency of Hassler's characters. He treats Miss Agatha McGee and all the residents of Staggerford (and elsewhere) lovingly and yet humorously. His characters are honored even for their foibles.

He presents information about his characters as his novel goes on, painting layer upon layer of experience and character. He builds these characters carefully and logically, so that when they reach a turning point or make a decision, it always seems consistent with their makeup. Yet even when a character makes a decision that seems almost tragically wrong to me, it always seems consistent with their belief systems. This strikes me as very rare in the fiction I read.

Miss Agatha McGee in particular has become a fuller, more developed and more complicated character with each book. Her life and her decision, very different from mine, do manage to bring her happiness and peace.

Through Hassler's insightful writing, I have developed a much greater understanding of belief systems and motivations very different from my own.

It's a delightful portrayal of regular small town folks and their lifetime of interactions, carefully drawn in wonderful detail. Hassler renews my faith in people.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it! Please give us more about Agatha, July 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Dear James: A Novel (Paperback)

I love Jon Hassler's novels and wish he would write many more, especially if Miss Agatha is one of the characters. I find myself thinking about her all the time, wondering how she is doing, and hate to have to remind myself that she exists only in our imaginations. She is a combination of your favorite grade-school teacher, a beloved aunt or grandmother, the elderly neighbor loved by all, with a little of Aunt Bea mixed in. Read everything Jon Hassler has written. You can't go wrong with any of his books.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Book of All Time!!!, June 30, 2006

By 

Ms. Honest Opinion (WDM, IA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dear James: A Novel (Paperback)

I have read this book four times now (there is NO other book I've read this many times). Agatha is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction and I read a lot of fiction. She's true to herself in everything she does! I really love the relationship she has with the townsfolk and most particularly with James, although this isn't the first book with Agatha (Staggerford) or with Agatha and James (Green Journey), it can stand alone. It's warm, it's touching, it's funny, it's sad, it's, quite simply, wonderful!