Absent a Miracle

By Christine Lehner

Book Overview

Alice Fairweather, a lapsed Catholic who lives in upstate New York with her two sons and philandering husband (whom she loves to distraction), has just lost her dream job as a radio talk show hostess.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0151014299
• ISBN13: 9780151014293
• Release Date: August 2009
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 1.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

compelling and original

To read "Absent a Miracle" is to leave your own life for a while... and spend time instead with quirky, brilliant, betrayed Alice, in her snowbound home, where she plays host to a strange, frantic and handsome man; in the hagiography museum; and beautiful Nicaragua, where love and mystery unfold. To begin is to feel you are entering a realm you've never been, and when done, is to continue to feel as if you've been far away. I loved it.

Sentences that Dazzle, A Story that Captivates

Horace Walpole once said that "the world is a tragedy for those who feel, but a comedy to those who think." Clearly, he could not have been acquainted with Christine Lehner's new novel, which is, at once, very clever and laugh-out-loud funny, and, at the same time, strangely moving and affecting. The novel's heroine, Alice Fairweather, is everywoman--smart, sensitive, struggling to hold down a job, keep a troubled marriage together, and be a good (and fun-loving) mom for her two children, and yet never taking her own problems (or those of her delightful dogs) so seriously that you pity her. An encounter with her husband's old college roommate leads Alice down life's rabbit hole and into a magical-realist wonderland of snowstorms, hospitals, hagiographers, coffee farms, and Nicaraguan politics. Lehner's gifts are such that she can take her reader pretty much anywhere. This delightful novel more than fulfills the promise of the entertaining short-story collection, What to Wear to See the Pope, and leaves this reader hungry to devour whatever Lehner conjures up next.

Superb Summer Fun

In this time of impending financial crisis, emotional malaise and seemingly insurmountable global problems, maybe we all need some miracles. Absent that, there is, happily, this hilariously entertaining book that gives the quest for the meaning of life a whole new itinerary. Alice Fairweather is either blessed or cursed with an insatiable curiosity and compassion almost to the point of sainthood. Her natural affinity to help others--and in the process possibly herself--leads her on a bizarre adventure brimming with eccentric and memorable characters, a divine education in female hagiography, rescue missions that would shame the good Samaritan, and finally, a much needed reconnection to faith and love. At a time where we are thirsting for novelty, wit, humor and a great story, Absent a Miracle hits the spot.

Characters in the Tropics

I bought this book because of an interest in Nicaragua - which was certainly satisfied - but I ended up becoming totally entranced with the voice of Alice Fairweather, the narrator in search of a job (and a miracle?). While the lives of saints - hagiographies - have never been of interest to this non-Catholic, I grew to understand their pull on Alice and found her irreverent fascination was catching. ABSENT A MIRACLE takes you from a snowstorm in the Hudson Valley to the dim recesses of a NYC club for saint-lovers to a WASP-y wedding on the coast of Maine to a coffee farm in Nicaragua. Even as I watched Alice struggle with her obsessive love for Waldo, her inventor (and inventive) husband, I laughed out loud. Remarkably, in this large cast of characters, each one is unique, recognizable and engaging, from the small town mayor to the black sheep cousin to the Olga, the OCD sister. Read it for a trip to the tropics as well as interior voyage into the heart of a family

My Favorite End of Summer Read

One look at the cover tells you that this will be no ordinary story. From the first sentence, I was captivated by the world Christine Lehner has created with such subtle wit, clever and captivatingly unique characters, and keen eyed observations into the quirkiness of life and the places we are lead along the way. I have no idea whether the Publisher's Weekly Reviewer just dipped a toe into the pages or was distracted in such a way that he/she couldn't relax and enjoy the time it really takes to enter without an agenda other than to be entertained, but I disagree with their take on this wonderful novel. I found the the characters connected at the heart, the twists and delightful turns so refreshing, that I rationed the pages in an effort to make the experience last longer. You will meet people who are deftly brought to life without dusty cliches. And while their experiences may seem at times far afield from anything you may have known, you will be so glad you went with them as they manage this journey with the same curiosity, yearnings, needs, questions and heart common to us all. I laughed out loud and then found myself truly touched by the vulnerability and nobility of these wonderful characters. This is intelligent, fun, thoughtful and memorable reading. Put this miracle on your reading list!