Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
New York : Harper, 2010.
Description
"As the new millennium approaches, the eccentric town of Thebes grows even stranger. Clocked by a Catholic statuette, Mrs. Leontina Scales begins speaking in tongues. Her daughter, Tabitha Scales, and her sons scheme to save their mother or surrender her to Jesus--whatever comes first. Meanwhile, choir director Jeremy Carr, caught between lust and ambition, fumbles his way toward Y2K. Only a modern master like Gregory Maguire can spin a tale this frantic, funny, and farcical. The ancient Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries join with a gay singing group. The Radical Radiants battle the Catholics. A Christmas pageant goes horribly awry. And a child is born. THE NEXT QUEEN OF HEAVEN is Maguire's most imaginative story yet"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member tloeffler
Leontina Scales is a thrice-married (and divorced) mother of 3 sullen teenagers. She is a devout member of the Radical Radiant Pentecostals, who share a parking lot with the Roman Catholic church next door. One morning, having forgotten to bring milk for the after-services coffee, she sneaks over
Jeremy Carr is the gay music director for the Catholic church, trying to get over the love of his life, to care for Sean, a friend with AIDS, and to find a rehearsal spot with a piano so he can win a competition in New York. Sister Alice offers him the use of the music room in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, currently used as a retirement home for the nuns.
And the story begins. This is a wild ride, and I alternately laughed hysterically and cried like a baby. It is a small town, and everyone's lives cross back and forth between each other. The Catholics feel responsible, the Pentecostal Pastor worries that they are trying to convert Mrs. Scales while he tries to seduce her 15 year old daughter Tabitha, who goes from being the town brat/slut to having to care for her mother (in spite of her own worries), and there is an absolutely fabulous conversation between the musicians and the retired nuns, comparing the gay life to the cloistered life.
Gregory Maguire is one of those authors that you can't pinpoint, because all of his books are different. This one is great. Each person and each institution is equally lauded and denigrated, and I just came away from it feeling like we all have our own demons to fight, so let's just get along. Highly recommended (although there is some "bad language" if that's offensive to you).
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to the basement of the Catholic church to borrow some, and is conked on the head by a falling statue of the Virgin Mary. When she wakes up, her behavior and speech have changed dramatically, but since the clinic can find nothing particularly wrong with her, they release her to the care of her children.Jeremy Carr is the gay music director for the Catholic church, trying to get over the love of his life, to care for Sean, a friend with AIDS, and to find a rehearsal spot with a piano so he can win a competition in New York. Sister Alice offers him the use of the music room in the Motherhouse of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, currently used as a retirement home for the nuns.
And the story begins. This is a wild ride, and I alternately laughed hysterically and cried like a baby. It is a small town, and everyone's lives cross back and forth between each other. The Catholics feel responsible, the Pentecostal Pastor worries that they are trying to convert Mrs. Scales while he tries to seduce her 15 year old daughter Tabitha, who goes from being the town brat/slut to having to care for her mother (in spite of her own worries), and there is an absolutely fabulous conversation between the musicians and the retired nuns, comparing the gay life to the cloistered life.
Gregory Maguire is one of those authors that you can't pinpoint, because all of his books are different. This one is great. Each person and each institution is equally lauded and denigrated, and I just came away from it feeling like we all have our own demons to fight, so let's just get along. Highly recommended (although there is some "bad language" if that's offensive to you).
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LibraryThing member TheLostEntwife
Gregory Maguire is best known for his books centering around the Wicked story, and while I”m a huge fan of the Broadway show, the book just didn’t do it for me.
I’ve read a few more of Maguire’s books along the way and finished each one with a feeling of confusion – I just didn’t get it.
Characters: The characters in The Next Queen of Heaven were easy to relate to. Tabitha and Jeremy’s voices were the loudest and it was easy to fall in to their lives and to figure out how the events unfolding were impacting them. I admit, I’m a bit of a prudish reader when it comes to language (mostly because I like to recommend clean-language novels, and it makes me cringe to read some really harsh words at the start of a book) and The Next Queen of Heaven is definitely not a book if you have a hard time getting past some of the more crude language out there. Tabitha has just about the most foul mouth I’ve read from a character lately and, considering some of the books I’ve read in the last month, that’s really saying something. Still, I liked the characters – aside from the language issue, and I found myself rooting for them and feeling their pain and struggles. So it wasn’t the characters that brought the story down for me.
