The Monk Downstairs: A Novel [Hardcover]

Tim Farrington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 9, 2002

Rebecca Martin is a single mother with an apartment to rent and a sense that she has used up her illusions. I had the romantic thing with my first husband, thank you very much, she tells a hapless suitor. I'm thirty-eight years old, and I've got a daughter learning to read and a job I don't quite like. I don't need the violin music. But when the new tenant in her in-law apartment turns out to be Michael Christopher, on the lam after twenty years in a monastery and smack dab in the middle of a dark night of the soul, Rebecca begins to suspect that she is not as thoroughly disillusioned as she had thought.

Her daughter, Mary Martha, is delighted with the new arrival, as is Rebecca's mother, Phoebe, a rollicking widow making a new life for herself among the spiritual eccentrics of the coastal town of Bolinas. Even Rebecca's best friend, Bonnie, once a confirmed cynic in matters of the heart, urges Rebecca on. But none of them, Rebecca feels, understands how complicated and dangerous love actually is.

As her unlikely friendship with the ex-monk grows toward something deeper, and Michael wrestles with his despair while adjusting to a second career flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, Rebecca struggles with her own temptation to hope. But it is not until she is brought up short by the realities of life and death that she begins to glimpse the real mystery of love, and the unfathomable depths of faith.

Beautifully written and playfully engaging, this novel. is about one man wrestling with his yearning for a life of contemplation and the need for a life of action in the world. But it's Rebecca's spirit, as well as her relationships with Mary Martha, Phoebe, her irresponsible surfer ex-husband Rory -- and, of course, the monk downstairs -- that makes this story shine.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tim Farrington's The Monk Downstairs follows the beguiling romance between a jaded San Francisco graphic designer and a monk who flips burgers at McDonald's. Rebecca Martin is a 38-year-old single mom who has lost her faith in men; Mike is a disillusioned monk who's lost his faith in God. The two meet just after Mike leaves his monastery of 20 years and rents the downstairs apartment of Rebecca's house. The last thing Rebecca wants is another romantic entanglement, especially since she has the emotional well-being of her 6-year-old daughter, Mary Martha, to consider. (A charming character in her own right, Mary Martha also happens to be "an infallible detector of bullshit.") And the last thing Mike wants is to agitate his already troubled soul. But after a few backyard cigarettes together at twilight and a few melted barriers, a tentative love story is underway.

Although Farrington's plot revolves around a classic story of unlikely lovers, there's no sappiness or clichés in his highly polished narrative. Indeed, his vulnerable characters and realistic dialogue will feel especially poignant for grown-up lovers. When the big night arrives and the couple must decide whether Mike will sleep over, Rebecca speaks for all single mothers.

"This is not just about us anymore," she said. "If that freaks you out, then please, please bail now. Because if you are going to stay here tonight, you're going to have to have breakfast with my daughter. You're going to have to be a decent human being. You're going to have to be a man."

In Mike we see what it means to bring spiritual strength to a relationship. When Rebecca suddenly becomes sharp and anxious, he does not retreat, nor does he paw at her for reassurance. Instead he knows how to sit with her, as if in meditation, staying present while not getting caught up in her fear. And in Rebecca we see what it means to speak honestly to a lover. This all may sound too lofty and preachy to be a juicy read, but Farrington has the quirky characters and the masterful skills to make this a highly entertaining and inspiring tale of adult love. --Gail Hudson

From Publishers Weekly

An independent, "unremarkable" single mother of one and an introverted ex-monk are the unlikely couple sharing the spotlight in this delightful, Anne Tyler-ish third novel from the author of 1998's well-received Blues for Hannah. Rebecca, a 38-year-old divorced San Francisco graphic artist, already has plenty on her plate a six-year-old daughter, Mary Martha, and a pot-smoking professional surfer ex-husband, Rory when she rents her downstairs apartment to Michael Christopher, a monk who has just abandoned monastery life after 20 years. She's sure she's not on the market for romance, but when Michael weeds her backyard, manages to befriend no-nonsense Mary Martha and joins Rebecca for intimate cigarette breaks ("little suicides") on the back steps, she finds herself wavering. Much trepidation predictably gives way to heated romance, though Michael wrestles with his crisis of faith via letters back and forth to the abbey brothers, and Rebecca, between bouts of bailing Rory out of jail, questions whether a romantic relationship with a man like Michael would be a true "fall from grace" for them both. Then Rebecca's mother has a stroke, and Rebecca and Michael are forced to make some rushed but pragmatic decisions. Fluent prose, seamless dialogue and a lovingly rendered Bay Area setting lift this novel above the pack. Farrington touches on many of the themes customary to the genre: forbidden fantasies, passionate first kisses, hovering family members and the tribulations of inconceivable relationships and all are mastered with ease and grace. The writer may have adopted a secondhand premise, but he delivers a charmingly written, gratifyingly hopeful tale. Agent, Linda Chester, Linda Chester and Associates. (May)Forecast: West Coast readers in particular will appreciate the quirky, spiritually inflected sweetness of Farrington's fiction. Farrington has been quietly building up a solid body of work, … la Stephen McCauley, and The Monk Downstairs should bump his reputation and sales up a healthy notch.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1ST edition (July 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062517856
• ISBN-13: 978-0062517852
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (54 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tender story about taking risks, July 27, 2002

