The Patron Saint of Liars

There’s something special about discovering a beloved author’s very first book. And this one? It’s a stunner.

A New York Times Notable Book, this is the debut novel from Ann Patchett, the celebrated author who would go on to win our hearts again and again. Critics took notice right from the start. The Boston Herald called it “beautifully written . . . a first novel that second- and third-time novelists would envy for its grace, insight, and compassion.”

Welcome to St. Elizabeth’s, a home for unwed mothers tucked away in Habit, Kentucky. Most residents pass through quickly. Not Rose Clinton.

Beautiful and mysterious, Rose arrives pregnant but not unwed, carrying secrets she can’t quite outrun. She plans to give up her child, convinced she’s not the mother it deserves. But when little Cecilia is born, everything shifts. Rose carves out a life for herself and her daughter among the nuns and the ever-changing collection of pregnant teenage girls who fill the home’s rooms.

Still, the past has a way of finding us. Rose discovers she can’t fully escape what she’s left behind, even as she can’t undo the woman she’s become in the leaving.

This is a tender, searching story about family, identity, and the choices that shape a life. Perfect for readers who love literary fiction with deep roots and quiet emotional power.

Curl up with this one on a gray, salty afternoon. The kind of book you’ll want to linger over.

Stop by and let us wrap one up for you, or order it to arrive on your doorstep. We think you’re going to love it.

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