Plot: I think this may be where everything falls apart. The plot felt like it began to fall apart about half-way through. I started to lose track of which nun was which, and… I’m still trying to understand why certain events took place in the Catholic church toward the end of the story (but that may be because I’m not Catholic?). Because the plot had me confused, some events that should have triggered an emotional response from me, ended up not triggering much at all.
Setting: The setting was fine. I grew up in a town much like the one in this book, so it was easy for me to get a feel for the area and the people.
Religion: This is, I think, one of the things that made me the most uncomfortable. Although I enjoyed reading Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, I had a difficult time with the irreverence of it, and – in much the same manner – I felt uncomfortable reading parts of this book as well. I also didn’t like the movie Dogma, but – many folks do and to each their own. I think I feel safe in saying if you enjoyed Dogma or Good Omens, then this is probably a book that you’ll enjoy as well.
So I guess it comes down to the fact that I just felt confusion with the plotline. Everything else was fine and I read the book quickly, so it wasn’t a difficult read. Another Maguire checked off the list – I’m sure I’ll find one someday that I’ll fall in love with!
I’ve read a few more of Maguire’s books along the way and finished each one with a feeling of confusion – I just didn’t get it.
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I didn’t get the humor, the satire, the subtle jokes everyone else is apparently getting. So in an attempt to understand what exactly I didn’t “get” about this book let me break it down into sections.Characters: The characters in The Next Queen of Heaven were easy to relate to. Tabitha and Jeremy’s voices were the loudest and it was easy to fall in to their lives and to figure out how the events unfolding were impacting them. I admit, I’m a bit of a prudish reader when it comes to language (mostly because I like to recommend clean-language novels, and it makes me cringe to read some really harsh words at the start of a book) and The Next Queen of Heaven is definitely not a book if you have a hard time getting past some of the more crude language out there. Tabitha has just about the most foul mouth I’ve read from a character lately and, considering some of the books I’ve read in the last month, that’s really saying something. Still, I liked the characters – aside from the language issue, and I found myself rooting for them and feeling their pain and struggles. So it wasn’t the characters that brought the story down for me.
Plot: I think this may be where everything falls apart. The plot felt like it began to fall apart about half-way through. I started to lose track of which nun was which, and… I’m still trying to understand why certain events took place in the Catholic church toward the end of the story (but that may be because I’m not Catholic?). Because the plot had me confused, some events that should have triggered an emotional response from me, ended up not triggering much at all.
Setting: The setting was fine. I grew up in a town much like the one in this book, so it was easy for me to get a feel for the area and the people.
Religion: This is, I think, one of the things that made me the most uncomfortable. Although I enjoyed reading Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, I had a difficult time with the irreverence of it, and – in much the same manner – I felt uncomfortable reading parts of this book as well. I also didn’t like the movie Dogma, but – many folks do and to each their own. I think I feel safe in saying if you enjoyed Dogma or Good Omens, then this is probably a book that you’ll enjoy as well.
So I guess it comes down to the fact that I just felt confusion with the plotline. Everything else was fine and I read the book quickly, so it wasn’t a difficult read. Another Maguire checked off the list – I’m sure I’ll find one someday that I’ll fall in love with!
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LibraryThing member fyrefly98
Summary: A few days before Halloween of 1999, Mrs. Leotina Scales sneaks into the basement of the Catholic church of Thebes, New York (to steal milk for the coffee of the Radical Radiant Pentecostals, next door). While down there, she gets bonked in the head by a statue of the virgin Mary, and
Review: For starters, I'd like to give credit where credit's due: bravo for Gregory Maguire for stretching his wings a bit. The Next Queen of Heaven is *very* different from his other books - no retold fairy tales or historical fiction settings here. I imagine that so radical of a departure from an author who is so well established in his own particular sub-genre can't be easy, and I appreciate that Maguire was willing to take that leap.
I had a bit of a hard time telling whether or not he hit the mark, however. I'm not sure whether the fault was mine, the book's marketing, or the novel itself (or some combination thereof, most likely), but I spent most of my time reading this book with a severe case of cognitive dissonance. The wacky small-town characters in mildly contrived situations, the religious elements, the just-before-Christmas setting, and the book-jacket blurb describing it as "frantic, funny, and farcical" were all making me expect Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel. Only, when I would sit down to read, what I got was more like The Stupidest Angel with all of the funny bits removed and replaced with sadness and depressive ennui. I kept waiting for the farcical part to start, and instead, I got a pastor with inappropriate feelings towards a teen girl, and a gay man dying of AIDS. Whee.
