Review: ‘Saints For All Occasions’

J. Courtney Sullivan delves deeply into the nature of sacrifice and the nature of family in her new novel, 'Saints for All Occasions.” The story centers on two sisters, Nora and Theresa, who immigrate to America from Ireland while both are quite young. An error in judgment on Theresa's part causes Nora to set in motion a plan that will tear the sisters apart even as she seeks to save the most vulnerable member of the family.

Theresa finds a modicum of peace in communal solitude as a cloistered nun. Nora raises a family of four children, some of whom she favors over others. They are brought together again by a tragedy that threatens to undo them both.

Though I have withheld key details above, Sullivan hasn't penned a book of suspense. The origin of the rift in the sisters' relationship is telegraphed early and fully revealed not much later. Sullivan doesn't keep secrets from her readers, but her characters - siblings, parents, children - often don't know each other's full stories. They reach false conclusions from incomplete information. As a result, they make assumptions, make mistakes, and sometimes make things worse even when they are trying to make things better.

But Sullivan and her characters ultimately have faith in the power of family bonds. In many ways, 'Saints for All Occasions” is a sad book, and the inner lives of the troubled characters - which Sullivan renders with compassion and craft - are difficult to share. But at book's end, Sullivan reminds us that while we live, rifts can be healed and we ourselves can be the saints our loved ones need, no matter the occasion.