By 

Veronica Bennett (Wilmington, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Monk Downstairs: A Novel (Hardcover)

I think this shall be one of my all time favorite books. It speaks to the risk of love versus the acceptance of a safe, yet solitary existence. It speaks to the risk of one exploring and accepting another versus that of one gliding from one superficial entanglement to another, precluding real intimacy. One wants the happy ending... but is it worth all the pain that accompanies the risks?

This is a story that grips you immediately. The story is about a single mom who fixes up the in-law apartment of her house so as to increase her income. Funny thing, the person who shows up has no money and no furniture. He is a monk who has recently left the monastery. However unsure, once she sees the interaction between the monk and her six year old daughter, Mary Martha, her decision is affirmed.

As the friendship develops, Rebecca waits for the proverbial shoe to drop. She has conceded that she is to remain alone for the rest of her days, but Mike, the monk, captures her imagination providing her a healthy dose of giddiness followed by a pervasive topping of fear of what may be too good to be true. This story captures the emotional risks we all take when we open to love again. It is that fear that rests in the gut.

This is also a story that invites the reader to explore his/her own relationship with a "God" whose message isn't always crystal clear. Again, it is about acceptance and risk.

Rebecca and Mike are surrounded by a group of wonderful people. These people are not too neurotic, not too "over the top". Their assortment of idiosyncracies are reminders of the real people who surround us: wishing for our happiness, fearing for our hurts.

Perhaps my only disappointment is the fact it is cigarettes that provide the initial sensory connection for Rebecca and Mike. So it is not a perfect world after all.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Such wonderful writing!, August 17, 2002

By 

bensmomma "bensmomma" (Ann Arbor, Michigan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Monk Downstairs: A Novel (Hardcover)

This could easily have gotten maudlin: a late-30s single San Francisco mom rents her downstairs apartment to a monk who, due to spiritual distress, has just left the monastery. They fall in love. He's a good kisser. He's nice to her kid. He supports her through the illness of her mother. They stay in love. The end.

But it is so wonderfully written - so funny (you will laugh!) and warm - and the author gives such a rich inner life to the characters - that the book transcends its plot. The most remarkable, wonderful feature of Farrington's writing is that every character is complex and multi-dimensional. Mike, the ex-monk, is not just some boilerplate Nice Guy. His internal struggles with living in the "real world" seem completely believable and sympathetic. Rebecca, the mom, is funny and smart, but also quirky. Even characters who occupy no more than a page or two - the judge at a trial, or the receptionist at the graphics firm where Rebecca works, or an eccentric friend of Rebecca's mom - they are all fully developed, interesting, distinct people.

How does the author do this? I have never seen such a remarkable ability to put a flesh-and-blood character into just a few lines of text.

And funny, did I mention it was funny? Funny and spiritual at the same time...you can't beat that. I really hope everyone gets a chance to read it.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Charming, March 26, 2003

By 

BeachReader (Delaware) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Monk Downstairs: A Novel (Hardcover)

As soon as I read the beginning of this book, when the ex-monk , Michael Christopher, moved into an apartment in the home of Rebecca, a single mother, I figured that it would be a predictable "boy meets girl" kind of book.

Well, it was a "boy meets girl" book but it was anything but predictable. The quirky baggage-laiden characters and difficult situations reminded me of Anne Tyler's writing, which I love. The book was not overly detailed nor overwritten; the dialogue was realistic; and the characters were very appealing. The warm and honestly rendered story was full of hope and everyday spirituality, written in such lovely language.

Michael and Rebecca, as well as her daughter Mary Martha, are delightful, real, and engaging characters - and so are the "minor" characters. Farrington's portrayal of their day-to-day life struggles will endear these folks to all who read the book.