Customer Reviews

Evensong (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Relationships, religion and redemption are the 3 R's in National Book Award nominee Gail Godwin's Evensong, an eloquently rendered, albeit sometimes decelerated, story of a woman's path to spiritual identity.

In this, her tenth novel, Ms. Godwin reintroduces us to Margaret, the daughter in Father Melancholy's Daughter (1991). We are reminded that Margaret was deserted at the age of six by her mother, and raised by her father, a too needy Episcopalian rector who suffered from bouts of depression and "lived by the grace of daily obligation."

Later, either responding to a call or displaying filial approbation, Margaret chooses to follow in her father's professional footsteps. When we meet her again she is attending General Theological Seminary, and has set her sights on Rev. Adrian Bonner, a balding, fortyish, self-denigrating cleric. Margaret is convinced that having each other will make more of them both.

Dropped off at a Catholic orphanage by his parents, Adrian also bears scars of rejection. As a 10-year-old, he sought approval by imitating the institution's director - the young Adrian fashioned a rudimentary flagellum with "strips of rubber from a piece of inner tube," and punished himself daily.

An unlikely candidate for conjugal bliss, a facsimile of Margaret's father? Indeed. It puzzles why Margaret, as astute as she is in the study of human nature, did not see this herself. Only later does she unearth "a flinty bedrock of self-hatred" beneath Adrian's chronic despair. Becoming temporarily impotent, he makes "bitter jokes about December graybeards who took to themselves May brides."

As the world stands ready for Y2K, the Bonners move to High Balsam, a small North Carolina community. Margaret is to be rector of All Saints High Balsam, and Adrian on the staff of a therapeutic high school.

A paradigm American community in economic straits, High Balsam is ripe for an onslaught by Grace Munger, a rabid and rotund evangelist who receives direct instructions from the Lord. Describing herself as a "freelance apostle," Grace says God has mandated a parade - a Millennium Birthday March for Jesus. When Margaret declines Grace's invitation to join her march, the evangelist digs in her booted heels and campaigns to change the young rector's mind.

Two surprising visitors add to the turmoil in Margaret's life. First, there is the appearance of Tony, a "scraggy old customer" who claims to be a monk from the Abbey of the Transfiguration. Margaret feels obligated to invite the 80-year-old to spend the night with them, a stay that becomes days and then weeks.

Tony, it turns out, is as adroit at duplicity as he is at rolling his own cigarettes. By making himself useful, he slowly insinuates himself into the couple's lives.

A second unexpected houseguest is Chase Zorn, a rebellious teenager who has been expelled from Adrian's school, a "volatile boy, seething with intelligence and mistrust, testing to the limit anyone who dared love him."

The addition of these two disparate personalities to a rather benign household proves to be an incendiary mix, both literally and figuratively, when Tony confesses that he is Adrian's father and a forgotten iron sets fire to Margaret's church.

One of the novel's most poignant scenes is found in Margaret's conversation with a young girl who disdains the Bible as a book that tells one how to be good. Margaret explains, "It's a record of people keeping track of their relationship with God over a long period of time.... People go through some pretty awful stages as they fumble toward what they're meant to be."

Moving toward what one is meant to be is at the heart of Ms. Godwin's well articulated tale. Whether defiantly questioning or unquestioningly faithful, Margaret's journey is much like everyman's journey. Evensong may help us along the way.

Godwin writes the way Meryl Streep acts; with consummate skill, both natural and cultivated talent and some unearthly ability to slip into a character's mind and body and live there for a frustratingly short period of time. This is the third of Godwin's novels I've read; Father Melancholy's Daughter was right before this, and I thoroughly enjoyed living there with her, and the sorrow that I felt at the end of both books was that I would never get to meet Margaret or Father Gower or Adrian or Tony or even that likeable Gus. It's as if I've just missed them...well, I will have to wait for the next novel to show up to surprise me and thousands of other readers who appreciate such thoughful, tender, realistic portraits of towns and their people. Thank you, Gail.

I read this book on the advice of a friend- a wonderful, sweet, intelligent friend whom I know is much more spiritual than I am. I sort of thought I would be out of my element, but she sent me the book, I love her dearly, so I read it. Reading "Evensong," I found my thoughts even when I was physically away from the book turning to issues and philosophies explored by Margaret Bonner. The idea of a marriage "making more of each other", her thoughts on Bible stories and how they apply to life...it was in many ways my own private philosophy course. Well, not "course," exactly; there was no lecturing, but sort of a prompter. I found the philosophical jumpstart to be a lovely way to pass the gray days of january.

