Anne Tyler's Saint Maybe
POSTED AT 01:41 PM in Reading for substance

I've been surfing the web about this novel and found out that it's quite popular (why wouldn't it be when it's selling like hotcakes for 9 weeks?) and had been reviewed hundred times over by critiques and readers alike.

Yup, the novel is good. But I was actually expecting a richer plot, a more intriguing story, a much deeper interpretation of events that has happened on the lives of the story's characters. Ok, so I'm reading too much Jeffrey Archer and Barbara Taylor Bradford, I should give Anne Tyler a chance, she's a great author in her own ways, right?

I am delighted to know however (well, my knowledge of this fact is rather late but better late than never!) that Saint Maybe is that good for Hallmark Channel to make a television series out of it. I'll tell you more about that series later, for now let me get you acquainted with Saint Maybe himself.

Saint Maybe was actually Ian Bedloe, how he got that name? You'll know more once you get to the middle of the book. Ian was the youngest member of what everyone on Waverly Street sees as the perfect family. This seemingly perfect family is composed of rather sociable and good-natured parents, three attractive and quite popular children, a cat, a dog and various goldfish in an aquarium.

Ian, though popular for his own athletic abilities, was considered an average sort of person compared to his very beautiful sister Caludia and his very handsome and athletic brother Danny. However, it doesn't seem to bother Ian at all, he's quite contented with his life especially that he's dating the most popular and the most beautiful girl in the campus by the age of 17.

Problems however began to appear when Danny married a seemingly "unknown" woman Lucy who's actually divorced and a mother of two small children, Agatha and Thomas. Lucy came from nowhere, carrying no history or past with her, yes, an untraceable background indeed. This however didn't stop Danny from marrying her and starting a family with her.

Words have been whispered within the family when just after seven months of marriage, baby Daphne was welcome in the world. Of course, Lucy says the baby's premature but one look at her, you can actually tell she isn't. Then Lucy started going out, leaving her children alone with a babysitter (who happens to be Ian most of the time). This led to Danny's death through an auto accident closely followed by Lucy's death through a sleeping pill overdose. And guess what? Ian felt responsible for both deaths. How and why? Again, you have got to get your own copy! LOL!

This guilt led Ian to his religious journey, hoping that he'll be able to cleanse himself and be forgiven for the deaths. It will take Ian years to understand what God's plan for him really is, and yes, it took him years to gain the so-called title "Saint Maybe". In the end, the Bedloes may not be the seemingly perfect family they were before but well, nobody's perfect anyways.

Anne Tyler's story is indeed filled with characters loved for their eccentricities. The plot and the lessons learned are so detailed and take a universal tone. The novel indeed illustrates the delivering power of love and commitment.

To be honest, I wasn't really satisfied with how the story ended, I was thinking something's missing. I kept on telling myself it would have been better if Ian did this or Ian did that... Oh well, maybe that's the reason Anne Tyler was able to publish her story and I still can't. I think I'm not just cut out to be a writer huh!

Ok, on your left is a photo (courtesy of Hallmark Channel) of the TV series Saint Maybe's main characters. Bee Bedloe, the mother, was played by Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents) while Doug Bedloe, the father, was played by Edward Herrmann (Oz). Hmmm.. I guess the parents weren't in that photo.

 

Their three children, Claudia, the eldest, was played by Glynnis O’Connor (Summer of Fear), while Danny, the "Golden Boy" was played by Jeffrey Nordling (Journey to the Center Of the Earth) and Ian, the "saint" was played by Thomas McCarthy (Mary & Tim).

 

I never saw a single episode of this series but I guess it's good enough to enjoy with a tumbler of popcorn and a can of soda eh?

 

Listening to: Welcome To My Life by Simple Plan
Feeling: thoughtful

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