This title fell a bit short for me. I was hoping for some substantial exploration of Catholicism and sisterhood but the themes felt rushed and not fully developed. This was a nice story but not the hard-hitter I was expecting from the existing reviews/summaries.

"Back then, our faith was form and founded...Mother Roberta made the rules...Twice a year she sewed our made-to-measure habits from yards of a black poly-wool blend...Everything we knew about living, we knew because Mother Roberta had showed us." In Spring 2005, the Buffalo Diocese's churchgoers had fallen by half. A new Montessori school opened, setting off an "enrollment exodus" from the day care center run by four young nuns: Agatha, Mary-Lucille, Therese and Frances. In Agatha's words, "I can still see that version of us, younger and more at ease, returning from some errand...see the face of Mother Roberta...her face is expectant, lit up with love...Oh, they're back!"

"Agatha wanted to be overlooked...undistinguishable from other girls." "She found a little constancy [in church]: the familiar rhythm of the hour, the stories with endings [she] knew." While working in a convenience store, after her mother's death, Agatha saw a woman in a habit. She looked bubbly...was smiling.

"Mother Roberta refashioned our future in one afternoon." Abbess Paracleta headed an order that ran a halfway house called Little Neon in the town of Woonsocket in Northern Rhode Island. Recovering addicts and ex-convicts, people trying to start over, could stay in Little Neon as long as needed if the house rules were followed. "We knew next to nothing about halfway houses and reentry and parole...".

The nuns often referred to Mother Roberta's words of wisdom when confronted with a new challenge. "Everything can be used for something else, including the repurposing of nylons for an emergency car fix. Abbess Paracleta was nothing like Mother Roberta. Once the party of four arrived, she quickly left Little Neon and returned to her convent to continue to oversee her order's mustard production, marketing and distribution of Divine Dijon Mustard.

While ministering to the quirky occupants of Little Neon, a teacher of geometry was needed, ASAP, by the Catholic High School nearby. New hire Agatha felt that "every shape, every theorem looked foreign...All I could remember was one sentence. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares." Friendship with another newbie to teaching made Agatha look inward and reflect upon whether a different path, a life change would lead to fulfillment.

"Agatha of Little Neon" by Claire Luchette is a wonderful debut literary novel. "Goodness is somewhere inside these people-these addicts and felons...your job is to coax the goodness out...One day you'll feel like a failure, the next you'll feel like a million bucks." I highly recommend this tome.

Thank you Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Agatha of Little Neon, by Claire Luchette, is a curious and thoughtful book. It is one of the most unusual books about the loss of faith that I’ve ever read because the titular character doesn’t lose her faith in god; instead she loses her faith in the church that ordered her days and explained all mysteries. Nearly all of the books I’ve read about loss of faith have characters who find peace in agnosticism or atheism. Some of them are angry books. Most of them are melancholy. Agatha of Little Neon is sometimes angry and sometimes melancholy, but there is a strange feeling of hope as Agatha learns to find her way in the world.

Agatha joined her order when she was a young woman. She had a lot of faith, although I don’t know if I’d say she was called to be a nun. Agatha’s memories showed me a young woman who was confused by the world. The Catholic Church gave her structure and answers. It gave her Sister Roberta, a surrogate mother. It gave her Sisters Frances, Therese, and Mary Lucille to be her friends. Agatha might have been content to be a nun forever in Lackawanna, Pennsylvania. She might have managed it a couple of decades ago. But in the early 2000s, the Catholic Church was under siege as its secrets about child abuse could no longer be swept under the rug. The Church’s money problems (some caused by payouts to survivors) mean that Agatha and her Sisters have to relocate to Little Neon, a halfway house in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, while Sister Roberta is forcibly retired.

