Acts of God

Acts of God is complex and true. It follows the metamorphosis of Tess as she faces her past, her father's duplicity, the loss of love, and finally the defenses she's built to protect her from feeling. Morris uses words so skillfully, she allows her descriptions to speak on a deeper level ("My secret was growing inside me," "Paradise was decorated for Christmas," Tess and Margaret as girls whirling in the Riverview Rotor ride, Indian summer leaves crunching underfoot, the tender washing of Tess by her daughter Jade, bringing her back to life). And Morris does all this while telling a compelling story. The tale of her father's double life and its multi-layered effects on Tess would make a terrific movie. I hope I see it on screen some day.

What a pleasure it was to read Mary Morris's new novel. I love the way she works the surface tension for its underlying meaning--the cut from the razor blade that leaves Squirrel, the main character, wearing her childhood on her arm, the hoarding Squirrel who "doesn't give anythign away" about her real self. Too much risk. I love the way risk runs through--the skewed values, that a child's death is worth less than that of a working spouse, how Squirrel's father, the insurance man, reduces everything to cold math and longing. I love the way Morris so clearly etches the world of Chicago--the old Indian trail, the lake, the maples, and the inner world of her characters into a moving, compelling whole.

After reading the New York Times review of this book I was horrified. I had read Mary Morris before and happily chose to ignore the horrific New York Times book review.I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it to thoughtful readers. Act of God was well crafted and enjoyable.

I've been a fan of Mary Morris for a long time, but was blown away by this novel. ACTS OF GOD has Morris' signature prose style (dazzling imagery, lyrical language), but is also richly textured and deftly paced. Her characters are real and complex, and I was thoroughly transported to another time, another place (which is my favorite way to read). Tell your friends, stake out the bookstores, shout it loud: THIS IS AN AWESOME BOOK. In a time when the most banal novels receive the most over-blown praise, ACTS OF GOD truly stands out as a powerful, riveting, and consuming story of what it means to confront your past so you can contend with your present. I LOVED THIS BOOK (and I'm a wickedly hard judge)! Mary Morris is a gifted writer and ACTS of GOD is the perfect showcase for her talents. Bravo!

I've been a Mary Morris's fan for a long time and I really loved her latest novel, Acts of God. It is a tour de force! Set in the Midwest of the 50's and in the breath-taking Pacific coast some thirty years later, clear-eyed Mary Morris weaves an intriguing story of the lasting and devastating effect of a childhood event. The novel's narrator, Tess, was Daddy's girl who accompanied her father, an insurance agent, on trips to farmlands devastated by natural disasters. Then one Indian summer, a mysterious little girl and her mother, Margaret and Clarice Blair, came to town, to Winonah, to live above Santini's Liquor on the wrong side of the town, and forever alter the courses of Tess's and her family's lives. It is about a family secret, a parent's betrayal, class and childhood friendship and much, much more. I recommend this book very highly.