Customer Reviews

The Visitation

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A light, well written spoof that brings to light some of the absurdity of Roman Catholic doctrine as it relates to and supresses women. We found the characters believable, often recognizable! The book was smattered with humor and delivered a poingnant message about women, sexuality, faith and religion. Our book club enjoyed this one thoroughly!

This book was truly a treasure which I found on a clearence rack. This novel gives an account of the relaxing of the Catholic Church which took place in the 1960's through the lives of two young girls. At the same time, hilarious and haunting, this story is a must read for anyone who grew up in a Catholic home.

The premise is exciting and unusual, however the promise is never fulfilled. The Visitation for which the book is named is incidental in the book and goes nowhere. Characters come in and out of the protagonists' lives with no rhyme or reason and do not affect any change in the characters (in particular, the Virgin Mary has no immediate or apparent affect on the two main characters's lives). They serve no purpose. Characters who could be interesting are left behind with no further storyline. The story takes many directions only to not develop any and instead go on yet another direction. This could have been a coming of age story, it could have been comic, it could have been compelling, unfortunately, it is none of those things.

The book begins strongly, and there were some very Catholic moments. However, the author never developed the theme of Mary coming to earth to deliver a message to the Pope. The ending seemed incongruous with the rest of the book.

Reidy had a rather charming idea for a book: two "tween" girls are totally hepped up on the suffering of female saints. So hepped up that they finally have a vision of Mary themselves. Mary delivers a message that birth control is okay.

There were a lot of interesting places Reidy could have taken this, like a modern, New Zealandish Song of Bernadette retelling. However, the whole Mary visitation plot is quickly forgotten, making an 11th hour reappearance at book's end. The narrative collapses around a standard tale of two girls fighting against a controlling, intolerant father, unable to accept his daughters are blooming into sexually active women. You begin to wonder if you're still reading the same book.

The daughters vs their father plot is well told, but you do feel like the books a bit of a literary bait and switch. We were promised a tender, quirky, religious satire but we got a heartbreaking work of staggering standardness.

What's it like growing up poor and Catholic in New Zealand in the 1960s? Meet the Flynn sisters, Catherine and Theresa. Their childhood games consist mostly of re-enacting the lives of martyrs and saints, torturing themselves before an audience of their numerous siblings, with the Baby occasionally projectile-vomiting to add color to their already grisly pretend play. Things get pretty surreal when one of the little girls has a nun habit made and starts wearing it every day in preparation for a life in God's service.

One day, the Flynn sisters receive a visit from the Virgin Mary, who manifests herself above the lemon tree in the backyard. The manifestation puts in the girls' trust a letter for the Pope. It is insinuated in the story that the letter is one advocating birth control and family planning. The young sisters hand the letter to their parents, and their conservative father doctors the letter before handing it to the religious authorities to make it appear as though the letter confirms and approves the status quo; i.e. religious prohibition against birth control.

That is not all there is to the story. Surreal though the plot may sound so far, Reidy's prose is down-to-earth, warm and full of feeling. The girls grow up, meet many people with different points of view, experience sexual awakening, learn to stand up against their parents and their patriarchal values and learn what it is to be a woman and an individual.

Although this book raises what some may consider controversial issues, ideas are presented in a wholesome, non-offensive manner that is sure to endear itself to its readers.

Recommended reading to anyone who enjoys a good story and appreciates objectivity and freedom of information.

I was drawn to this book by a recommendation (printed on the cover) by Fay Weldon, one of my favorite writers. Although Weldon and Reidy share a New Zealand heritage, their similarities stop there. The premise of the book is hilarious -- the Virgin Mary decends to Earth to spread the Good News of contraception and sexual tolerance -- but the execution is mildly amusing at best. The author spends far too much time in the third quarter of the book focusing NOT on the teenaged daughters' various forms of sexual awakening, but instead languishes over the family strife caused it. And although I love feminist/pagan literature (and was raised Catholic, to boot) the tree-hugging ending was just too implausible for belief. An enjoyable--yet strangely flawed--work that desperatley needs a stronger editor.

This is anything but a wickedly funny book....even the few places where a chuckle might emerge, the reader pulls back from the chuckle because there is so much anger, resentment and suppressed loathing lurking in this book. I slogged through this novel hoping it would redeem itself at the next turn, but it sure didn't do that. Probably the least entertaining, least literate, most depressing book I've read in 10 years, and I read about 40 books a year, mostly fiction.

I was deceived by the comment on the cover from Fay Weldon, whose work I have enjoyed in the past. Unfortunately, this book has none of the bite of Weldon's work. The first chapter was amusing, but after that the novel droned on. Most likely would have made a funny SHORT story - but it didn't work for a novel.

Sue Reidy came up with an interesting premise for this novel, but only partially delivered on its potential. The story revolves around the Catholic sisters Catherine and Theresa, in a strict and dogmatic household in the New Zealand of the 1960s. These offbeat sisters are obsessed with female saints and martyrs, and receive a visit from the Virgin Mary herself. The Mother of God in their vision apparently wishes to promote women's liberation and to push along the inexorable changes taking place in the Catholic church of the time. At this point the novel shows real promise as a satirical critique on the strictest tenets of Catholicism and its treatment of women. But disappointingly, the second half of the novel drifts badly from its Virgin Mary-oriented possibilities, becoming a fairly standard (though racy) coming-of-age tale as the sisters discover themselves and rebel against their tyrannical father. This story will probably resonate most with young women from Catholic backgrounds who skeptically question their church's attitudes toward sexuality and women's rights. But any reader will probably conclude that much of the story's deeper potential is wasted as unique characters grow up just like everyone else does. [~doomsdayer520~]