The move—and Agatha’s surprise job as a math teacher at a religious school in Woonsocket—is a catalyst for Agatha to start asking questions. Her Sisters stay at Little Neon while Agatha leaves every day. The separation gives her space to notice all misogynist unfairness around her. There’s the way that the principal of the school polices the students’ (all girls) appearance and forbids any lesbian exploration. Then there’s the way that Agatha’s mother wasn’t allowed to keep an IUD even though another pregnancy could kill her (and it did). And there’s the way that Sister Roberta, a wise but though character, wasn’t allowed to become a priest just because of her sex. All of this starts to grate on Agatha’s belief in the Church…but not in god.

In addition to Agatha’s personal questioning, Agatha of Little Neon is a fascinating book about how rigidly adhering to rules made up centuries ago means that us imperfect humans are bound to fail. The addicts and the lonely at Little Neon have tons of rules they have to follow, but most of these rules are designed to make things easier for the people who run the house and not for the inhabitants to overcome their addictions. The rules that the girls have to follow at the school where Agatha teaches were made in knee-jerk response to an emergency without pausing for reflection. At the end of the book, Agatha makes big decisions about what rules to keep and which ones to jettison. Her decisions—and so many of the little moments in this book—ask us to think about the rules we choose to follow and whether there are some that are hurting us instead of helping. This would be a fantastic read for a book group.

This was a delightful surprise for me! The storyline was unique and refreshingly new. The dry humor was just right for me though I do anticipate some readers not getting it. Over all this is a sophisticated story of belief, place, and identity. Loved it!

This wholly unique book was a pure, unequivocal delight. What at first appeared to be a quiet book about a nun turned into a novel of female rage. It made me think of a symphony, one that starts out quietly but builds to an emotional crescendo. This book is tough to categorize, so I hope it finds its way in a world that's determined to put everything in a specific slot and assume everything about it before they even begin.

In this book we follow Agatha, the Sister of Catholic Church. She spent the last nine years living with her sisters under Mother Roberta in Buffalo, NY, content with the sameness and familiarity of her days and service. Due to financial troubles of their parish, she and her sisters are transferred to Woonsocket, a little town in Rhode Island where they are assigned to a halfway home Little Neon (called that way because it is, in fact, painted bright neon yellow). And what's more - Agatha accepts a job teaching geometry in the local school and for the first time in years, finds herself somewhat independent and with something that is just hers.

I really enjoyed reading this little novel from Agatha's perspective. Despite her quiet demeanor, her voice is very distinct and her observations sharp and witty. With her newfound independence, she starts to question everything she knows and her choices that made her devote her life to Catholic Church. She strikes a friendship with fellow new teacher Nadia and their interactions were so charming, I wished there was more of them. Actually, author did a really great job of Agatha connecting with a cast of side characters - the residents of Little Neon who were all unique and quirky characters. On the other hand I found Agatha's sisters to be underdeveloped and easy to forget (and I kept mixing them up the whole time).

Throughout the book there a few hints at Agatha's past and I would love to get more details and more exploration. It's something I missed while reading the story in overall - that some topics (eg. critique of Church, sex scandals, misogyny) would be explored more deeply.

It was enjoyable (and quick!) read, due to short chapters and Agatha's voice. Even though it's a story that explores faith and devotion (or lack of), I think it's a book anyone could enjoy as in its heart it is about finding your authentic self.

This book was quick to read and easy to like! The chapters are short and the text is full of room to breathe- and Luchette kills a funny and compelling first sentence. While the voice is charming and quirky, the novel arrives at surprisingly sensitive moment.

Such a sweet story! Talk about a deep dive into sisterhood and friendship and all the drama in between. This is also all about independent journeys of self-discovery and peeling back all the layers of what it means to be a woman in every capacity.

Absolutely unexpected and deeply moving. This is such a tender novel, raw and frustrated in places and full of grace in others. Luchette portrays religious devotion and doubt with grace and sympathy.

A lovely debut novel which is a sort of coming of age tale. Agatha and three of her sister nuns are moved from NY to RI when their convent closes and their small adventures bring an opening of their very small and cloistered (literally) world. We watch as Agatha and Co. begin to let the world in and how that changes them.

