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Summary
Summary
Forgiveness 4 You is a startlingly contemporary novel about faith and religion in an America addicted to quick fixes and instant gratification. Gabriel McKenna is an ex-Catholic priest, and with his quiet job at a quiet bookstore, he is--slowly--rebuilding his life. But even at the bookstore, people from all walks of life find their way to him and feel compelled to share their stories and reveal to him their deepest, guiltiest secrets. One of these people is Madeline Murray, a high-powered advertising executive, who, hours after her weepy confession, has a revelation: If she felt so comforted by this stranger, perhaps there's something remunerative to his consoling abilities. Madeline has a vision: a business that will offer a secular form of confession and forgiveness--the comforts of religion, without the religion. Without knowing exactly how it happened (and whether any of it is morally sound) Gabriel is transformed by Madeline and her colleagues into the centerpiece of the forgiveness brand. And so a therapeutic revolution unleashes itself on America--or is about to, until a terrible secret threatens to torpedo the business and the man at the middle of it. Which would all be bad enough, were it not for temptation--in the form of Madeline herself. In Forgiveness 4 You, Ann Bauer combines her gift for characterization with a broad American canvas to dazzling effect. Written with verve and confidence, Forgiveness 4 You is an unusually ambitious novel that blends cutting-edge satire with a serious mediation on faith in the twenty-first century.
Author Notes
Ann Bauer is author of two novels, The Forever Marriage and A Wild Ride up the Cupboards , and co-author of the culinary memoir, Damn Good Food . Her essays have appeared in The New York Times , The Washington Post , Elle , Redbook , and The Sun . From 2006 to 2010, she was a regular contributor to Salon . She splits her time between Minneapolis and Boston.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Former Catholic priest Gabriel McKenna is working in a bookstore when advertising executive Madeline Murray walks in. Like most people who meet him, she feels compelled to confess her sins. When Gabe helps her come to terms with her guilt, she decides that he has a natural talent for absolution, and thinks of a brilliant marketing scheme-forgiveness for hire-but is unaware that Gabe's own hidden sins might implicate the business. Gabe's first-person narrative is interspersed with the electronic missives of Madeline's staff and their particularly delightful "marketing" material (sample tagline: "Expert Exonerations for Everyday Sins"). Bauer (Forever Marriage) has hit upon a thought-provoking concept: Can confession and absolution function in a non-religious setting? Can absolution be purchased and, if so, from whom? But though the concept itself reaches towards the literary, the novel reads more like the steamy romances Gabe sells at the bookstore. Creative takes on confession and forgiveness (quoting everything from Oscar Wilde to, of course, the Bible) drown in unbelievable and cliché-filled prose. The great idea and solid plot wish for better writing quality to match. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
In a time when most anything can be bought and sold, forgiveness and absolution are hot commodities.Though Gabriel McKenna, a former Catholic priest, left the church during an emotional breakdown on the altar one Easter morning, he can't seem to escape his calling. As a bookstore employee who is barely able to afford his modest lifestyle, he finds that people are drawn to him, seeking forgiveness and understanding of their past indiscretions. Madeline Murray, a high-powered executive, stumbles into Gabe's bookshop and almost immediately reveals her deepest regrets about her failed marriage and stint as a stepmother. While this kind of thing might seem unusual, Gabe comments that it happens all the time: "People regularly dissolved in my presenceeven those who didn't realize that they were harboring shame." From this chance encounter, an unlikely business partnership is formed when Madeline realizes that what Gabe can offerforgiveness without religious affiliation, absolution for a pricemight be exactly what a media-saturated and selfish society needs. Through a series of emails, text transcripts and feverish memos developing "Forgiveness 4 You" as a brand, interspersed with Gabe's first-person narration, the novel swings between comedy and tragedy, all while meditating on the themes of guilt and forgiveness. Bauer (The Forever Marriage, 2012, etc.) writes with humor and compassion about a business that is both bizarre and entirely all too real and the flawed and ultimately human characters behind it. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Something about ex-priest Gabe McKenna draws confessions out of those he meets. But when the CEO of an advertising company meets Mckenna in the bookstore where he works, she sees a business opportunity and brings him along for the creation of Forgiveness 4 You, a company that offers forgiveness for a fee. Just before launch, though, pieces of McKenna's past, which he went into the priesthood to atone for, crop up and threaten to derail the entire enterprise. The author of previous novels, including The Forever Marriage (2012), has crafted an exploration of absolution that manages to be simultaneously irreverent and compassionate. Bauer is adept at quickly drawing characters during their impromptu confession sessions with McKenna. The ex-priest himself, lost and lonely, is a moving and relatable example of human frailty. McKenna narrates most of the book, while e-mails from the ad-agency staffers give just a surface glimpse into their minds, highlighting the difference between self-reflection and mindless ambition. It's a well-rounded reminder that sometimes the hardest person to forgive is oneself.--Thoreson, Bridget Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Bauer (The Forever Marriage) has written a satirical novel with serious undertones about guilt, redemption, faith, secularism, consumerism.and probably a few other things as well. Plagued by recurrent erections, former priest Gabriel McKenna is working in a bookstore when advertising executive Madeline Murray wanders in and finds herself confessing to him. This sparks in her innovative mind an idea that this is just what the world needs-forgiveness without religion, guaranteed absolution from guilt and shame (for a price). The narrative is structured in wildly different voices-the scenes from Father Gabe's perspective are thoughtful and ruminative, while the sections detailing the company start-up are told via email excerpts and urgent memos between a group of ego-driven advertisers getting their feet wet in the business of entrepreneurship (these last parts are quite funny, at times). Verdict Although it doesn't entirely ring true that the former priest would embrace being at the center of such an enterprise, this novel is fresh and original, and the wholly satisfying ending doesn't at all take the easy way out. Recommended for readers of satire who are not offended by members of the clergy engaging in amorous relationships.-Victoria Caplinger, Durham, NC © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
