Run

When Bernard Doyle's beloved young wife Bernadette dies unexpectedly, he assumes the role of both nourishing mother and loving father to his three sons. He dreams of a life in politics for the two youngest, whom he and Bernadette adopted the year before she died. They are black, bright and well-loved but neither Tip nor Terry are interested in politics. They've dutifully attended every political speech and rally to which he took them but their hearts are elsewhere. Terry wants to serve his beloved Catholic Church like his revered and aging uncle Father Sullivan. Tip, a Harvard ichthyologist, prefers to study fish and keeps his heart to himself. Sullivan, Doyle's wayward natural son is another matter. Sullivan doesn't know what he wants. Having managed to inadvertently destroy his father's career in politics, he disappears for years in Africa on a medical mission to distribute anti-retroviral drugs to combat AIDs. One snowy night in December the Doyle's comparatively safe and comfortable lives explode. Tip, arguing with his father about his own dreams, fails to notice an approaching car and steps backwards into the street. The woman who hurls him aside to safety takes the full impact of the Chevy Tahoe bearing down on him. With her is her eleven-year-old daughter Kenya who screams in anguish and rushes to her mother's side. While the Doyle's wait with Kenya in the hospital for news of her mother Tennessee, they learn she has no other family. Learning that Tennessee is out of danger and would have surgery on the morrow, the Doyle's take Kenya home with them for the night and find Sullivan suddenly returned from Africa. Set within a time-frame of twenty-four hours, Ann Patchett's stunning new novel Run, explores the ramifications this car accident has on all their lives while simultaneously delving beneath the surface events. Patchett's belief that humans are basically good shines throughout Run as she reveals the inner workings of the hearts and minds of her protagonists and shows us the world -- even the terrible frightening world of conflict and tragedy -- as it can be. Patchett's novels also take us to places where we might never go -- to the world of opera and terrorism in Bel Canto; to the world of magic shows and architecture in The Magician's Assistant; bartending and homeless teens in Taft; Catholic homes for unwed mothers in The Patron Saint of Liars, and an Ichthyology laboratory and four story home in Boston where the Doyle's confront the past. Wonderful also are the glorious forays into experience that Patchett pens -- experiences like that of Kenya running. "She let herself float forward, every step a leap, her legs stretching out like scissors, opened wide. She was a swimmer, a gymnastics star, she was a superhuman force that sat outside the fundamental law of nature. Gravity did not apply to her . . ." Neither does the gravity of the densely packed 24 hours of Run weigh Patchett's characters down. In defiance of defeat, the events of that night strengthen and free them to become more than they ever were before.

I found this new Patchett novel a great page turner but as each part of the plot was unveiled, I lost confidence in the premise. I found it hard to believe that this former Mayor could adopt two black boys and the family never experienced overt prejudice and distrust. It is a great story involvng a statue handed down to the lovely saintly Bernadette, who is married to Doyle the want-to-be famous politican. She dies too young but has three children, one natural and two black adopted brothers, adopting the youngest one first and the older at fourteen months. The latter fact is a clue into the mindset of the real mother. Bernadette is sorely missed by her sons and husband.The natural child, Sullivan, is an angry son and gives no joy to his family. His background is too vague and even though the reader does understand some of his anger, it doesn't make sense. When the main incident of the story occurs, a car accident which circumvents the death of Tag, one of the black sons, we discover the mother of the brothers and a sister, whom we later find out isn't really the sister. The reaction of the black brothers when discovering their natural mother is too passive. There is a priest Sullivan, also the uncle, who injects strong beliefs into this novel but his healing powers are under scrunity.All of these relationships fit too neatly into place. I did love the names of the characters: Sullivan, Tip, Kenya and Tennessee. No one is really what he/she seems, except for Kenya, making the novel more interesting but not necessarily realistic.

It is about families we make in all sorts of ways, the bonds that change over time and those that hold fast throughout a lifetime. A story about family.

This is one of Ann Patchett's early books. It is full of completely developed characters and a story line that makes it a page turner. Patchett weaves a tale out of what could be an ordinary family but is not in any degree. In this book there is always something happening to one of the family members. I almost felt like the book should be called General Hospital-- so you get my drift.The name of the book is taken from the chief activity of the youngest member of the family, She is memorable, brilliant and more than a little adaptable. Anyway, read this book. You will love it.

As always a great author, loved the read!

Maravillosa. Optimista. Me he quedado con las ganas de continuar en la vida de los Doyle y de los Moser

Ann Patchett is a superb author whose story lines and characters are unique but believable. "Run" was beautifully written, it is an interesting read, but required patience to get through. An absorbing story of a family patched together by circumstances rather than blood, but a family nonetheless. Each members sorrows, weaknesses and needs contribute to the strength of the whole. "Run" is a story about love, raising kids correctly, kindness, and heart. "Run" is well worth reading. The characters stick with you long after the book is finished.

Ann Patchett est un auteur que j'apprécie beaucoup. Run est l'un de ses meilleurs romans ! (mais ils sont tous bons, en fait)..

I must first declare an interest - I am a huge Ann Patchett fan. I love her slightly less than believable scenarios and this is in many ways another one but she makes them work with her hugely believable characters. This has got some really nice twists in it and the reader doesn't really find out why it is called Run until they are about half way through. It is starts with an accident and from that spins the story of a family and its relationships and relationships it had no idea it had.The great thing about Patchett is that you come to understand and feel some empathy for all the characters in her book - even the less sympathetic at first like the eldest son Sullivan who seems wayward and uncaring but even he has his reasons. The story unfolds beautifully page by page - you can live in it. That is the thing - Patchett has a magical way with words and never forgets that a book is always better for the small twists and interesting turns it takes - like exploring a house and finding secret rooms. Nothing is necearrily quite what it seems - from the 'lost' teenage girl Kenya to Doyle the widowed father of three grown up sons. Doyle seems the strongest, most dominant character, but as so often in life, outward appearances to some degree deceive. That is what makes this another winner from Patchett. Her very real, beautifully drawn characters and totally engaging plot.