Wayward Saints

Being a fan of the sister group The Roches, I was excited to dive into this book by Suzzy Roche, the youngest of the three sisters. Expecting a light fun read with the clever wit of a Roches song, I found instead, a darker story of a woman lost and damaged by life. A story of broken relationships. A story of the fickle world of the music business. A story of mothers and daughters. A story of redemption. Mary Saint is a washed up punk rock star living a quiet, unassuming, unnoticed life in San Francisco. Still grieving after almost a decade, the loss of her lover/bass player in a tragic accident, she gets a call from her mother relaying a request from a teacher at her old high school in Swallow, New York, to come and play a concert at show more the school. What follows is a rocky road back to Swallow on which Mary faces old demons and finds new strength. I did find some beautiful writing with profound observations which I found inspiring and thought provoking. The only thing that I would say was a drawback (and I have to admit it was kind of a big drawback for me) was the utterly ridiculous names she came up with for the bands and some of the characters in the book - I mean really- “The Tennessee Twinsters”; “Sliced Ham”; “Snarkle Rot” ?? I understand that there are some crazy band names out there - but not every band you encounter has a name that’s practically laughable. It was more than distracting for me. Especially in the first third of the book, before the story really had it’s hold on me, I almost couldn’t get past the “stoopid” names. But trust me fellow readers, it’s worth the effort. This is a respectable debut by Suzzy Roche, and I would look forward to reading her next effort which I understand will be a children’s book. show less

Mary Saint, is definitely not a saint. She's a rocker who as a little girl had a visitation from the Virgin Mary, or at least SOME Mary. She made a name for herself as a part of a grunge alternative rock band. But after the death of a band member, things fall apart . . .

Now, Mary's mother has been talked into having Mary come back to her small hometown to do a solo concert. This book is centered around this concert and the people involved.

Suzzy Roche was herself a member of a sister act alternate band. She knows this world. This is her debut novel, and I have to say, it's pretty good. The characters are interesting and very well-developed. You root for them not because they are so good, but because they are so human. Mary is damaged and show more quirky, but manages to create a decent life with other quirky and damaged people. Her mother is somewhat conventional but she has hidden depths and while she doesn't understand her daughter, she loves her intensely.

If you are interested in the musical life, and you like novels that are both plot and character driven, with a bit of quirkiness thrown in, you'll like this book. It's a good read! show less

Suppose your daughter Mary is a semi-famous rock singer. Suppose you've never been able to listen past the first few bars of her--to you--ear-assaulting recordings. Suppose that, despite your love for her, you've harbored the fear for years that in addition to being substance-addled and profane, she may well be insane. And suppose that before you quite realize it, you yourself have arranged for this prodigal daughter to return for a concert at her hometown high school for $850 plus airfare ("I must really be a has-been") to caterwaul God-knows-what before God and everybody--everybody you might run into at the market, the town cafe, or (God forbid) church on Sunday.

Time to meet present-day Mary, veteran of a thousand filthy backstage show more scenes, a rock and roll tragedy and "home plate--the rehab," quaking in her combat boots at the thought of her hometown gymnasium star-turn. By now, there's no stopping this novel's rollicking, effortless, page-turning prose from sucking the reader in to its end.

Suzzy Roche of the brilliant songwriting, bell-voiced Roche Sisters trio makes her fiction debut with a savvy, surprising and funny novel about family and borderline fame suffused with you'd-know-it-anywhere Roche Sisters wit, whimsy and been-there sensibility.

"Wayward Saints" is a novel for anybody who's ever wondered what the folks back home might be thinking about the latest sort-of celebrity (surely even Marilyn Manson has a mother...), or what becomes of those survivors on the borderlands of post-fame in the wake of their intimate inspirations and cries de coeur. show less

I really was surprised at the talent of Roche in this book but ultimately it left a lot of promise on the table. Roche the author was in a band which I never heard of but that isn’t remarkable. Wayward Saints is about family healing, reconciliation with a misunderstood mother and living down past events that formerly had been left ignored. I hope she writes another book which will be more ambitious. Roche seems happy enough here with describing feelings and penning descriptions about everyday observations. I am sure Roche is happy with the book. I liked it too, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone else unless they were still interested in fictional post-Punk bands. Roche may have had a spiritual experience which is touched on here, show more and I appreciated the intertwining of popular Roman Catholicism with the heartwarming ending. But that is part of a style which probably is not to everyone’s taste. A priest is depicted with questionable counseling skills, sadly. show less

As many have said, this is a very entertaining read and a good look at family dynamics. I thought I was going to end up loving this book, but I didn't. I just liked it. I'm not familiar with Suzzy Roche and her music so maybe that is part of it, but I thought the characters -- especially Mom and daughter didn't "get there." Yes they made progress, but it seemed like they would be just as distant from each other as before. While they both made strides in getting out into the world, they never figured out how to connect with each other. I was disappointed by that. However, overall this is a good read and a great debut effort. I'd consider another book by Ms. Roche.

Suzzy Roche does a fine job in writing her first novel. Wayward Saints is funny, entertaining, thoughtful, irreverent and heartwarming. I read this book in one day, staying up late to finish it. While some books are more character driven, others are definitely all about the plot. This one is about the characters. They are both interesting and diverse. The author takes the time to develop characters that are not all good or bad, who are complex, flawed and thus human. The ending put a smile on my face, and for me that is always a plus!

A very good book. I searched out WAYWARD SAINTS because I had recently read Suzzy Roche's new novel, THE TOWN CRAZY, and enjoyed it immensely. This one is about ten years old, and I guess it came and went without much fanfare. But yeah, it's a very good read, all about Mary Saint, a girl who didn't fit in growing up in a small town in upstate New York and was abused by her blue collar father. She escaped into the alt-rock, grunge music scene, touring for several years with her band, Sliced Ham, across America and the UK until she inevitably crashed from drugs and alcohol, following the accidental death of her musician lover. There is much here too about Mary's childhood and adolescence in tiny Swallow, NY, including a mystical encounter show more with the Blessed Mother - "the Other Mary" - which leaves a lasting impression. After hitting bottom and rehab, Mary lives a quiet, anonymous life in San Francisco, and becomes part of an odd quasi-religious congregation that faintly echoed the church group that Anne LaMotte has written so eloquently about. The story centers around a "comeback concert" in Mary's hometown after several years of quiet obscurity , as well as an intimate look into the life of Mary's mother, Jean, a devout Catholic and a battered wife.

Suzzy Roche is, of course, a singer-songwriter herself, one of the Roches, along with her two sisters, so she writes knowledgeably about the music biz and life on the road. She is a rarity, I think, as a musician who also is a talented writer of fiction. I thought of a gem-like story collection, BODIES OF WATER, that I read more than twenty years ago by Rosanne Cash. This book compared well, measures up. Good book. Very highly recommended.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less