The stories are overall good. Some of them are difficult to absorb, since the author seems to go on a tangent of inner explorations that concludes in confusing the reader and failing to offer more intricate plots or characters.

This is the first book that I have read by this author and I can tell you that I will be reading more.

Did not read the book, will read at a later time. However, I am hearing good things about it.

In Brooklyn, NY, a man commits suicide, leaving being a young pregnant wife. Thanks to a nun, a Sister of the Sick Poor, the new mother is able to survive. The Order provides her employment in the convent laundry and she is able to eke out an existence for her family.
The plot is anything but typical and McDermott, as always, creates a story that is fascinating. As she intertwines the lives of the nuns with the lives of their adoptive family, the sensitivity and reality of their lives is so satisfying.

I wanted to love this book but just could not get into it.

Alice McDermott’s precise prose and storytelling ability immerse you in this world: multigenerational, Catholic, Brooklyn, turn of the 20th century, nuns, a single mother, a suicide kept hidden, and more. Life is simple and complicated; McDermott reminds us with her characters, their relationships, and the history they are living, daily.

I could relate to this on a Catholic level, that was it however. Only the hope that there would be something, anything, redeeming kept me hanging in there. It never came and frankly, I was disgusted by the wishy-washy judgmental-ness of what becomes the main character.

{My Thoughts}

What Worked For Me
Little Nursing Sisters – The convent at the heart of The Ninth Hour fell under the umbrella of “The Little Nursing Sisters.” It was their job to go out in the very Catholic Brooklyn community and nurse those who were sick or suffering. Their calling involved what we would consider traditional nursing, but went way beyond that. For those in need, the sisters would also cook, clean, take in laundry, provide company, and sustenance for the souls of the sick. I couldn’t help thinking what a great service these women provided.

A Little Bit of Meddling – When Sister St. Savior happened onto the scene of a suicide, she quickly resolveded to take the young widow, Annie and her unborn child, under her wing. For rest of their lives, Annie and Sally were loved and cared for by the Sisters in this small nursing convent. The sisters made sure Annie had a job where she could have her baby near. They maneuvered another young woman into the role of Annie’s best friend and confidant. They even made sure Annie had for a life of her own. The sister’s adored Sally and were always present in her life, always supporting, but gently nudging her along the way.

Annie – Annie could easily have become a one-sided character under the tutelage of the sisters, but McDermott didn’t let that happen. Instead, Annie became a woman that was easy to admire. With few options, and a little help, Annie built a good life for herself and her child. She was spirited and willing to forge her own way, not always living by the standards of the nuns or the Catholic community in general.

“You spoke up,” she wanted to tell her friend, spoke up against the lousy certainties life had given her: a dead husband, a daughter to raise alone, daily labor, daily loneliness, dull duty. She said, in fact, when next she and Annie met, “An hour or two of an afternoon isn’t much of a sin.”

Beautiful Writing – It’s easy to see why Alice McDermott has been nominated for so many awards. Her writing was exquisite and her descriptions vivid. A a reader, I was absolutely transported to the gritty streets of 1930’s Brooklyn. I knew what it felt like to work in the convent’s laundry room, to a sit on a train next to a dirty, crass woman, or to enter the sickroom of a one-legged patient.

What Didn’t
Slow to Build – I liked so much about The Ninth Hour and still it didn’t really take off for me until the last 20%. As I read the book, I kept feeling like my interest was just on the verge of soaring, and then it would drop again. The Ninth Hour had too much background for my taste. Some of it muddied the storyline which ebbed and flowed for me.

Too Much Angst – The Ninth Hour is a story of the Catholic faith within the confines of this small Brooklyn convent, but even so, I grew tired of some of the Catholic guilt and need for penance for sins big and small. I also grew weary of a storyline having to do with a side character’s dying father and guilt he held over a choice from his youth.

{The Final Assessment}

In the end, I’m glad I read The Ninth Hour. McDermott’s writing alone makes it well worth the time. Add to that Brooklyn in its heyday, and the amazing Little Nursing Sisters with their protective calling and you have a really interesting little historical fiction. Grade: B-

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

On one level, The Ninth Hour is a story about a young widow, Annie, and her daughter. We meet Annie at the lowest point of her life which also happens to be when she meets Sister St. Savior, a spirited nun who will take Annie and her infant daughter under her wing. Annie works in the laundry at the nunnery and Sally grows up knowing the sisters as her family. On a broader level, this is a story full of strong women fighting to live the lives they felt born to live.

While there may be many stories about the Irish arriving in Brooklyn to start a new life, this feels fresh both in the story and the storytelling. The perspectives shift letting us get to know and understand what drives both Annie and Sally in their search for meaning and joy in their lives. The line between the secular and the holy is crossed over and back again many times as we see that life is not black and white but shades of grey. As the story progresses many links between the characters are revealed that only we are privy to.

I found the writing to be beautiful. I loved how the concept of time belonging to ourselves was described as being the greatest luxury. I also appreciated how the nuns were portrayed as holy yet susceptible to human foibles of jealousy and fear without that affecting their relationship with God. They cared for the sick and the needy but the different sisters are described as: having a small, tight knot of fury at the center of her chest, having a mad heart – mad for mercy perhaps, but mad nonetheless, etc. Beautiful descriptions of women on fire for their cause.

