Oprah Book Club® Selection, June 1997: A dark secret lies at the heart of Mary McGarry Morris's extraordinary novel, Songs in Ordinary Time. Rooted in the delicate web of emotions, lies, and truths that bind people together, the story takes place in the primarily Catholic town of Atkinson, Vermont, during the summer of 1960. Here Marie Fermoyle struggles to raise her three children. She already has two strikes against her: she married above her station and now is divorced from her alcoholic husband, Sam. That he is the town drunk and a laughingstock only further marks the Fermoyles.
Enter Omar Duvall, a confidence man. He comes to the door asking for bread and sees an opportunity. Soon he has insinuated himself into the Fermoyle family, promising Marie companionship, love, a willing pair of shoulders to share her burden. Twelve-year-old Benjy knows something terrible about Duvall, but, desperate for anything that will make his mother happy, he hides the truth. This silence gives Duvall time to bring Marie to the brink of financial disaster and lead her sons into mortal danger.
Songs in Ordinary Time includes a chorus of other Atkinson inhabitants: town cop Sonny Stoner and his dying wife; insurance salesman Bob Haddad, so enthralled with his beautiful wife that he's willing to steal for her; and Father Gannon, the young priest with whom Marie's daughter Alice becomes involved; and the Klubock family next door, who epitomize all that is normal to young Benjy. With these lives threaded through her bittersweet tale of the Fermoyles, Morris strikes all the notes of loneliness, hope, and familial love.
Life isn't alway easy and there are probably lots more people struggling through it than there are those who are sailing smoothly from day to day. Mary McGarry Morris's books are about struggling through life. Some of her stories are about struggles more difficult than one could imagine, but Songs in Ordinary Time had such a ring of truth for the time and place that I could not put it down. Her prose is easy to read; smooth and well written. The story has a good plot, is believable and, holds your attention. I've always found Morris's books a good read. Songs in Ordinary Time was my first read of Morris's books and I keep looking for more.
"Songs in Ordinary Time" is a book that I got that was one of those titles that sounds familiar, and yet I had no idea what the story was about. I am happy to report that this wonderful novel is not merely good storytelling, but an exploration of the deeper subjects, namely, the lies we tell: to each other, within our family, and saddest of all, to ourselves.
This moving story chronicles the lives of the Fermoyle family, down on their luck, and trying to gain some happiness in the world. The story's setting is a Catholic community in Vermont in the 1960s. All of the characters in the town, from popcorn seller to priest, have flawed lives to lead, and anyone reading the book will be astonished at the brutally frank light that is cast on one and all. I have never encountered a book like this, in which no character is exempt from the frailty of human mistakes, which are chronicled at every turn.
The main action centers around a drifter/con man (Omar Duvall) who comes into Marie Fermoyle's life. Marie so desperately wants to find happiness (and someone to help ease some of the many burdens placed on this single mother's shoulders) that she begins to open the door for him to take advantage of not only her family, but the community as a whole. Although the family knows Duvall is not all that he purports, they want their mother to enjoy life, even if only for a brief moment. The youngest son is the most heavily burdened for he knows a dark secret, yet is torn by the love for his mother and desire to make her happy.
The themes that run throughout this book--loneliness, financial struggle, and the lies that we tell to ease our burdens--are at the core of daily life for many, and Morris has done a beautifully heartbreaking job of using them to tell one family's story. This is an astonishing book that will keep you turning the pages to see if everything can be set aright again.
Many other reviewers mention the slow start of the book, and that the language and the many changes of who's thoughts are being broadcasted seem confusing, but that's a type of writing style I admire. I honestly didn't even notice the slow start because I love Morris's usage of descriptive language. Using descriptive language, especially in this case, lets you get closer to the characters, and all of their experiences were made more heartfelt.
