there is a lot to want to look away from in this book—white saviorism, privilege, treatment of those with disabilities, the culturally palatable forms of racism, colonization—but most all of it is deftly and wisely handled, commenting on itself even in the moments in which the characters embodying it seem unaware. at some points it gets a little ahead or behind of itself in this attempt, but most of the time it's impressive in its rendition of both it and what it is to be a woman and mother.

Delighted to include this title in the October edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

This utterly compelling novel tells the story of American women living in Saigon in the early 1960s. Seemingly without power, these corporate wives have a pecking order and support system that is as dangerous as any minefield to navigate. Their lives may appear simple and charmed on the surface but behind all of the cocktails and dinner parties are the untold stories of loss, heartbreak, repressed feelings, and drama. McDermott reveals the story layer by layer, stripping away the glamour and altruism to reveal a world that is full of poverty and disease in which powerless women tried to do some good despite the consequences. Highly recommended.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I heard about Absolution from Ann Patchett, who predicted that it would win the Pulitzer. While I agree that it was well-written, I can’t say that I enjoyed it. Mostly I felt uncomfortable at the cringeworthy way that the Americans behaved throughout the book.

Absolution is told as a series of present-day letters between Patricia, an elderly woman living in a nursing home, and Rainey, the daughter of Patricia’s friend, Charlene. Patricia and Charlene were young wives living in Vietnam in the early 60s who considered it their mission to do good works for the people of Vietnam.

While there is one mention of white saviorism, Alice McDermott mostly tells the story without much commentary, leaving the reader to judge the women and their actions and behaviors with modern eyes. I felt uncomfortable at the women’s attempts to help while disregarding the Vietnamese people and culture at every turn, which I feel certain is McDermott’s goal. Her ability to resist the urge to editorialize added to the discomfort for me. I kept wanting her to verbalize what I was thinking about how messed up it all was, but I felt on my own as a reader.

Overall, I’m not sorry I read it despite the ickiness. It wasn’t a perfect book (the coincidence toward the end of the book felt eye-rolly to me), but the writing was great and I would try another book by Alice McDermott in the future.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the review copy.

When a very interesting book, however, went back-and-forth in time. And it was a really interesting story about Vietnam and how this woman named Caroline.
It was very industrial in her ways. This woman named Tr ICI a just arrived from the states with her husband. And this was an eye opener for her because she came from a working class background. She went to a very good school in New York new york and she had some good friends there. And they talked about the C I v I e l rights. She had a really good friend there who was from the south background. Then she got married and then she moved to Vietnam for a while. And this is where she met caroline and who was running a barbie doll to make money. Then it goes into the future. Tr ICI a could not have children. Her friend caroline had a daughter and married a man named doug. Her daughter was very rebellious and just like her mother. They talk about saigon and when they had to leave. It was really interesting to get perspective. And how caroline used to sell the babies for money. There's a lot of different things in this book. You really had to look at and it was really well written and tied together. Her daughter bought a farmhouse and this is where she met a Vietnam vet with his down syndrome sun and she became friends with them.. When people died and this book things came out but it was really good read

Absolution by Alice McDermott
This is a story mainly of two American women who's husbands have been stationed in Saigon, Vietnam it the early 60's
Tricia is a newly wed, and married to an oil engineer,is not sure of her roll in the country, but quickly gets into a group of woman that draw her in to a whole different world than she is used to.
Charlene is a seasoned corporate wife, mother of 3 and a go getter that ropes Tricia into things she is not always comfortable with.
These two could not be more different, but they end up making a good team when they need to.
Quite a bit happens when they are in Vietnam, some ending up in scary or uncomfortable situations.
The later part of the story takes places 60 or so years later, when Charlene's daughter sets out to find Tricia, and relive what their views of their time in Vietnam were like, and how Charlene's mother affected them both.
A good read. I would like to thank NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a copy of this book.

This is my first book by the author Alice McDermott. The book is beautifully written. Most books about Vietnam take place in the late 1960s and revolve around the men fighting. This book takes place in 1963 Saigon and focuses on two wives, Charlene and Tricia. Their husbands are both civilians working for companies and the military in the early years of the Vietnam war. This is right before the US gets heavily involved in the conflict, before the protests and revolutions. The wives were there to be "helpmeets" to their husband and engage solely in social gatherings or charities.
The book was a little bit slow for me. It was told through a letter to Charlene's now adult daughter. It was more of a character development and not a story filled with action. However, I enjoyed reading it and learning more about what life was like for the women living overseas during this timeframe. I received a complimentary ebook through Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

I'm clearly in the minority, but this book really didn't do much for me, and I'm disappointed I didn't like this book more than I did. It was a slow read, and I struggled to understand the overall point of the book. The connection between the dual narrators of the book was not clear to me until far too late in the book to be useful. I feel like this is a book that would have actually benefitted from an organized back and forth between perspectives. I never really connected with the main character, Tricia, and the secondary characters weren't developed enough for me to form much of an opinion.

