Wayward Saints
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
From a folk-rock legend comes a tender, comic story of family, music, and second chances.
Mary Saint, the rule-breaking, troubled former lead singer of the almost-famous band Sliced Ham, has pretty much given up on music after the trauma of her band member and lover Garbagio's death seven years earlier. Instead, with the help of her best friend, Thaddeus, she is trying to piece her life together while making mochaccinos in San Francisco. Meanwhile, back in her hometown of Swallow, New York, her mother, Jean Saint, struggles with her own ghosts.
When Mary is invited to give a concert at her old high school, Jean is thrilled, though she's worried about what Father Benedict and her neighbors will think of songs such as "Sewer Flower" and "You're a Pig." But she soon realizes that there are going to be bigger problems when the whole town -- including a discouraged teacher and a baker who's anything but sweet -- gets in on the act.
Filled with characters that are wild and original, yet still familiar and warm -- plus plenty of great insider winks at the music industry -- Wayward Saints is a touching and hilarious look at confronting your past and going home again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In her debut, Roche one of three sisters who make up the folk-rock group, the Roches shows that her narrative skills aren't just limited to lyrics. Abused by her father, Mary Saint lead singer for Sliced Ham channels her pain into music. However, after the tragic death of her bandmate and lover, Anthony ("Garbagio") Calabrese, in 2003, Mary turns away from music and flees to the safety of San Francisco, where she finds comfort working at a cafe and by joining a hippie church run by a self-described chocolate tranny named Thaddeus. Mary's mother, Jean, also physically and mentally abused, has stayed in the tiny town of Swallow, N.Y., her husband now a stroke victim living in a retirement home. Jean hasn't seen her daughter in years, and the two remain wrapped in their own lives until an English teacher (who has idolized Mary) contacts Jean with an invitation for Mary to perform at her old high school. Jean worries that the locals may not appreciate songs like "Feet and Knuckles" and "Sewer Flower." Meanwhile, people from Mary's past are working on projects that will affect her future. Roche's empathy for these broken souls allows readers to feel the depth of their pain and savor the novel's happier twists.