What a charming and emotional novel! I was hooked just after the first paragraph. "Agatha of Little Neon" is a beautiful story about 4 sisters (Catholic nuns) who get transferred to work at a halfway house for recovering addicts. Agatha is the main protagonist and wow; I thought she was such a down-to-earth and relatable character. Agatha really goes an emotional journey throughout this novel, you can't help but root for her. The story takes place during the church abuse scandal in the early to mid 2000's The main plot is not about sexual abuse misconduct, but about Agatha's relationship with her sisters, and the people who live at the halfway house (the house is called Little Neon). Agatha begins a friendships with one of the recovering addicts, Tim Gary, and Agatha begins teaching at the nearby Catholic high school. It's best not knowing much going into this book, it's more character-driven but I still teared up at the end. The writing was hilarious, breezy, and heartbreaking. Hard to believe this Claire Luchette's debut novel. I'll definitely keep my eye out for more by Luchette in the future. I finished this book about a week ago and I can't stop thinking about it. An absolute gem!

Thank you, Netgalley and FSG for the digital ARC.

There was something so calming about this book and how the story is told. I loved reading from Agatha’s perspective—her interesting and unique way of looking at the little things in life.

This is the kind of book where you have a clear feeling of where the story is going, but you’re in no rush to get to the end. You want to take your time and enjoy the journey. It’s a book that feels safe

Reading a galley in my usual genre (Female-Fronted aka "Jam Out With Your Clam Out" Fiction) has just been inundated with autofiction lately. Did y'all at first also think that autofiction was like, "automatic writing" fiction? I feel like I operated under that assumption for a long ass time. When I was in college, I transferred from a small, niche creative writing school to a large urban and urbane university, and I decided to make my way with a writing concentration. So I enrolled in a class called "Creative Nonfiction," which I also had miscategorized as "Yr life story, but with lying," So to know that autofiction was a genre all along? That 21 year old me, LB, would have thrived in? Breathtaking! My first piece for that Creative Nonfiction class I was blasted by another kid who said, "I don't think this is nonfiction. You already said you didn't know what Creative Nonfiction is, and this piece is about how you lied and made up quotes for stories in your last journalism class and they were published as fact. I believe that. But I don't believe you."

Why I'm writing all this on a book review that is not a book that at all smacks of autofiction is besides the point. Maybe I'm going to start reviewing for like, real publications, idk. I may have lied in two semesters of college journalism but I am not lying here. There is nothing in this book that comes across as "A life I kinda lived," for which the author should be given all the credit in the world. I've got no clout, I'm just a librarian with a bad attitude, but I'm gonna get this book ordered at my library.

How do I explain my love for this book? It has skyrocketed to one of my favorite books of all time.

Agatha of Little Neon follows a woman, Sister Agatha, along with three other sisters of the Catholic Church. They are all young and zealous, and after many years serving the same community, are sent to work at a house for people struggling to get back on their feet. Sister Agatha starts to question her motives, her abilities, and her desire to continue in vocational work. Written in short little vignettes of her life, she asks the big questions, and finally tries to answer them.

I think my favorite part of this book was the tone of it. While it deals with many tough situations, it remains light and strangely hopeful, even when Agatha isn't quite sure she knows what she is doing in the long run. There are moments of humor alongside moments of sorrow and pain. I also enjoyed that it is a book about vocational church women that was able to gently point out the potentially harmful behaviors without vilifying them or shaming them for their work. I think it highlights the good things a church can provide just as well as the harmful things, and I appreciated this nuanced take on something that is often not awarded this care. The characters are unique and loveable and I loved Agatha's perspective on everything.

I also would be remiss to avoid my own personal connection with this book. I am one of so so many who have recently found the harmful practices of church organizations (Catholic and other denominations alike) too egregious to ignore anymore. This has been an incredibly painful and confusing time, and I believe this book came at the perfect time and can ultimately serve as a comfort to an entire generation.

2.5 rounded up

I've been mulling over how to review this novel in the couple of days since I finished reading, and I've been struggling to form a view on it. After some thought I think this stems from my difficulty in working out what Agatha of Little Neon is trying to be as a novel.