I would write this all off as a case of mismatched expectations, but it seems like the book itself thinks its funnier than it is. There are some genuinely funny lines, and some scenes (particularly the ending) that actually feel like effective farce. The problem is, the book seems like it has to work too hard to achieve these bright bits, and they don't do enough to dispel the bleakness that clings to the rest of the story. Which is not to say that the book is bad just because it's bleak - not at all; I like a good bleak book now and again - but don't sell yourself as a farce if that's not really your strong suit, y'know?
And the thing is, The Next Queen of Heaven does a lot of things right. The parts where Maguire drops the farce angle and gives himself unabashedly to the pathos of the situation felt true and moving. The plot's a little rambling and somewhat haphazard, but he makes the disparate pieces work together well, and even come together in the end. The character building was impressive - while I didn't really like any of the characters much, they still felt like multidimensional individuals. Maguire's setting is equally well-done; I've lived in upstate New York, and he captured it perfectly. The writing style is light but substantial, and is the one thing that identifies this book as Maguire's work. Finally, I thought he did a very nice job writing a book that deals so intimately with matters of religion - of multiple religions - without veering too much into either proseletyzing or bashing.
So, in sum, this book had a number of good things about it, and the potential for even better things, but I felt like it couldn't decide whether to be a comedy or a drama, tried to be both, and got stuck at an uncomfortable point in the middle. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If you like Gregory Maguire's style, or serious books wrapped in wacky dressings, and can ignore the promises made by the cover copy, then you've got a pretty good shot of liking The Next Queen of Heaven more than I did.
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begins speaking in tongues. This is too much for her foul-mouthed, dropout, troublemaker daughter Tabitha to deal with, especially since she's got her own problems to deal with: useless brothers, absent fathers, and a boyfriend who's avoiding her and who town gossip says is engaged to someone else. But things are not much brighter for the Catholics of Thebes... Jeremy Carr, the choir director of the church, is desperately trying to get his side project - a gay men's chorus - into shape for an audition in New York City that might represent his last hope of breaking out of the orbit of his only ex-boyfriend (who is now happily married with kids). But the singing isn't going so well either, since one of the members is HIV-positive and is deteriorating quickly, plus their options for rehearsal space have been reduced to the convent of the aging Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries. Christmas is coming, as is Y2K, but its unclear whether the citizens of Thebes are in for Yultide miracles or millennial disasters.Review: For starters, I'd like to give credit where credit's due: bravo for Gregory Maguire for stretching his wings a bit. The Next Queen of Heaven is *very* different from his other books - no retold fairy tales or historical fiction settings here. I imagine that so radical of a departure from an author who is so well established in his own particular sub-genre can't be easy, and I appreciate that Maguire was willing to take that leap.
I had a bit of a hard time telling whether or not he hit the mark, however. I'm not sure whether the fault was mine, the book's marketing, or the novel itself (or some combination thereof, most likely), but I spent most of my time reading this book with a severe case of cognitive dissonance. The wacky small-town characters in mildly contrived situations, the religious elements, the just-before-Christmas setting, and the book-jacket blurb describing it as "frantic, funny, and farcical" were all making me expect Christopher Moore's The Stupidest Angel. Only, when I would sit down to read, what I got was more like The Stupidest Angel with all of the funny bits removed and replaced with sadness and depressive ennui. I kept waiting for the farcical part to start, and instead, I got a pastor with inappropriate feelings towards a teen girl, and a gay man dying of AIDS. Whee.
I would write this all off as a case of mismatched expectations, but it seems like the book itself thinks its funnier than it is. There are some genuinely funny lines, and some scenes (particularly the ending) that actually feel like effective farce. The problem is, the book seems like it has to work too hard to achieve these bright bits, and they don't do enough to dispel the bleakness that clings to the rest of the story. Which is not to say that the book is bad just because it's bleak - not at all; I like a good bleak book now and again - but don't sell yourself as a farce if that's not really your strong suit, y'know?
