The Monk Upstairs by Tim Farrington

What makes a great book feel great? I think a good book is good and a bad book is bad regardless of what you might be feeling at the time, but when a good book really hits the spot and does something magical to you? I suspect that has to do with timing as much as the book itself - it was the right book at the right time.

I read The Monk Downstairs back in 2003, and I unhesitatingly rated it as a 5, one of the best books of the year. And yet, I didn't keep it (it was a library book), although I had the idea in the back of my mind that I might buy it for my keeper shelf if it ever came out in mass market paperback.

After four years, the plot of the book had faded into the mists of time, so I reread it over the weekend, in preparation for reading the sequel. And I was left with the feeling of "it's OK, but..." The magic that I'd felt the first time around just wasn't there. It was still good, but not a keeper. Was it just the right book at the right time?

The Monk Upstairs by Tim Farrington
(2007, Contemporary) 5/19/08
Grade: 4

Rebecca and Mike (from The Monk Downstairs) are about to be married. But marriage to an ex-monk is more complicated than Rebecca might have expected, and between her mother’s illness, her daughter’s new love of religion and her ex-husband’s obsession with renovation, she isn’t sure how she’ll make it through.

Although this wasn’t as magical as the first book, The Monk Downstairs, there were moments of insight and poignancy. I particularly liked the depiction of Rebecca and Mike’s marriage, and how they had to adjust to each other - especially how Mike navigated his journey into the secular world and his relationship with Rebecca and Mary Martha. However, I felt that Phoebe’s illness was a little over-emphasized (much as I liked Phoebe, it felt like the same note over and over) and the book started to feel repetitive after a while. I enjoyed getting another glimpse into the characters’ lives, but it didn’t have the exciting sense of discovery that I got from the previous book.

One thing I found notable about this book (and the previous one) is the way the author dealt with religion. Unfortunately, most romances are either explicitly proselytizing Christian books, or don't deal with the subject at all. (There are some exceptions, but not many.) I don't consider myself religious, but I wouldn't mind reading about religious characters, without the limiting straightjacket of "Christian romance". But that's a controversial approach, I guess.