A well written, yet not too interesting story about the wives of rich Americans in Vietnam during the Vietnam war. It is written in the epistolary format of a letter being sent to the adult version of an eight year old girl, Rainey, who we meet at the beginning of the story. There is a tone about it that makes you feel like something significant is going to happen. I did not encounter this significant event. My other concern with the story is that Tricia, the main character is writing a letter to Rainey for the first 3/4 of the book, then Rainey writes back and the tone is exactly the same as Tricias. Being that Rainey is from a different generation, one would expect different language and different phrasing. The denouement does come about 92% into the book but it was also a bit vanilla for me. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

"But you have to understand what it was like in those days, for us, the wives".

A young newlywed, raised to be the proper and obedient housewife, relocates to the Saigon of the early 60's with her husband, an engineer on loan to the navy. Patricia is observant, quiet, trying to fit into the social hierarchy the other wives have established, with one in particular, Charlene, at the center. With their villas and house servants and cocktail parties and fancy dresses they tried to create the order they knew from home.

Absolution is a fascinating read for a number of reasons: US's interest and occupation in Vietnam leading up to the war, from this one young woman's perspective; their husbands' authority over everything consequential in their lives (sharing or not sharing with their wives, mostly not sharing); the importance of motherhood to their social standing (and the primarily male doctors who failed to listen to their patients); and last but not least the efforts the women made to make a difference, the "inconsequential good", in an increasingly bleak environment. The generational naivety that led them to try.

McDermott frames the story in three parts, the first being Patricia's telling of her time in Saigon to an unnamed recipient. We discover quickly who this person is, and wonder at their tie. There are some unexpected turns as the pieces fall into place. Absolution is a deep character study taking place in a time and place unique to history.

My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC.

A beautifully written story of wives in Saigon during the Vietnam War. Patricia narrates the first part as she recounts her friendship with the outgoing and reckless Charlene. Their trips to children in the hospital and a leper colony along with other antics gives them a view of Saigon beyond the corporate shielded parties. A bit of awkward transition to the second parts narrator took away from a five star rating but A great book nonetheless.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Absolution by Alice McDermott

adventurous challenging reflective slow-paced

I was interested to learn about the American wives who accompanied their husbands in Saigon at the beginning of the Vietnam War. The classism and racism is on display as they look for ways to cheer up these “unfortunate” people.

The story is written as a letter years later to the daughter of a friend of one of the “wives.” I found this choice of delivery distracting and would have preferred just a first person account.

It was well written and interesting but the plot never grabbed me. I didn’t feel invested in the characters.

I requested Absolution because I thought I had read Alice McDermott’s past books. I actually don’t think I have, but now I really have to dig in. (Jennifer Egan says in her review that After This is her personal favorite.)

Absolution is a book in three parts and it is the most creative and robust storytelling that I have experienced in a long while. I loved this book for surprising me and emerging me in this world. Part I is narrated by Patricia, newly married to an engineer, Peter, who is stationed in Vietnam during the war. Charlene, a military wife who has been in Vietnam longer than Patricia, christens her “Tricia” and draws her into Charlene’s world of fundraising and “helping” the Vietnamese people. Part II is from the perspective of Rainey, one of Charlene’s daughters. Part III, I will leave to surprise you.

Strangely, I did not connect with these characters in a way that I normally do when I love a novel. But that was OK for me with Absolution because the story was so unique and the storytelling so well crafted. This is a difficult concept for me to explain, but the novel really drew me into a place and time.

Alice McDermott takes her usual Irish Catholic characters to 1963 Saigon. Two very different American wives, Tricia, a young, naive newlywed and a more outspoken older mother, Charlene, join forces to “do good”. The story is told in retrospect, as a much older Tricia corresponds with Charlene’s now adult daughter and tell of their lives in a turbulent place and time. Stunningly beautiful. McDermott is a treasure.