And the thing is, The Next Queen of Heaven does a lot of things right. The parts where Maguire drops the farce angle and gives himself unabashedly to the pathos of the situation felt true and moving. The plot's a little rambling and somewhat haphazard, but he makes the disparate pieces work together well, and even come together in the end. The character building was impressive - while I didn't really like any of the characters much, they still felt like multidimensional individuals. Maguire's setting is equally well-done; I've lived in upstate New York, and he captured it perfectly. The writing style is light but substantial, and is the one thing that identifies this book as Maguire's work. Finally, I thought he did a very nice job writing a book that deals so intimately with matters of religion - of multiple religions - without veering too much into either proseletyzing or bashing.
So, in sum, this book had a number of good things about it, and the potential for even better things, but I felt like it couldn't decide whether to be a comedy or a drama, tried to be both, and got stuck at an uncomfortable point in the middle. 3 out of 5 stars.
Recommendation: If you like Gregory Maguire's style, or serious books wrapped in wacky dressings, and can ignore the promises made by the cover copy, then you've got a pretty good shot of liking The Next Queen of Heaven more than I did.
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LibraryThing member Shapatm
The Next Queen of Heaven is a departure from the normal Gregory Maguire tale. There are no fairy tales retold or mythic beings. It's life at its messiest and how people deal with it which makes for an interesting journey.
LibraryThing member citygirl
Why: Wicked is one of my top twenty favorite books ever, probably, and so I read Maguire every so often.
Away from his usual territory Maguire is. No fairy tales or Oz. Just regular people, in regular ol' America, the tiny town of Thebes, NY, upstate, to be precise. I have really mixed feelings
Away from his usual territory Maguire is. No fairy tales or Oz. Just regular people, in regular ol' America, the tiny town of Thebes, NY, upstate, to be precise. I have really mixed feelings
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about this book. I found it quite funny, the characters, the dialogue, the scenarios Maguire set up. He is jointly satirizing religion and exploring themes of faith, which can be compelling. You know, but it's not. It's just not. He split the view between two characters: fiesty teen slut, Tabitha, and wimpy gay Catholic church music director, Jeremy. Tabitha has all the fun, and all the fun scenes, and nutty, unpredictable thoughts. Jeremy has a friend dying of AIDS, gets no respect, and endures regular emotional torture from the now-married-to-a-woman love of his life. What a drip. Well, I guess the reasons for the mixed feelings are apparent. I can't recommend this book, and I can't not recommend it. I mean, the guy gives great prose. If only he'd used it to send Jeremy flying over a cliff. Show Less
LibraryThing member busy91
I really wanted to like this book, but I didn't. I could not connect with the main characters, I thought Tabitha, Jeremy and Kirk were annoying, I thought the members of the church and choir were just silly. I did not chuckle once, I was sick of all the name dropping and pop culture references that
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won't matter in 30 years. I really liked the whole free book and the charity idea, that is the best thing about this book. Being a Catholic I didn't find any of the situations funny or cute. Although I think this book would appeal to more mainstream readers, those who are into the Catholic faith might not find it appealing. Show Less
LibraryThing member Nextian
In "The Next Queen of Heaven", Gregory Maguire leaves behind the twisted fairy tales that we all know and love him for and embraces a real world fiction which he makes fantastic without any fantasy. Maguire brings to life the joys and problems related to living in small town America. His characters
My only problem with the book it is that it ended just a little too soon. The stories of Jeremy and Tabitha were dealt with perfectly; just the right amount of closure while leaving the horizon wide open. I could have used a little more time spent with Mrs. Scales and Hogan at the end though. Overall I though the book was amazing. Maguire has certainly shown that he is more than just a one-trick pony (not that it was ever much in doubt) by stepping away from his normal niche and exploring other areas. Definitely a worth-while read.
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are well-rounded and complete and totally believable. There's humor mixed with just the right amount of drama (or vice-versa if you prefer). And it all leads up to a crazy Christmas Eve service that will never be forgotten. My only problem with the book it is that it ended just a little too soon. The stories of Jeremy and Tabitha were dealt with perfectly; just the right amount of closure while leaving the horizon wide open. I could have used a little more time spent with Mrs. Scales and Hogan at the end though. Overall I though the book was amazing. Maguire has certainly shown that he is more than just a one-trick pony (not that it was ever much in doubt) by stepping away from his normal niche and exploring other areas. Definitely a worth-while read.
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LibraryThing member Sovranty
Sad and hilarious. Ignorant and intelligent. A true look in the mirror for today's myth believers and skeptics alike. Successfully, Gregory Maguire has managed to write of the flip side(s), the less acknowledged side, of a common story - the lives of individual people. Instead of focusing on the
This story is different from Maguire's previous novels, and yet still very much the same.
