Here is the plot of this book: The victim of domestic violence and her husband are found dead in a small town in Vermont, apparently a murder suicide. The woman had been having an affair with the pastor of her church. The pastor feels guilty that he did not intervene more strongly and he takes off with a best-selling author of a book about angels. We don’t know why he has an affair with her, as she is a kook who is so into angels that she can barely utter dialogue without bringing them into a conversation. The pastor becomes a suspect in the murder of the husband. The true murderer is revealed eventually.
The main narrators of the novel are the pastor, the orphaned daughter, and the goofy angel author. Some tangential investigators from law enforcement make an appearance as well and who killed whom, and why is speculated on by all of the narrators.
This book was tedious in the extreme. I was excited to read it, as the author came highly recommended by a book club friend. I have two other books by him and am loathe to venture to reading them after this experience.
First, it contains details that simply are not germane to the plot and do nothing to move it forward. For example, there are lengthy passages about angels and angels being among us that nearly had me gagging. Also there is a side story about the angel lady's anorexic sister and her bird carving partner that is sort of plopped into the book and have nothing to do with the rest of it. The orphaned daughter goes on and on and on ad nauseum about her relationship with her mother, father and friends – all of which while important – could have been cut down by 50%. Very repetitive.
The characters do not draw one in. The pastor is shallow – a relationship phobic, self indulgent serial bedder of women who he uses only for sex. The daughter, who should be a sympathetic character, is anything but. The angel lady will drive you crazy with all of the angel stuff – none of which is germane to the plot.
While I appreciate this author’s taking on the troubling issue of domestic violence and portraying the dependency issues involved in staying with a wife-beater, there are better ways to raise consciousness than to bore or annoy readers. Bored and annoyed sums up how I felt about this book.