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Absolution
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
10 posts | 11 read | 10 to read
A riveting account of womens lives on the margins of the Vietnam War, from the renowned winner of the National Book Award. You have no idea what it was like. For us. The women, I mean. The wives. American womenAmerican wiveshave been mostly minor characters in the literature of the Vietnam War, but in Absolution they take center stage. Tricia is a shy newlywed, married to a rising attorney on loan to navy intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a beauty and a bully. In Saigon in 1963, the two women form a wary alliance as they balance the eras mandate to be helpmeets to their ambitious husbands with their own, inchoate impulse to do good for the people of Vietnam. Sixty years later, Charlenes daughter, spurred by an encounter with an aging Vietnam vet, reaches out to Tricia. Together, they look back at their time in Saigon, taking wry account of that pivotal year and of Charlenes altruistic machinations, and discovering as they do how their own lives as women on the peripheryof politics, of history, of war, of their husbands convictionshave been shaped and burdened by the same sort of unintended consequences that followed Americas tragic interference in Southeast Asia. A virtuosic new novel from Alice McDermott, one of our most observant, most affecting writersabout folly and grace, obligation, sacrifice, and, finally, the quest for absolution in a broken world.
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Amie
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Pickpick

I really liked this historical novel about a young American woman living in Saigon during the early 1960s because of her husband's job.

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Kristin_Reads
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Pickpick

I really liked this one! A compelling story of American women in Saigon in 1963. This is beautifully written, powerful, and thought-provoking. The pretty cover is a bonus.

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Pretty 💙💛 10mo
Crazeedi Oooo, sounds good 10mo
52 likes2 comments
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rmaclean4
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Mehso-so

My first Alice McDermott novel. Loved her characters and the setting. The plot was meandering, and I found the 2 narrators distracting. So-so overall, for me. 3 🌟
What McDermott would you recommend I read next?

jlhammar Someone and At Weddings and Wakes were both 5 ⭐️ reads for me. Also really liked 10mo
rmaclean4 @jlhammar Thank you. I am excited to read another novel by her. 10mo
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Floresj
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Pickpick

Great writing. Good turn of storytelling in the last 1/4 of the book. Vietnam is the setting, but really how the rich, well to do, make a difference, is the focus. However, after reading A Man with Two Faces, the absence and/or Vietnam story in here could have made this more than what it is.

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KristiAhlers
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Pickpick

This was the B&N book pick for November and I found this to be such a good book...which in fact made me feel conflicted because I liked it. Highly recommend this one.

TheBookHippie Ohhh I do love her writing!!! I‘ll have to pick this up! 11mo
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LatrelWhite
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Enjoying this!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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BkClubCare
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Pickpick

This complicated story – Set in Saigon during the Vietnam war, primarily about wives of businessmen supporting the US effort. Tricia writes a letter, decades later, to Rainey, who was a young girl when they met in Saigon. Rainey‘s mother was a force! Rainey writes back a response, memories etc from her perspective now as a later middle-age woman. Evocative writing! Who is at fault? Can blame be assigned? Everywhere and all ways. I wonder.

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BkClubCare
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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My sweet pup Copper is hanging out with me while I avoid figuring out how to write ALL the thank you notes for the interview I had this morning- that I think went *really* well (and hope I didn‘t screw up, somehow?! 😫 THINK POSITIVE 💡🌟
I had a fun (?!) discussion about #TOB with the Dean 😳 Welp, he asked, “what do you do for fun?”
I READ BOOKS, bake pie, and love on my doggos.

Check out the pretty earbud case I bought 💐

Gissy The earbud case is pretty but also that
🐶 🐾🐾❤️❤️❤️❤️☺️
12mo
BkClubCare @Gissy - He is such a sweetheart. 12mo
dabbe Hello there, Cutey Copper! What a face! 🖤🐾🖤 Hope your interview went well! 🤩 12mo
See All 7 Comments
merelybookish Fingers crossed 🤞 12mo
Megabooks Good luck!! 12mo
Jas16 Keeping my fingers crossed for you. 12mo
LiteraryinPA You got this!! 12mo
43 likes7 comments
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ChrisBohjalian
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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Reading and loving and, alas, about to finish Alice McDermott‘s ABSOLUTION. #fridayreads

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jlhammar
Absolution: A Novel | Alice McDermott
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#bookmail! Tagged is the new release from one of my favorite authors. She really takes her time writing, but always worth the wait. And The Berry Pickers is a debut - sounds fantastic!

Megabooks I‘ve heard good things about both! 13mo
BkClubCare I am reading Charming Billy first, then have the audiobook of Absolution ready. 13mo
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