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alternative view of a fairy tale, Maguire peers into the world of the living, telling 'human tales', detailing the variable impacts one of the modern world's most prevalent tales has on its characters and their emotional interaction, or lack thereof, with one another.This story is different from Maguire's previous novels, and yet still very much the same.
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LibraryThing member jbaker614
I think my 3-star rating of this book may be a bit generous as I sit down to write this review. I had to force myself to finish reading this story mostly out of curiosity as to how it would end. And, now that I am finished, admitedly, I find myself asking, "So what?"
A collection of wacky characters
And, there are the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, (Mother Clare du Plessix, Sister Alice Coyne, Sister Maria Goretti, Sister Jeanne d'Arc, Sister Felicity, Sister Perpetua, Sister Clothilde, Sister Magdalene). I have to admit the Sisters were my favorite characters. They were smart, funny, witty and sincere.
One of the more interesting passages for me came from Mother Clare when she was speaking to Jeremy and his friends:
"The whole notion of the cloister still espcaes you, doesn't it? At least one of the many reasons one enters is not to escape the world because it is too painful, but because it is too beautiful to bear."
A collection of wacky characters
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and their inter-related life stories are the backdrop of the storyline that includes a three-time divorced mother (Mrs. Leontina Scales) who is a member of the 'Cliffs of Zion Radical Radiant Pentecostal Church' and her 3 dysfunctional children (Tabitha, Hogan and Kirk), her pastor (Pastor Jakob Huyck) who develops a crush on Tabitha, a choir director (Jeremy) in the adjoining Catholic Church (Our Lady of Something or Other) and his gay friends Sean and Marty. Jeremy has never gotten over his love for Willem, who is now married with the perfect family. Jeremy is also the twinkle in the eye of Kirk, the youngest of Mrs. Scales' three children.And, there are the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries, (Mother Clare du Plessix, Sister Alice Coyne, Sister Maria Goretti, Sister Jeanne d'Arc, Sister Felicity, Sister Perpetua, Sister Clothilde, Sister Magdalene). I have to admit the Sisters were my favorite characters. They were smart, funny, witty and sincere.
One of the more interesting passages for me came from Mother Clare when she was speaking to Jeremy and his friends:
"The whole notion of the cloister still espcaes you, doesn't it? At least one of the many reasons one enters is not to escape the world because it is too painful, but because it is too beautiful to bear."
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LibraryThing member bookwormygirl
Gregory Maguire is known for his retelling of children's stories (i.e. The Wizard of Oz, The Little Match Girl, etc.) This is the first of his novels that I see that he has come up with a purely fictional story. I must confess that I did have some trouble with the amount of characters in this novel
It did get a little easier to read after a while, especially once I got the characters in the right order. And I do have to say that there were many instances where I found myself laughing out loud. I couldn't help it - there were just so many things going on and the more I thought of them, the funnier I found the whole thing to be. It was silly. The characters were over the top and the situations they found themselves in were unbelievable. There's a little bit of everything in this book - religion, sexuality, HIV, two feuding churches, teen pregnancy, musicians, even elderly nuns. It was pure mayhem! With all the crazy and zany antics throughout, there was also the more serious tone of finding and believing in oneself.
I also really enjoyed that the book takes place around Christmas - and I think Mr. Maguire did a great job in capturing the Christmas spirit - in his own quirky way.
I can't say that I loved this book, but I can definitely appreciate it. I found it too busy for my tastes and I felt that the ending lacked a little. I would have liked more closure for some of the characters. All in all, I can't say this is a book for everyone but I can see where many would still enjoy it.
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and I found myself more than once trying to get a grip on what was happening because I had one of the characters mistaken. It did get a little easier to read after a while, especially once I got the characters in the right order. And I do have to say that there were many instances where I found myself laughing out loud. I couldn't help it - there were just so many things going on and the more I thought of them, the funnier I found the whole thing to be. It was silly. The characters were over the top and the situations they found themselves in were unbelievable. There's a little bit of everything in this book - religion, sexuality, HIV, two feuding churches, teen pregnancy, musicians, even elderly nuns. It was pure mayhem! With all the crazy and zany antics throughout, there was also the more serious tone of finding and believing in oneself.
I also really enjoyed that the book takes place around Christmas - and I think Mr. Maguire did a great job in capturing the Christmas spirit - in his own quirky way.
