Customer Reviews

What Matters Most: A Novel

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

 

 

I just now finished this fabulous book -- though I must admit I could barely read the last 30 pages I was crying/sobbing so hard!!! Honestly, I couldn't see the pages. I dropped everything else I was reading when this book arrived Thursday but really started reading it voraciously Friday night, read until 2 AM and then have been reading it all day today. This is the story of Sister Bernadette and Tom Kelly from Sandcastles and their trip to Ireland to try to find the son they gave up for adoption 23 years earlier. I will admit to being disappointed by several of Luanne Rice's recent books (although I did enjoy Sandcastles) but this is without a doubt the best Luanne Rice has done in years, even better than the Roses series from a couple years ago. There was a little plot device toward the end that I wish she hadn't used but honestly, I can forgive her for it since the over 330 pages were so fabulous; pulled at the heartstrings so magnificently. Two of the hallmarks of a GREAT book for me --- if it makes me cry/sob and if I can read it straight through without putting it down. This had both. Second only to A Thousand Splendid Suns as the best book I have read all year. And PLEASE if you are going to read this book do not read the one-star review by Jean DeVilbiss from July 19th. She gives a MAJOR SPOILER, one that isn't in the book until waaayyyy at the end. To give this in a review on Amazon is absolutely unconscionable--and I can only hope that Amazon takes it down before it is ruined for other readers.

I loved the characters, the suspense, the aunguish. I don't always require a neat and tidy ending but was disappointed how it all turned out with Tom (that scene needed more detail, I found it unbelievable). Without writing a spoiler review, may I say: I wanted more for this character.

The questions that kept me reading: Would Bernie give up being a nun? Would Seamus and Kathleen reunite? Would all the characters reconcile? A good blend of apeal factors for me -- lots of "heart" the connection to Ireland, the various hopes each character had to get things right. At times melodramatic, but I couldn't put it down. I think my mother would love this; one of her favorite books is THORN BIRDS, which in some small way this resembles, at least in the Catholic appeal factors. Not that you have to be Catholic to enjoy it!

I've read every Luanne Rice book since Cloud Nine. A few of these earlier books are some of favorites (Follow the Stars Home, Beach Girls). Most of her books follow the same plot lines - there's usually a couple who's trying to beat the odds to be together. Children are almost always involved as the ones in the middle - the ones who pull the adults together.

WHAT MATTERS THE MOST follows along these same lines - Sister Bernadette & Tom Kelly travel to Ireland to search for the son they long ago gave up for adoption. The son is no longer a child, but rather a grown man with his own love life hanging in the balance. While searching for their son, Tom & Bernie must face serious doubts and questions that are raised.

In all honesty I found the book to be a little boring at times. Chapters seemed to go on and on with no direction at all. At times, I felt that Rice wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the characters, and because of that, the characters' actions are sort of all over the place (i.e., upon meeting his "parents" Seamus is very upset & writes a very angry letter, but in the very next scene, he's already remorseful).

Without giving anything away (I hope Amazon removes a few reviews!!)- I HATED the last 1/4 of the book. It's definitely not your typical Luanne Rice ending. I was left unsatisfied as I felt Sister Bernadette was. It didn't really seem like the characters had grown at all as a result of what happened during the story. Perhaps the ending is a set up for another follow up (the story of Seamus & Catherine), but it would have been nice to resolve one story before setting another one up.

Just because I didn't really care for this particular story, I won't stop reading Luanne Rice's novels. I look forward to each summer when her books come out, and I will anxiously await to see what she has in store for readers next year. I just hope the next book is a little more uplifting, with a story that is more resolved. This book was originally set up in last year's SANDCASTLES, and I have a funny feeling that this book is a set up for another one down the road. I'd like to see an original Luanne Rice novel - one that's full of new characters that won't end with the possibility of a sequel. There's such a thing as "too much of a good thing" and I think Luanne Rice is seriously pushing those boundaries.

