Patron Saint of Ugly - Paperback

by Marie Manilla (Author)

Born in Sweetwater, West Virginia, with a mop of flaming red hair and a map of the world rendered in port-wine stains on every surface of her body, Garnet Ferrari is used to being an outcast. With her sharp tongue, she has always known how to defend herself against bullies and aggressors, but she finds she is less adept at fending off the pilgrims who have set up a veritable tent city outside her hilltop home, convinced that she is Saint Garnet, healer of skin ailments and maker of miracles.

Her grandmother, the indelible Nonna Diamante, believes that Garnet's mystical gift can be traced back to the family's origins in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily, and now the Vatican has sent an emissary to Sweetwater to investigate. Garnet, wanting nothing more than to debunk this "gift" and send these desperate souls packing, reaches back into her family's tangled past and unspools for the Church a tale of love triangles on the shores of the Messina Strait; a sad, beautiful maiden's gilded-cage childhood in blueblood Virginia; and the angelic, doomed boy Garnet could not protect.

Saint or not, Garnet learns that the line between reality and myth is always blurred, and that the aspects of ourselves we are most ashamed of can prove to be the source of our greatest strength, and even our salvation.

Front Jacket

With its irresistible blend of Southern Gothic and Sicilian malocchio, a lush, exuberant tale of a reluctant saint, her unforgettable family, and the myriad difficulties we all face when it comes to loving and being loved
Born in Sweetwater, West Virginia, with a mop of flaming red hair and a map of the world rendered in port-wine stains on every surface of her body, Garnet Ferrari is used to being an outcast. With her sharp tongue, she has always known how to defend herself against bullies and aggressors, but she finds she is less adept at fending off the pilgrims who have set up a veritable tent city outside her hilltop home, convinced that she is Saint Garnet, healer of skin ailments and maker of miracles.
Her grandmother, Nonna Diamante, believes that Garnet s mystical gift can be traced back to the family s origins in the Nebrodi Mountains of Sicily, and now the Vatican has sent an emissary to Sweetwater to investigate. Garnet, determined to debunk this gift, reaches back into her family s tangled past and unspools a story of love triangles on the shores of the Messina Strait; a sad, beautiful maiden s gilded-cage childhood in blueblood Virginia; and the angelic, doomed boy Garnet could not protect.
Saint or not, Garnet learns that the line between reality and myth is always blurred, and that the aspects of ourselves we are most ashamed of can prove to be the source of our greatest strength, and even our salvation.
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Back Jacket

Praise for The Patron Saint of Ugly

A vastly entertaining story of a reluctant saint, her indelible nonna, and their family s long history of love, trickery, and transcendence. I can t imagine any reader not enjoying Manilla s sparkling tale, or the girl who tells it. Whitney Otto, author of How to Make an American Quilt
The Patron Saint of Ugly is a boisterous dazzler, thick with humor and steeped in a rich mythology. It packs a hard emotional punch without ever losing its charm or its hopeful heart. Joshilyn Jackson, author of Someone Else s Love Story and Gods in Alabama
A rich and energetic tale of love, family, and the hazy lines between reality and myth. Zoe Ferraris, author of Finding Nouf
Marie Manilla has written more than a novel: she s written what we used to call a tale. It s all here, folks, the whole world. How does she write about God and history and love and loss and make it all so miraculously readable? How does she make this book so much fun, even as it breaks your heart? Beats me, but she did it. Daniel Wallace, author of Big Fish

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