THE NINTH HOUR by Alice McDermott

Finished Sa 8/18/18-  The August 2018 selection for The Contemporary Book Club

Meticulously well written- McDermott beautifully creates a horrific exposition of "The Poor".

Set in Brooklyn, NY, probably in the 1920's (mention of a prohibition bottle of whiskey in Mr. Costello's room), and continues to near the present day.

Jim and Annie are Irish and married. He is a motorman but kind of lazy, and Annie is on his back. He commits suicide by pulling out the gas link to the oven. Annie is pregnant. Sister St. Saviour arrives on the scene and tries to allow Jim to be married in consecrated ground. The paper relates that it's a suicide, so they can't use the burial policy that the couple have purchased.

Annie's child is named after Sister St. Saviour and called, Sally.

Annie is given work where the nuns live. She helps Sister Illuminata in the laundry room. Sister Illuminata is an authority of laundry. She learned it from her mother. She is one of the few nuns that speak of her past.

IMPORTANT SECTION-

Sally leaves on a train to become a nun in Chicago. It is a Ride Through Hell. She sits next to an over-weight vulgar woman who talks incessantly about sex to Sally. And in the dining car Sally meets a woman who bilks her out of most of Sally's money. She has a couple of dollars in her shoes and fifty dollars pinned to the lining of her bag.
Before the end of the train ride Sally strikes the old woman.

Sally will not be a nun and immediately returns to NY-
Sally realizes that she will not meet the world with a 'helping hand'. Sally will meet the world with a 'clenched fist'.

Next Section-

When she returns she sees that Annie is having an affair with the milkman, Mr. Costello.

Title of the book-

Nuns are asked to pray at certain times of the day. The 9th Hour is between 2pm and 3pm.
1) The time Jesus died on the cross
2) The time that Annie and Mr. Costello have their affair

Sally becomes a companion for the ugly, insane, and rude, Mrs. Costello. She has lost part of her leg due to diabetes.

Sally is the one that suggested that she watch Mrs. Costello. This is a way to atone for Annie's sexual behavior.

Sally decides to poison Mrs. Costello's tea with alum. This way she will lose her soul to save her mother's life. With the spiritually ugly Mrs. Costello out of the picture, this will allow Annie and Mr. Costello to have a life together.

I think (the ending is unclear) that Sister Leanne is aware of the poisoning, but covers for Sally. Sister Leanne takes this sin upon herself. Sister Leanne will never enter heaven. She uses a metaphor about an unfitting wool coat. Heaven is when the hot, prickly coat is removed. The sister will never be able to remove the stain of the 'attempted murder sin' that Sister Leanne has 'absorbed' from Sally.

Not Covered-

Red Whelan took Patrick's great grandfather's place in the civil war ($300 to serve for another man). Red also lost part of a leg. Two one legged people in the story.

Sally and Patrick Tierney marry, and one of their daughters tells the story.