I discovered Luanne Rice only early this year, and SANDCASTLES was the first of her books that I read. I liked it so much that I started backtracking, reading all of her books. She has become one of my favorite writers, although there are some early books that I don't care for too much (ANGELS ALL OVER TOWN for one). However, WHAT MATTERS MOST is the Luanne Rice book I'll be talking about with everyone I know. The characters are delightful...as a Catholic with Irish roots, I felt a connection with the passion, loyalty, friendship, and love of these Irish characters. The intensity of their love for one another, the conflicting emotions of a nun whose femininity and human heart are revealed in ways many Catholics don't want to see or have been too indoctrinated in tradition to realize...powerful, emotional, heartrending stuff here. I couldn't put the book down, I could hardly see the last 30 or so pages through my tears, and I find myself dreaming of the characters as if they were real. As someone who grapples with the validity of certain mysticism in the Catholic tradition myself, I found that my mind was opened to the possibility of a faith that enormous and a heart that open. I am so impressed with Luanne Rice and WHAT MATTERS MOST that I plan to buy this book for all the women in my large, Irish Catholic family.

I decided to give Luanne Rice another chance after I trashed her book Blue Moon. What Matters Most is incredible. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone! What a great story! Just keep the kleenex handy; you will need it. Great job!

I've read and enjoyed several of Luanne Rice's books (Follow the Stars Home, Home Fires, Secrets of Paris, Crazy in Love, Angels...,etc).

I've found her books touching, her storylines interesting, and her characters developed enough to care about & to cry with them. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case here with "What Matters Most."

This story (what there is of one) doesn't really stand on its own. If you haven't read Sandcastles (I hadn't) then don't bother. There are too many references that don't make sense - they're out of place and there isn't enough context or relevance. The characters of Bernadette & Tom and their motivations are also not as clear as they should be. Perhaps other readers may feel differently - having read the "backstory."

Overall, this is really geared to someone who read a previous book & at the end wondered "what happened with so-and-so?" If that's all you want to know & experience from this book - you may be satisfied.

But ultimately, this is a cheap tale - poorly developed and almost incoherantly told. And it was a poor investment of my time. It seems more along the lines of an outline that was never fleshed out - with characters that never lived.

I do a decent amount of driving so I listened to this book on CD. I commend the reader for a wonderful use of language and voices. But I must say if I were trying to read this book I would probably have given up. There is much significance to the title "What Matters Most" because what mattered most to Bernie - Sister Bernadette Ignatius - was her vocation. That decision to become a nun - supposedly because of a vision that she had - caused her to forsake her child and the love of her life. As the book went on, Bernie became more and more hollow and selfish. By the end of the book I came to dislike the character. With all of her so called holiness she wrecked the life of her son and the man who really loved her - all because she wanted to be a nun. If that were the case, how did she get pregnant in the first place. And how did Tom hang around all of those years? It didn't make sense.

I also found Tom and Bernie's love for their son hard to accept. For 23 years they never did any to check on his where abouts - they never called, wrote a letter or anything - they never confirmed that he was with the so called loving family. Bernie was in the same order - she could have found out something. With the influence Tom's family had, they could have placed the child themselves - it just didn't make sense. I also found it hard to believe that the convent took Bernie in after knowing that she had a baby and when she moved to America and became the mother superior - another fact I found hard to believe - her "ex" lived right there on the grounds.

For the true romantic maybe the plot is believable, but to me what matters most is believable characters. These weren't.

Loved this book, had me interested cover to cover! A nice light summer read.

Over two decades Bernadette Ignatius and Tom Kelly were lovers. She became pregnant and gave birth to his son. However, Bernadette decided to join the church to become a nun. Unable to raise the lad by himself, Tom agreed to place the newborn in a Dublin orphanage. To be near her, he became the caretaker at the convent where she took her vows.

Now twenty-three years later, Tom and Sister Bernie search for their offspring angry Seamus Sullivan, who loathes his biological parents for deserting him. When Tom learns that Seamus loves a former orphanage resident Kathleen, whose parents came for her a decade ago, he encourages him to go out and get her. However, to find love, Seamus must move past his hate to forgive his parents while Kathleen is across the ocean in Newport knowing the only boy she loves will one day come for her.

WHAT MATTERS MOST is filled with memorable characters whose faith is tested as each of the prime four players struggle to do what they feel is right; they each learn a Plato-like lesson that to have a miracle first one must suffer in their cases heartbreak. The story line is enhanced by visions and ghosts, but uses to many expedient scenarios that enable the prime cast to run into each other at critical times though some might insist serendipitously miracles are in their corner. Still the lead four protagonists make for a powerful inspirational tale as they learn WHAT MATTERS MOST in life.

Harriet Klausner

This book is Wonderful! It keeps you interested and intrigued right from the beginning. Luanne also brings back some of our favorite characters from a previous book I read. It is well worth getting!