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    Songs in Ordinary Time
    Unavailable
    Songs in Ordinary Time
    Unavailable
    Songs in Ordinary Time
    Audiobook27 hours

    Songs in Ordinary Time

    Written by Mary McGarry Morris

    Narrated by Sandra Burr

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Songs in Ordinary Time is set in the summer of 1960 - the last of quiet times and America's innocence. It centers on Marie Fermoyle, a strong but vulnerable woman whose loneliness and ambition for her children make her easy prey for the dangerous con man Omar Duvall. Marie's children are Alice, seventeen - involved with a troubled young priest; Norm, sixteen - hotheaded and idealistic; and Benjy, twelve - isolated and misunderstood, and so desperate for his mother's happiness that he hides the deadly truth only he knows about Duvall. Among a fascinating cast of characters we meet the children's alcoholic father, Sam Fermoyle, now living with his senile mother and embittered sister; Sam's meek brother-in-law, who makes anonymous "love" calls from the bathroom of his ailing appliance store; and the Klubock family, who - in complete contrast to the Fermoyles - live an orderly life in the perfect house next door.

    An Oprah Winfrey Book Club pick.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateFeb 15, 2008
    ISBN9781423353010
    Unavailable
    Songs in Ordinary Time
    Author

    Mary McGarry Morris

    Mary McGarry Morris grew up in Vermont and now lives on the North Shore in Massachusetts. Her first novel, Vanished, was published in 1988 and was nominated for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award. A Dangerous Woman (1991) was chosen by Time magazine as one of the “Five Best Novels of the Year” and was made into a motion picture starring Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, and Gabriel Byrne. Songs in Ordinary Time (1995) was an Oprah’s Book Club selection, which propelled it to the top of the New York Times bestseller list for many weeks, and it was adapted for a TV movie starring Sissy Spacek and Beau Bridges. Morris’s other highly acclaimed works include the novels Fiona Range (2000), A Hole in the Universe (2004), The Lost Mother (2005), The Last Secret (2009), and Light from a Distant Star (2011), as well as the play MTL: The Insanity File.  

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    Reviews for Songs in Ordinary Time

    3.5/5

    373 ratings15 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Songs In Ordinary Time was a tough read. Marie Fermoyle is a single mother of three raising her children in 1960's Atkinson, Vermont. Marie has so many strikes against her - she married 'above her station'; her ex is the town drunk and laughingstock; her daughter has an affair with a young priest; her house is rundown. Marie's pride completely prevents her from asking for help or accepting it when it is offered. Marie is overworked, struggling financially and lonely.The stage is set for the arrival of Omar Duvall, a con man who insinuates himself into the lives of the residents of Atkinson and, in particular, the Fermoyle family. Duvall carries a dangerous secret and Marie's youngest knows all about it. Benji is so desperate to have his mother happy that he hides this knowledge from everyone. The author does a wonderful job of developing the characters in this book - not just the Fermoyle family and Omar, but many of the residents of Atkinson as well. This book is not a 'page-turner' but it kept me interested until the end.
    • 3/5
      Good enough for me to finish it, but in the end nothing was really resolved. Kind of depressing overall.
    • 3/5
      Good enough for me to finish it, but in the end nothing was really resolved. Kind of depressing overall.
    • 4/5
      I actually really enjoyed this book, especially the character of the mother. Her character was so sketched out that I felt I knew her; and honestly, I probably know some who are like her. It certainly is not the most fast-paced book, but that was fine with me. It was like peeking into the lives of another family for a little while.
    • 1/5
      I was quickly drawn in to this book. I kept waiting for it to get better, but guess what, it don't. I hate it when I read a book and then I am mad I wasted my time on it. That is how I felt. I am with the other readers regarding Oprah's book choices, depressing.
    • 5/5
      This novel tells the story of the down-and-out Fermoyle faily. Living in Vermont in the 1960s, Marie Fermoyle and her three children live in poverty and desperation, for more money, more security, and more affection. Marie Fermoyle, a hardened cynic, is so desperate for all of the above that she falls victim to the wiles of a con man. The Fermoyle children are blatantly aware that their mother is being fleeced, but the emotional distance of all the family members makes it difficult for any of them to communicate or to trust one another. As Marie falls deeper under her now-boyfriend's spell it is the Fermoyle children who feel this lack of communication most acutely. The most difficult character in this book is Marie Fermoyle: cold, cynical, and emotionally abusive towards her children, Marie is clearly a woman who has been deeply wounded and is now striking back, albeit at the wrong people. In this book Morris has crafted a deeply complex narrative with fantastic chracter development. Truly, she has created a whole world in this Vermont town. The characters' lives are richly interwoven with one another, and actions by one reverberate to affect the whole. This is a deeply moving and engaging novel.
    • 4/5
      I read this book a long time ago, but I enjoyed the experience so much I have never forgotten it. It is a long, slow-moving book, but thoroughly absorbing and thick with atmosphere as the tension builds. I remember that on the one hand you have a mother with children and on the other a sinister character closing in on them. Be patient, read it when you are relaxed and have plenty of time...
    • 4/5
      This book is full of extremely well-developed and believable characters and we get to follow each and every one of them through a summer of turmoil. The plot flows along at the lazy pace of languid summer days and the book is quite long, but the character studies are worth the effort.
    • 2/5
      UGH. I do hate a depressing novel. I did not appreciate finishing this book.
    • 2/5
      I hated it. This book turned me off of Oprah picks forever.
    • 3/5
      I'm trying to think of an Oprah selection that did not deliver and can't come up with one. This book has sat on the shelf for some time. Perhaps the sheer volume of the book put me off. But once into it, I can not put it down. And here I am , three days later, 4am, wide awake trying not to think of the book and how the ENORMOUS cast of characters, some central others superficial, could possibly come to a satisfying conclusion! I'll let you know when I complete the last 100 pages after a few hours sleep.This is the thing, life is messy. Things don't always turn out the way wed like. But, most resolved. Some characters left dangling but I enjoyed the open door for Blue and Alice.
    • 1/5
      It took me so long to get through this book. I read it several years ago, and I even forget some of what this book was about. Part of the reason for that is that there were way too many characters woven in, there was a myriad of little minor sub-stories mixed in, some of which didn't get resolved. I found this to be a tedious read and do not recommend this one.
    • 3/5
      Character-driven novel about the people living in a small town in Vermont in 1960. The storyline revolves around a con artist involved in an act of violence, who hides in plain sight by taking advantage of a lonely divorcee. The woman is supporting three children with no help from her alcoholic ex-husband. The story branches out to cover numerous people residing in the town, including the police chief and his family, the former police chief (now blind) that runs a popcorn stand, a dishonorably discharged marine trying to get his life back on track, an insurance salesman with financial issues, and many more.

