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11th out of 16 books
—
25 voters
Household Saints: A Novel
The setting is New York's Little Italy in the 1950s -- a community closely knit by gossip and tradition. This is the story of an extraordinary family, the Santangelos. There is Joseph, the butcher, who cheats in his shop and at pinochle, only to find the deck is stacked against him; his mother, Mrs. Santangelo, who sees the evil eye everywhere and who calls on her saints;...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
April 1st 2003
by Harper Perennial
(first published June 1st 1983)
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The Winner Takes It All
Household Saints features a butcher named Joseph Santangelo as one of its main characters. In regards to his gameplay at pinochle and business on Mulberry Street, Joseph does not live up to his namesake. He has an affinity for secretly collecting extra cards to get the upper hand against his playmates. He has a tendency of tipping the scales and cheating housewives when he is weighing their meat. Yet the women rarely complain due to his charm. Like Joseph, Francine Prose...more
Household Saints features a butcher named Joseph Santangelo as one of its main characters. In regards to his gameplay at pinochle and business on Mulberry Street, Joseph does not live up to his namesake. He has an affinity for secretly collecting extra cards to get the upper hand against his playmates. He has a tendency of tipping the scales and cheating housewives when he is weighing their meat. Yet the women rarely complain due to his charm. Like Joseph, Francine Prose...more
I loved the first 2/3 of this book and only liked that last 1/3. It's well-written, and I enjoyed the characters a lot, especially at the beginning. I loved how Joseph "won" Catherine in a card game (funny side note... my own NYC-born and raised, Italian Catholic grandfather supposedly won a bet from a card game and had to take my grandmother on a date...) and while she didn't want to get married to him, it turned out to be a happy and successful marriage. I cried at the still-born birth and cri...more
The initial language is beautiful and compelling. It is continual unpacking, a return to the surroundings to illuminate the characters. Thus, I became less invested in the exploration of the third generation. While the continual clarification embodied the first and second generation, the religiosity of the third generation mandated a literary transcendence that was never approached. The language was too rooted in the physical (for example, the fixation on the checkered shirt during a crucial sce...more
Mar 17, 2013
Suzanne
added it
Having married young into an Italian family, I enjoyed the immersion into the world of close knit, loving, battling families , tied by love, superstition and food. Joseph Santangelos wins his wife in a card game, and his luck changes forever. Though his mother fears the Evil Eye, Joe's daughter seems exceptionally blessed, even too blessed, some would say. A touching, life affirming story, bittersweet and of course, expertly written.
Oh, I loved this book. It's one of those "go with it" books, when it's necessary to suspend belief (a la Alice Hoffman or Margot Livesey), but well worth it for the sake of the story. The descriptions of the characters and places that make up Little Italy in the 50s are beautifully rendered, and Francine Prose's dry humor plays perfectly. This was also a decent movie, which followed the book very closely.
Mar 07, 2009
Theodora
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Lacey
Recommended to Theodora by:
Jeana DelRosso's book
"If Theresa had lived in another era, they might have called her a saint."
"If they had lithium in Jesus' time," said Joseph, "there wouldn't have been any saints."
"Joseph," said Catherine, "let's go."
"If they'd had mental hospitals, they'd have had John the Baptist on occupational therapy."
...just read this book. It validated my growing up-Catholic stories. Loved it!
"If they had lithium in Jesus' time," said Joseph, "there wouldn't have been any saints."
"Joseph," said Catherine, "let's go."
"If they'd had mental hospitals, they'd have had John the Baptist on occupational therapy."
...just read this book. It validated my growing up-Catholic stories. Loved it!
1 like · like · see review
The first sentence of this novel will certainly intrigue you to read more. The reason I am giving this book a 3 instead of 4 star rating is because I felt that sometimes the story was really interesting and kept me craving more, while at others it seemed leisurely. Overall, I enjoyed the characters and the story was pretty good, so I would recommend it but I wouldn't say it's the most riveting book I've read in a while.
This is a compact little novel that I've read twice in the last six months. It's about an Italian Catholic family whose daughter (truly, like myself any many Catholic girls I've known) believes she should grow up to be a nun or a saint. It's a really sweet tale, tall-tale style. Who's read more of Francine Prose's work?
Loved the first three quarters of this book, a story of an Italian American family in New York's Little Italy in the 1950's. But the end of the book became very strange and distressing when Theresa Santangelo, the character of focus in the second half of the book becomes obsessed with Saint Theresa, "The Little Flower" while in parochial elementary school and is determined to join the Carmelite nuns despite her mother and father's protests.
A total disappointment. Lots of good reviews on this one, but I don't get it. I found the story thin, the characters not engaging, and the whole thing downright boring. The only redeeming thing about this book for me was that it was an incredibly quick read.
I thought the characters were well developed. I loved the setting, Little Italy in NYC. The plot was interesting. I think the author is really gifted. But, I don't think this is the book for me. I laughed several times and I didn't hate the book, I just didn't love it.
I really liked the story of the couple's "accidental" marriage and how it grew into more. It was a pretty straight-forward story of an Italian-American family--a pleasure to read. But the ambiguity at the end added something more to it.
Francine Prose is hit or miss with me. I really loved Goldengrove and her book on Anne Frank. But I wasn't overly fond of Blue Angel or Household Saints.
This was a book group book. It took me two days to read and although at first I didn't like it, I did get pulled in after two of the main characters got married and had a happy sex life. I'd been steeling myself for their marriage to be awful and when it was beautiful, that made me happy, even when their daughter turned out to be a better saint than a human being. There was a good amount of description of Italian-American life, which reminded me of my own heritage and the stories my mother told...more
Nov 19, 2010
Annie Blasberg
added it
A deceptively simple novel about finding faith and magic in everyday life.
Hard to put down but I was not satisfied with the ending.
I enjoyed the first half of the book BUT the second half went a little far for me.
Feb 18, 2013
Lauretta
marked it as to-read
amanda rec
Apr 22, 2009
Meg
added it
novel
I was interested to read this because I know the author. Set in Little Italy after WW2 through the 60s. Funny and comical in parts, Francine did her homework and captured the typical Italian mama of years ago. Lots of references to the Saints and superstitions common in Italian households. Some of the characters were strange as hell, but likeable.
An Italian family in the 50's dealing with their daughter's religious epiphany.
This is also a great movie by Nancy Savoka with Lily Taylor and Tracy Ulman. It's in sync with the book almost shot for shot, so if you get lazy...
This is also a great movie by Nancy Savoka with Lily Taylor and Tracy Ulman. It's in sync with the book almost shot for shot, so if you get lazy...
The movie is on my list of favorites so reading the book was a given. It reminded me of Harold and Maude in that I enjoyed the book but loved the movie. Very rare occurrence in my opinion.
This was a cute story. It made me laugh a bit and smile over memories of how my Grandmothers and Great Aunts were about things.
A very good, underrated book
May 20, 2013
Brooke
marked it as to-read
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Francine Prose (born in 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American novelist. She graduated from Radcliffe College in 1968, and received a Guggenheim fellowship in 1991. She has sat on the board of judges for the PEN/Newman's Own Award, and her novel Blue Angel, a satire about sexual harassment on college campuses, was a finalist for the National Book Award. She is now teaching at Bard College.
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Mar 08, 2009 07:51am