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#pedometergeek, Annie England Noblin, book blog, book review, chick-lit, mainstream fiction, novel, pedometer geek, review, St. Francis Societyfor Wayward Pets
Discovering a new author, someone this pedometer geek hasn’t read, is always a pleasure. If the book is enjoyable, most times this reader will return to the author again and again until all of the author’s books are read. Sometimes, this reader just stumbles upon an author by cruising the library’s shelves; sometimes, another reader will suggest a book; and sometimes, a book received through a giveaway or gift is the way an author is discovered. That is the case in reading the novel, St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin. Having read and enjoyed this novel, her other novels will be read some time in the future. This uncorrected proof was received through a First Reads Goodreads giveaway, and this is the extended review.
St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets
By Annie England Noblin
Published by William Morrow,
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-274831-7
Having read this mainstream/chick-lit novel, this pedometer geek reader noted several things. First and foremost, the story was refreshing for its novelty. It didn’t follow all the tried-and-true plots. The characters were not run of the mill; they were unique, but not so quirky as to seem unbelievable. There weren’t many What-the-tuck trends seen, either, or if there were, it wasn’t apparent to this reader.
As the story opens, Maeve (Mae) Stephens is having a bad day…a really bad day. She has publicly been cheated on by her boyfriend (it’s even on YouTube), laid off as a sportswriter on a local Seattle newspaper, and to top it off, she was mugged for a grand total of $32.11. Even her mugger, after finding out she is the girlfriend of baseball player Derek Mitchell, says she is bad luck (and suggests that she follow through in her plan to break up with Derek so that the baseball team will win again).
What more can go wrong in her life? Maeve is about to find out when she gets the news that her birth mother (whom she has never met) has died and left her a house, a car, and a cat in the small town where she lived. She travels to Timber Creek, Washington to go to her birth mother’s funeral, but Maeve basically goes to find out more about her own history and the truth about Annabelle.
The story is mainly told from the perspective of Maeve. As she gets to know some of the people her birth mother knew, questions still remain. Will she ever figure it all out? Who was her birth mother, and what is the St. Francis Society’s deal with knitting sweaters for dogs and cats?
There are flashbacks, told from the perspective of Annabelle, to the events of 1984. They fill in the history of Maeve’s birth mother and why she made the choice to give up her baby to Maeve’s parents.
The novel is a satisfying read, and puts into perspective what pro-choice can mean to different people. Even after finishing the novel, I found myself re-reading passages, finding that, with hindsight, I saw the story differently now that I knew the whole story. I must admit that it took about a third of the book to really get hooked into the story, but that may have been because of my penchant for reading more than one book at a time. Once fully engaged, the characters came alive, and as did the story.
This pedometer geek reader looks forward to reading more from Annie England Noblin. There are several novels she has written like Pupcakes, The Sisters Hemingway, Just Fine with Caroline, and Sit! Stay! Speak! and I’ll be checking them out.