This was my first book by Alice McDermott and won’t be my last! Loved it!

For me this book was just okay. I would have, however, liked to have seen more of Sally and a lot less of the nuns. I think that had I'd known that most of it was taking place in a convent, I would not have requested this book.

Thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publishers, and Alice McDermott for the opportunity to read and review this wonderful book.

This story puts you at the beginning of the 20th century in Catholic Brooklyn. It opens with a death and the pregnant wife, Annie, left behind. The nuns of the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick Poor step in to help Annie, with a job in the laundry room of the convent. There, she and the sisters raise Sally.

The writing in this novel is beautiful, as you would expect from McDermott. You will fall in love with these characters - especially the nuns - as they do their best in the world as they see fit. The book is narrated by a group "we" - the children and grandchildren of Sally that let us see a glimpse of their life with these characters.

I loved the Catholic history and the lives of the nuns. It's amazing to see how attitudes have changed in our current secular society. But this book shows you both sides of right and wrong and how God will see into your heart and decide what is fair.

Highly recommended!!

The early part of the twentieth century is replete with immigrant stories about New York, especially Brooklyn. Alice McDermott is a master of Irish legends, creating a story here that kept my nerves on edge, hoping some good will come to some of her Irish American characters. The Ninth Hour begins with a scene in a tenement building where Jim, recently fired from his job on the BMT railroad, kills himself, leaving behind his wife, Annie and an unborn child. Sally, the baby, arrives in the world surrounded by the safe environment of the nuns who comprise the Little Sister of the Sick Poor in a nearby convent. Annie works in the washroom with Sister St. Savior and Sally grows up with her mom and Sister St. Savior guiding her way. The story of the magic the women do with the wash that fills their days and the stories of times gone past in Ireland make this a vibrant chronicle from the very beginning.

Every detail of this strong story of the mother and child and then mom and teenager kept me glued to each new chapter. The skill of Anne McDermott's writing, characterization, and story telling kept me fascinated to the very last word. The story helped remind me what my ancestors and so many others went through to live a better life in a new country. Life was never easy, and today, we know that immigrants from other nations are finding it even harder.

Thank you, NetGalley, Alice McDermott, and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux for the opportunity read this e-arc.

I can appreciate the writing style and content, but it just was not my thing. I would recommend to those who enjoy that time period, but it was not my personal favorite.

Alice McDermott's best book since Charming Billy. I will be spreading the word on this one in every way I can.

An endearing story about early twentieth century Catholic Brooklyn, and the Little Sisters of the Sick Poor, who take in widowed Annie and her daughter Sally.

The "Ninth Hour" is not, as I thought, 9 a.m, but 3 p.m., the time for afternoon prayer in the Liturgy of the Hours observed by the Little Nursing Sisters of the Sick. The lives of Annie "Mc-something," Sally, her daughter, and their Brooklyn neighbors intertwine with those of the Sisters who spend their days visiting and caring for those who need them. Their work often necessitates missing organized prayer in the convent chapel. Sally's unnamed child loosely narrates and recalls how the Sisters did more good than any priest and occasionally chose love and mercy in the 9 a.m. world over the tight strictures of the Church.

I absolutely adore this author, and have been waiting for a few years for this her next offering. Her novels aren't suspense filled, no thrill a minute, no car chases or knife wielding psychopaths, just slices of life in all it's messy permutations. Early twentieth century, Brooklyn, a neighborhood of Irish Catholics during a time period when most medical care was performed by nuns, in this case the Little Nursing Sisters of the sick poor, the only recourse for those who cannot afford a physician.

A young man commits suicide, leaving a young pregnant wife, enter Sister St. Savior who will be this woman's guardian angel. Providing her with a job in the convention laundry as well as finding her needed baby things and even a new friend with children of her own. Sally is born and is raised with the help of the good sisters in the convent laundry.

We come to know some of these sisters, travel with them as they visit the elderly, and the ill in their homes. The sisters very much present in the lives of these families. We watch as a young woman struggles with a decision regarding her vocation and her mother tries to find a new path to happiness, one in which the sisters very much disapprove. In a unique twist we also hear from voices from the future about forthcoming events, second and third generations. A wonderfully told story about a time long past, about love and morals and the many places and times these same crcumstances repeat.
McDermott's novels are so realistic, her writing simple but heartfelt, her characters flawed but for the most part good intentioned. People just doing the best they can in the lives they find themselves and in the paths they have chosen whether this is married life or a life dedicated to the church. Struggling with many of the same things we struggle with today.

If you enjoy Call of the Midwives I think you will enjoy this.

ARC from Netgalley.

I very much admire Alice McDermott's ability to paint character portraits with the detail she offers but without any tedium. In The Ninth Hour she presents us with an interesting story dominated by its well-drawn characters and written in prose that sings from its pages while drawing this reader into the intimacy of so many situations; the laundry, sickrooms, a pivotal train journey, a funeral, all come to life in ways rare in contemporary literary fiction. Clearly, McDermott's focus is on these characters and their lives, and just as clearly it is not on the Church in any way except for letting us into some of its orders of nuns. Yet, although as someone who is not familiar with Irish Catholic life during the years covered in The Ninth Hour I learned a lot, I couldn't relate to the story as viscerally as described by other readers.