      None of the main characters are very likeable and it would have been nice to have at least one or two in such a large cast of characters. Surely the entire town isn’t populated with unpleasant people. It was a struggle to keep reading this at times. I kept waiting for a bright spot. There are a few small glimmers of hope, but not many.

      Here’s a sampling of primary characters:
      -A con artist selling pipe dreams to people that can’t afford much of anything
      -A woman who constantly berates her children
      -An alcoholic father that neglects his family
      -A priest taking advantage of a minor
      -A thief stealing from local businesses
      -A woman that poisons her husband’s dog
      -A “heavy breather” making crank calls
      -A man that has an affair while his wife is dying of cancer

      All that said, it is very well-written. Themes include the ramifications of choices and how people can be entrapped by their hopes, fears, and desires. The characters are multi-layered. The author does a great job of getting inside the heads of the three children, ages 12, 16, and 17, as well as the divorced wife, alcoholic father, and various colorful characters living in this small town. The rationalizations of the con man seem very realistic, as he comes up with excuses to justify his atrocious behavior. For example:

      “People were just dying to find someone they could trust, and intimate, someone who not only understood, but knew things without having to be told. And he didn’t regard it in any way as taking advantage or preying on their troubles, because the truth was, he cared about people. He really did. Even when they turned on him. It pained him to see anyone hurt. There were still nights when he could not close his eyes, but what images of Earlie came to mind, that most headstrong, stubborn, and selfish young man who in a very real sense had been the instrument of his own harm. And of this he had no doubt. None whatsoever.”

      I appreciated the writing and would have probably liked it more if it were shorter and less repetitious, but after almost 750 pages, I am glad to be finished.
    • 5/5
      With writing like this, HOW can people give this book low ratings and negative reviews?

      [On a bus trip]   He was distantly aware of the wheels turning under them, the stench of exhaust through the dusty sliding windows, and beside him, the wet crunch of Lucille's pointy teeth into a pear.

      [Keep in mind this is happening at a formal business dinner!!!]   Biggs was a carpet installer from Detroit whose bad knees had ordained a new line of work. His life's savings as well his mother's had been invested in Presto. "Hear that?" he'd asked Omar during the cocktail hour, raising each leg up and down. 'That's cartilage crunching."

      I enjoy so much, getting to scrutinize other people's miserable lives. And I love how we get into the characters heads and know all their dramatic thoughts.

      Please, Mary McGarry Morris, let all your other books be this good!!! This one goes on my favorites shelf, but, I put the paperback itself directly into the trash. Why? Because the printer or bookbinder really screwed up. There were 60-ish pages missing in the middle and then a whole section of pages were in the book twice!! Luckily, the ebook is an "always available" title on Hoopla so I was able to download it, read the missing pages on Hoopla, and then return to the paperback.
    • 4/5
      very long. Similar to middlemarch since covered so many lives in a small town. Hard to tell if any character was the focus. Straightforward prose. The whole story revolved around the decomposing body. You knew that someone would find it, you just didn’t know when. Nice touch to keep coming back to it.