The Patron Saint of Butterflies
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5.0 • 3 Ratings
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Agnes and Honey have always been best friends, but they haven't always been so different. Agnes loves being a Believer. She knows the rules at the Mount Blessing religious commune are there to make her a better person. Honey hates Mount Blessing and the control Emmanuel, their leader, has over her life. The only bright spot is the butterfly garden she's helping to build, and the journal of butterflies that she keeps. When Agnes's grandmother makes an unexpected visit to the commune, she discovers a violent secret that the Believers are desperate to keep quiet. And when Agnes's little brother is seriously injured and Emmanuel refuses to send him to a hospital, Nana Pete takes the three children and escapes the commune. Their journey begins an exploration of faith, friendship, religion and family for the two girls, as Agnes clings to her familiar faith while Honey desperately wants a new future.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Inspired by her childhood in a religious commune, Galante's swift-moving debut novel may hold a ripped-from-the-headlines fascination for readers. But those who take the bait will find more contrivance than substance in the tale of two teenage girls' very different attitudes about the cloistered life they have been born into. Secluded at the Mount Blessing compound under the rule of the manipulative Emmanuel, 14-year-old Agnes strives for sainthood. Her best friend, Honey, however, questions Emmanuel's tactics and authority, and secretly longs for a normal life with TV, fashionable clothes and fast food. An injury to Agnes's younger brother sets in motion a daring escape from Mount Blessing orchestrated by the siblings' grandmother, with Honey along for the ride. As relationships strain and new situations arise, no one is sure what move to make next. The girls' friendship and their respective expressions of doubt in their faith and in the adults they love seem mostly convincing, but heavy foreshadowing and too many neatly aligned coincidences detract from the story. Ages 12 up.