Agatha (the name she takes on when she becomes a nun) has been a nun since her late teens, going about her daily life with her three sisters (Frances, Therese and Mary-Lucille). Their church runs out of money, and they are sent to Rhode Island to help out at a halfway house for recovering addicts -- taking the nuns out of their comfort zone and forcing them to interact with a group of people quite different to them. After the move to RI, alongside her duties at Little Neon (so-called because it is a small building the colour of a tennis ball) Agatha becomes a geometry teacher at a local Catholic school, and through this - and her relationship with the residents of her new residence and a fellow teacher - she begins to question her surroundings, her daily life and whether she is happy or fulfilled by it.

I guess I'd describe this as a gentle or sweet story, which sometimes hints at something darker in Agatha's past. It reads very quickly but did feel a little rushed or glossed over in places. I'd have liked to learn more about Agatha's past, but I expect it was the author's intention to leave this a little bit vague.

Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette is a ook about Agatha, who has lived every day of the last seven years with her sisters. They work together, laugh together and pray together. The four of them are devoted to Mother Roberta and to their quiet, purposeful life. But when the parish goes broke, the sisters are forced to move. They land in Woonsocket, a former mill town now dotted with wind turbines. They head up a halfway house, where they live alongside castoffs like the jawless Tim Gary and the headstrong Lawnmower Jill. Agatha is forced to venture out into the world alone, to teach math at a local all-girls high school, where for the first time in years she will have to reckon with what she sees and feels all on her own. Agatha starts to find her own voice.

Although the writing is good, I wasn't feeling connected to the characters or the story. Maybe it's because I'm not religious, maybe this just wasn't a book for me.

arc providing via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

i'm sure this story is good. i just can't be a good judge of it because it failed to resonate with me most times throughout the book. it's a poignant tale about faith and the writing was good, but it just wasn't for me.

"Agatha of Little Neon" by Claire Luchette is a novel about how Agatha and her band of sisters (nuns) move from their original convent to help run a sober living facility in New England. On top of this, Agatha braves the role of high school math teacher at a local Catholic girls school. This is definitely one of the most original novels I have ever read. Luchette takes a group of nuns, with Agatha as the focus, out of their usually habit(at) and shows how empathy and camaraderie are what is needed to help some struggling folks. This move also allows Agatha to see what she may need in her life that she never thought was really missing. This was a really light and enjoyable read.

Set against the backdrop of the early 2000s during the time the Catholic church's sexual abuse crimes began to emerge, "Agatha of Little Neon" follows four Catholic Sisters as they leave behind their home in Lackawanna, NY for Rhode Island. There, they find themselves taking charge of the residents of a halfway house, a task they know nothing about.

The story is set in the year after the women leave New York and told from the perspective of Agatha, who is described as the "eyes" of the four women. Of the women, Agatha is the one selected to teach geometry at the local Catholic girls' school. As she begins her new life, she starts to question what she knows and feels about the world, her faith, and her own self.

This is a quiet book, in the best way. Luchette does an amazing job of engaging readers with Agatha and her story. Agatha is witty with a keen ability to observe her world, so this feels like I've been allowed to peer in on a life so different than my own. The cast of secondary characters is fascinating and help to break up Agatha's tendency to mull over her experiences at length.

This was a strong debut novel, and I can't wait to see what Claire Luchette does next.

Many thanks to NetGalley and FSG for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

(this review will appear on my Goodreads account immediately and on Instagram closer to the publication date. Links will be updated.)

This is a wonderful book about the lives of four nuns, with the emphasis on Sister Agatha, and the people they serve. It is a very funny, touching and poignant story about faith, lack of faith, compassion, growth, religious misogyny and how events shape our lives. I am an atheist raised Catholic (I’m sure there is a club somewhere for us) and I enjoyed reading about the religious convictions reminiscent of many who I knew. Read it if you have religious convictions or no religious convictions; it is a book whose stories resonate.