Quade has the ability to write characters who are alive on the page and linger long after finishing. I can't say I enjoyed much of this project, having to do with some kind of Catholic torture and redemption but I appreciated it. It was also interesting to get a glimpse of how Quade saw her characters from the originating short story in her excellent collection Night at the Fiestas. I'll confess, I thought this would be a more cerebral novel but instead it is very grounded and very accessible to the mainstream. This isn't my favorite read of the year but at the same time I feel a little bit of mourning I won't be spending time with these characters anymore. That counts for a lot.