3.5
Sacrament
ByPublisher Description
Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize
From National Book Award finalist Susan Straight, a captivating new novel about a group of nurses fighting through the first year of a pandemic and the beloved California community they will risk their lives to protect
In August 2020, a group of nurses are working in the ICU at a hospital in San Bernardino at the height of a Covid surge: Larette Embers, whose husband, Grief, is an animal control officer; Cherrise Martinez, whose husband died years ago in a car crash, and whose daughter Raquel has been sent to a Coachella date farm to live with her great-aunt to avoid the virus; and Marisol Manalang, born in the Philippines but based in Sacramento. To safeguard their families, the nurses are living in a makeshift RV camp close to the hospital; they share food and cigarettes yet keep their work private. For this is a country in crisis, and they are assisting strangers at the edge of death with infinite tenderness and growing desperation.
As the nurses struggle with the skyrocketing number of sick patients, Cherisse’s daughter goes missing. Grief's friend Johnny Frias, a California Highway Patrol officer, joins the search to find her, and the resulting journey leads to new love and loss, pushing all our characters to their breaking points. Brilliantly highlighting both the quiet heroism and extraordinary bravery of first responders, Sacrament once again proves that Susan Straight is the “essential voice in American writing and in writing of the West” (The New York Times).
From National Book Award finalist Susan Straight, a captivating new novel about a group of nurses fighting through the first year of a pandemic and the beloved California community they will risk their lives to protect
In August 2020, a group of nurses are working in the ICU at a hospital in San Bernardino at the height of a Covid surge: Larette Embers, whose husband, Grief, is an animal control officer; Cherrise Martinez, whose husband died years ago in a car crash, and whose daughter Raquel has been sent to a Coachella date farm to live with her great-aunt to avoid the virus; and Marisol Manalang, born in the Philippines but based in Sacramento. To safeguard their families, the nurses are living in a makeshift RV camp close to the hospital; they share food and cigarettes yet keep their work private. For this is a country in crisis, and they are assisting strangers at the edge of death with infinite tenderness and growing desperation.
As the nurses struggle with the skyrocketing number of sick patients, Cherisse’s daughter goes missing. Grief's friend Johnny Frias, a California Highway Patrol officer, joins the search to find her, and the resulting journey leads to new love and loss, pushing all our characters to their breaking points. Brilliantly highlighting both the quiet heroism and extraordinary bravery of first responders, Sacrament once again proves that Susan Straight is the “essential voice in American writing and in writing of the West” (The New York Times).
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesSacrament Reviews
3.5
“Rounded up from 3.5”
“Set during the height of the 2020 pandemic in San Bernardino, Sacrament follows three ICU nurses whose lives intertwine as they balance compassion, exhaustion, and fear while caring for the dying. When one nurse’s daughter disappears, their world collides with a highway patrol officer’s search that exposes both love and loss amid a nation in crisis.
I listened to this one on audiobook thanks to an advanced copy from the publisher and NetGalley, and the narrators did an excellent job bringing the nurses and their distinct personalities to life. The story had moments that resonated, but I found that much of the focus was on small daily details rather than deeper character development, which made it harder to form a strong emotional connection to the people in it. The subject matter itself was heavy, revisiting a time that still feels raw for many of us, and that made parts of it difficult to read. The writing is skillful and clear, and I can see the author’s talent in how she captures place and tone, but this particular story didn’t completely land for me. I’d still be open to reading more of her work in the future.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.”
“I've seen Susan Straight's writing referred to as essential--and YES. That is what I felt about Sacrament. There's something elemental--and bracingly honest--in the way she addresses the nature of human relationships. The pushes and pulls, the desire to know and be known. And the question of how much honesty is enough? And who gets to decide? Bonus: there are cowboys. This book is a real one. I loved it.”
About Susan Straight
SUSAN STRAIGHT has published nine novels, including Mecca, A Million Nightingales, and Highwire Moon, and one memoir, In the Country of Women. She’s been a finalist for the Kirkus Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, the National Book Award, among other honors, and received the Lannan Prize, the O. Henry Award, the Edgar Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Her fiction has been translated into ten languages. She was born in Riverside, California, where she lives with her family.
Other books by Susan Straight
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