...a lyrical meditation on motherhood and mourning ... Cast largely as a series of intimate vignettes, these everyday interactions are depicted with a sensitivity that gives these most human of relationships their proper weight. Narrated by a succession of characters, they are beautiful in their specificity ... In Hegi’s precise, almost imagistic prose, such quotidian scenes come to seem as magical as the miracle Sister Hildegunde is constantly attempting to paint.
... a surprisingly sunlit tale of grief and rebirth, drawing on history and folklore to create an indelible portrait of a family and community forged in crisis ... Hegi performs a kind of alchemical cartography, transporting readers to a place so vividly rendered they may undergo culture shock upon reentering our own damaged world ... At times, the sweetness overwhelms the book’s grittier, more compelling story lines. Childlike Heike doesn’t just marry a beekeeper, she plays the cello like a dream. Kalle, a toymaker, leaves the circus to visit Lotte, arriving on a zebra. Still, even the most fanciful scenes feel deeply embedded in grief ... Hegi’s deeply compassionate novel charts the shadowlands where grief makes its home.
How can a novel that begins with a drowning and probes the depths of loss, grief and longing be such a joy to read? Part of the answer can be found in Hegi’s rhapsodic conjuring of the natural wonders of Nordstrand, in her depiction of the warmth of its people and the emotions that move them, sometimes against their best interests. There’s also her ease in deploying a large and varied cast of characters.
... baggy, picaresque historical fiction ... a rich stew of fact and fiction, innocents and rogues: a home for wayward mothers-to-be, a traveling circus, a couple gone mad from tragedy and a Greek chorus of Old Women who compete annually for the title of the town’s most elderly ... It’s all too much, on one hand, and for fans of Hegi’s previous work perhaps an unwelcome departure. Few of the stories resolve; some of the plots swell like overblown balloons, only to fizzle when attention shifts ... Spoiler alert: If you’re looking for a tidy linear narrative, The Patron Saint of Pregnant Girls will not do ... We can’t help wanting to hear more about Sister Hildegunde, or Sabine’s relationship with a man known only as the Honey Keeper, or how Lotte became the patron saint of the title. Or, as Hegi perhaps prefers, we can choose to submit to untidiness — to magical descriptions of a liminal landscape, to the rhythms of characters living and dying, thinking and acting in ways far removed from our own and yet intimately, perfectly familiar.
...a new tour de force ...earthy and ethereal ... I loved Ms. Hegi’s vivid portrayals; and her women, whether conniving, tender, or briskly competent, will draw you into their welcoming arms. Thoroughly recommended.
Perennial book-club favorite Hegi’s ...compassionately observant new novel takes place on Nordstrand island in North Frisia, Germany, where the line between fact and centuries-old myth can feel as blurred as that between sea and sky. The offbeat characters enhance the quasi-dreamlike effect, but the scenarios they face are starkly real ... . The plot ambles along while threading together the stories of the women, who have the heaviest burdens to bear. Their emotional hardships are satisfyingly leavened by softer moments of romantic and familial love.
[There's] a lot of plot to launch a novel...The Old Women’s interjections sometimes seem unnecessary, though it’s a pleasure to hear of them giving a brutal husband his comeuppance. Hegi’s contrast between the censorious, sanctimonious pillars of society and the kind, tolerant nuns and circus folk is a bit pat, particularly in both groups’ anachronistic acceptance of open homosexuality. The vaguely magical realist elements aren’t a strong point for this author, who has excelled in probing the moral complexities of both personal and political relations in...previous works ... Still, her characters in this less satisfying book are still full-bodied, and their various conflicts lead to tender final resolutions for the three protagonists ... Not one of Hegi’s best, but this thoughtful writer’s work always merits attention.
...[a] mesmerizing tale ... Beautiful prose keeps the pages turning, and Hegi’s command of the plot and ability to render poignant characters create a satisfyingly emotional story. Hegi’s fans and devotees of literary fiction will treasure this.