Wow, what a story. I thoroughly enjoyed Alice McDermott’s new book Absolution. Her vividly wrought characters came alive through trying to ‘do good’ for those less fortunate in the steamy unsettled country of Vietnam. Told from the perspective of conversations between shy Tricia, later in life, who was a young wife in Saigon in the early 60’s, and her pushy, aggressive accomplice Charlene’s daughter. The story toggles back and forth between the early 1960’s and current day, where it is easier to see the mistakes made in being involved in a war in that country and the costs to all. This is a engaging story with gorgeous writing and a plot that beautifully aligns with the definition of the title word, Absolution.

Alice McDermott – what a fine storyteller. "Absolution" is my first taste of her writing, and she's left me hungry for more.

A quiet read, the novel transports us to 1963 Saigon in the midst of the Vietnam War, where two young American wives form a tenuous friendship. I say 'tenuous' because Charlene is a force of nature, manipulative and more than willing to break rules to accomplish her goals, and when she meets quiet, passive Tricia, she steamrolls the other woman into helping her raise money for gifts to orphaned and unwell children.

The story of these two women is told 60 years later when Tricia connects with Charlene’s daughter, Rainey, and they relive their time in Saigon. And through their shared memories, a reckoning occurs – that of the impact Charlene had on both their lives in her quest to do her "inconsequential good."

We all know that women had little autonomy during this time in history. They didn’t have much of a say in the inner workings of their marriage and in their career (if they even did work outside the home), and McDermott does an excellent job of showing not only how little power these women had but also how so many of them carried a low-level anger and frustration because of it.

And this powerlessness is the reason Charlene is so determined to accomplish her altruism. It’s really all she CAN do while in Vietnam, and because she has such little power in other aspects of her life, she doesn’t hesitate to bend the system, and people, to her will, all in the name of doing good. But what’s unfortunate is that she doesn’t care if others are harmed in the process, her children included.

Tricia and Charlene’s story is riveting. And McDermott’s writing is lovely and brilliant in its introspection. She challenges us as readers to ponder the idea of whether any good is ever too small, to the point where it’s not even worth doing. And also, does the good work itself absolve a person of their immoral machinations?

The book does end abruptly, so be prepared for the story to just sort of stop. But I was okay with it, because McDermott only ever meant for us to have a slice of these women’s lives. A snapshot is all she gives us, and a snapshot must satisfy us.


My sincerest appreciation to Alice McDermott, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions included herein are my own.

A beautifully written book that is perfect for book clubs. So much to discuss. I will be recommending it to the book clubs that I work with.

The majority of this book is set in Vietnam in the early 60s before the war became big, about the American wives in the expat community. Most of the book is told from the perspective, as she looks back from the present day at her experiences as a naive newlywed in her early 20s, and how another more savvy wife named Charlene took her under her wing, with a small amount of the book about Charlene’s daughter in the present.

I read and loved several Alice McDermott novels back in the 1990s, but for whatever reason, I did not keep on top of her books after that. Well, that’s something I need to go back and remedy, because I forgot what an amazingly gifted writer she is. This book is quiet and slow, but so lyrical and so moving. And the sense of place and time - in a setting I’m not familiar with - was just incredible, I really felt like I was there with them. Fans of writers like Ann Patchett and Ann Napolitano should love this one too.

4.5 stars

Alice McDermott's novel about corporate wives in Saigon in 1963 is so layered and interesting. Many times, I wanted to go back and reread a chapter because I may have missed something. The characters of Tricia and Charlene and later Charlene's daughter, Rainey are rich and complex. A complicated, tragic era in American history told in a way I had not previously known about. A wonderful read and fantastic author.

Absolution gives readers a very different and intriguing view of the Vietnam War through the stories of two military wives living in Saigon in 1963.

Charlene is well-established in the wives' social group. She is dynamic, forceful, a do-gooder, and is used to calling the shots. Patricia, a newcomer to Saigon, is trying to find her way and very much wants to be a helpmate for her husband's career. She thinks that fitting in with the group of wives will help in that regard. She is also eager for friends in this new and very different place.

Charlene immediately latches on to Patricia (who is used to being called Patty, Patsy, or Pat), renaming her Tricia. Such is her power within her world.

The story is told via letters written between Tricia and Rainey, Charlene's daughter, in the current day. The reflections of each woman as she reassesses both her time in Vietnam and her relationship with Charlene were quite interesting and very well done.

I really enjoyed this unique view on the Vietnam war. Alice McDermott again proves her skill at depicting complex characters in complex situations and making the reader feel a part of it all.

My thanks to Farrar Straus & Giroux for permitting me to read a DRC via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and are freely given. Publication is 11/7/23.