Songs in Ordinary Time, Mary McGarry Morris
Songs in Ordinary Time, Mary McGarry Morris
12 Rating(s)
List: $46.99 | Sale: $32.90
Club: $23.49

Songs in Ordinary Time

Author: Mary McGarry Morris

Narrator: Sandra Burr

Unabridged: 27 hr 36 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 02/15/2008

Categories: Fiction

Synopsis

Songs in Ordinary Time is set in the summer of 1960 - the last of quiet times and America's innocence. It centers on Marie Fermoyle, a strong but vulnerable woman whose loneliness and ambition for her children make her easy prey for the dangerous con man Omar Duvall. Marie's children are Alice, seventeen - involved with a troubled young priest; Norm, sixteen - hotheaded and idealistic; and Benjy, twelve - isolated and misunderstood, and so desperate for his mother's happiness that he hides the deadly truth only he knows about Duvall. Among a fascinating cast of characters we meet the children's alcoholic father, Sam Fermoyle, now living with his senile mother and embittered sister; Sam's meek brother-in-law, who makes anonymous "love" calls from the bathroom of his ailing appliance store; and the Klubock family, who - in complete contrast to the Fermoyles - live an orderly life in the perfect house next door.An Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick.

About Mary McGarry Morris

Mary McGarry Morris is the author of four highly acclaimed novels. Entertainment Weekly included her latest, Fiona Range, on its list of the best books of 2000. Vanished (1998) was nominated for both the National Book Award and the Pen/Faulkner Award. A Dangerous Woman (1991) was made into a feature film starring Debra Winger in 1993. Songs In Ordinary Time, was the 1997 Oprah Book Club Selection, and is available from Brilliance Audio.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Nomanisan on April 18, 2008

Oh, my. I absolutely detested this book; I finished merely because I HAD to get finished with it so that I could put it away. Morris has created a world in which no one is free of some warping or embittering experience except the family next door to the protagonists, and they are presented in such c......more

Goodreads review by Lori on September 16, 2007

Songs is well written. The characters are interesting. The plot is believable. The town is realistic. And all of it is incredibly, incredibly depressing. Not *one* single person in the entire book has a good life. Or even a reasonably happy one -- or a shot at happiness, at that. And the fact that it's w......more

Goodreads review by Dionne on November 28, 2010

Oh, Oprah! Whatever did you see in this book? Only because of my hard-and-fast rule that I must finish reading every book I start, did I complete "Songs in Ordinary Time". Had the book been capped at, say, 300 pages it might have been, at least, moderately tolerable. At page 600, I was ready to phys......more

Goodreads review by Carrie on September 15, 2012

What a fantastic story! I am so surprised to read all of the negative reviews here. I thought the novel was beautifully written, and I enjoyed every last word of it. It took some time to get through, but Morris held my attention for two weeks with her wonderful, in depth characters and story telling......more

Goodreads review by Mark on December 06, 2015

Excellent. A town of dysfunctional people, centered around a particularly dysfunctional family, penetrating and truthful, sometimes painfully so.......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List