BUT- I rated it 4 stars. Reading the other reviews, I see there is no consensus on what this book is about. It can be about any number of things as the actual action is fairly slow in deference to the descriptions and relationships and philosophies. That part is fine with me. And I agree that the build-up to the millenium in the story didn't quite work. But it is worth the read; just don't be looking for a totally absorbing story line. There is truly beautiful writing in this book-(maybe some places where it shouldn't be, like out of the mouth of a rebellious teenager.) Maybe parts of the story were a little unrealistic, but the insight, the inaction, the relationships were beautifully written and worth the read on their own.

While I was reading "Evensong" I sometimes found it easy to put down, but several weeks and several books later, it is still on my mind. A book like this that leave a lasting impression is a treasure. How often do we find a novel about the efforts of several characters to be good people, and do good in the world? "Pastor Margaret"--intelligent and attractive yet down-to earth--is an extraordinary woman I would love to meet. This book is not perfect. The boy Chase does not ring true, Grace is too weird, and the plot seems contrived in places, especially the fire in the church. However the minor charcaters (Gus, Jennifer) were well drawn, Tony was vivid, and the struggles in Margaret and Adrian's marriage were honest. Each character must find the courage to face the new milennium by coming to terms with the past.

I enjoyed this book very much. If you like the Mitford series, you should enjoy this more sophisticated story about a woman Episcopal priest in another North Carolina mountain town. I found the author's spiritual insights to be not only enlightening, but also vital to the understanding of the story.

The contrast between Grace and Margaret perfectly illustrates the tension and conflict between many church-going Christians. The author is careful not to declare either approach right or wrong, but does point out the short-sightedness on both sides.

This book perfectly describes the normal, everyday trials and struggles of living as a minister's wife and as a minister. Like everyone else, ministers and their families deal with marital and child-rearing difficulties along with tragic events in their less-than-ideal lives, but the author aptly captures the "fish-bowel" living that occurs in the ministry. Even Margaret's and Adrian's intimate relationship and struggles with depression were sensitively and beautifully portrayed.

I recommend this well-written book to anyone who attempts to have a practical spiritual life in a hectic and harried world.

This is a story told from the first person - the narrator is a priest, a young woman who's both in love with and loves her husband. It's a peaceful yet completely disrming stoty with flashbacks filling in the characters. There's a slight amount of small-town intrigue in the backdrop of the end of the millenium. Mostly though, there's a quiet definition of the narrator's faith - in people, in life, in God.

I adored this story and its quiet, slow pace. Perhaps it does pale in comparison to the prequel - I picked this up in the library and didn't realize it was a sequel. It stands alone well.

(*)>

A clergyman friend of mine sent me this book for Christmas and I must say that I found it to be quite wonderful. I have never read any of Ms. Godwin's books previously, but having just finished the book, I can highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in faith journeys and the like. I reminds me in some respects of the Mitford series which my wife and I have both so enjoyed, but this is many respects is much more complex and open-ended. It has my heartiest recommendation.

The story of Margaret and her marriage evolves slowly and surely and it is this slow unveiling that shows the author's real skill in the use of plotting, characterization and prose. This is a tender love story on many levels yet it is also a coming of age story that forces one to consider their own feelings about religion, family and their place in our daily lives. This well-written novel is one that causes the reader to think about it long after the last paragraph has been read.

I wanted to review this book and am at a loss for words. Why? It is so unsurpassingly excellent. As soon as I finished it I reread book a second time and I have never done that before. I zeroxed pages and sent to friends. Why the enthusiasm? The story is about two Episcopal priests, mainly about the woman priest married to a husband priest. She has many problems -- her mother deserted her father, her husband suffers from cruel memories of his childhood. It is the author's attitude toward life and suffering which captivated me. Of course the role God plays in these lives is strikingly and subletly expressed. Our heroine finds meaning and purpose in life, although she too suffers. Evensong is second book about these characters. Father Meloncholy was first and I pray there will be a third.

This is my first Godwin and I don't know if I'd do another. An interesting story- I began to relate to it immediately. A young woman, married to a man she couldn't wait to marry- wondering where the pizazz went after 6 years. Okay- I'll bite. But then the story got too wordy. Lots of great characters. Adrian. Tony. Chase. But an awful lot of Episopal doctrine interwoven with an active story and a lot of characters. Godwin's message got lost in all of the competing actions and story lines and philosophy. The end was just plain sad. There were parts that were great. Other parts, I wished I had had something else to read. Took me a while to get through this book. No easy read here.