I can't say that I loved this book, but I can definitely appreciate it. I found it too busy for my tastes and I felt that the ending lacked a little. I would have liked more closure for some of the characters. All in all, I can't say this is a book for everyone but I can see where many would still enjoy it.
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LibraryThing member JackieBlem
This is very interesting book, and very different from his other books. This time there is no re-writing a fairy tale--it's straight up fiction. What IS the same is his deft, and often humorous, crafting of his characters and the situations they find themselves in. The story is kick started by
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Leotina Scales, single mother of 3 variously troubled teenagers, getting knocked out by a teetering statue of the Virgin Mary in the basement of a Catholic Church--in which she is NOT a member. When she wakes up, she's definitely a different person, and the rest of the book is pretty much how members of her family, two churches, and others in town go about dealing with the change along with their own problems. Religious rivalries, lechery, closeted homosexuality, AIDS, teen pregnancy, ancient cloistered nuns and music are all part of the deal in very amusing way. Yet, while entertaining, there is a serious underlying theme of finding yourself and being true to that self. It's rather a busy read with so many characters doing so many things, but a very enjoyable one. Show Less
LibraryThing member Oryan685
I am a huge fan of Gregory Maguire's work and have read virtually everything he has written and was consequently very excited to receive this as an ARC. At first I was a little thrown off because this book is not what I expected and is quite a bit different from his other books like Wicked where he
By turns laugh out loud funny and unexpectedly moving, The Next Queen of Heaven was delightful to read and further proof that Maguire is a master of his craft.
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takes a fairy tale and changes it into something very different. But as I got into it I was pleased to see that The Next Queen of Heaven has the same wry sense of humor that kept me laughing out loud and the same complex and inviting characters that I love from all of his other books. By turns laugh out loud funny and unexpectedly moving, The Next Queen of Heaven was delightful to read and further proof that Maguire is a master of his craft.
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LibraryThing member macygma
The blurb on the back of this book leads you to believe it is a hysterically funny novel - and it is in many ways. You have Tabitha, the slut of Thebes, New York and long-suffering daughter of Leontina Scales. You have Jeremy Cobb, gay chorus leader who only wants out of Thebes and the sooner the
This collection of characters makes The Next Queen of Heaven a delight. They interact unknowingly in many ways but are so dependent on each other that to leave out one would ruin everything. When Leontina gets conked by a statue in the basement of the Thebes Catholic church while in search of milk for the Pentecostals next door, Tabitha's world does a neat 180 and goes to hell in a heartbeat as she becomes not only a caregiver/caretaker but an expectant mother as well. How she deals with this is the heart of the book but it is by far the only tale to be learned.
Gregory Macquire has another hit and one that should be read by anyone who loves an unexpected ending and many complications happening on nearly every page.
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better, except....You have Tabita's brothers - Hogan and Kirk - who have their own issues and lots of them. And then you have the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mysteries who are doomed to extinction because there are none among them under seventy.This collection of characters makes The Next Queen of Heaven a delight. They interact unknowingly in many ways but are so dependent on each other that to leave out one would ruin everything. When Leontina gets conked by a statue in the basement of the Thebes Catholic church while in search of milk for the Pentecostals next door, Tabitha's world does a neat 180 and goes to hell in a heartbeat as she becomes not only a caregiver/caretaker but an expectant mother as well. How she deals with this is the heart of the book but it is by far the only tale to be learned.
Gregory Macquire has another hit and one that should be read by anyone who loves an unexpected ending and many complications happening on nearly every page.
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LibraryThing member melydia
While I was reading this, I was really enjoying it, but now that I look back, I can't quite figure out what it was trying to do. There's a lot of humor and a fair bit of tragedy, but not a whole lot of story. A woman goes mad when she gets clonked on the head by a statue of the Virgin Mary. A trio
On the bright side, Maguire doesn't trot out the thesaurus quite so often as he does in his fairy tale retellings (Wicked, et al), which made for a less frustrating read. All in all, it's not bad for a free book, but not something I'd want to read again. I like books that tell a story, and I felt like one wasn't really told here. I can deal with the open-endedness, but I finished this feeling more like the plot was simply set up and then left as an exercise for the reader.
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of gay men befriend a gaggle of elderly nuns. A teenage girl is self-righteously angry but also rather hilariously dumb. A man with HIV gets ill. People mistreat each other. A man is hopelessly obsessed with his married ex. But when the story ends, nothing's really all that different from when we started. I guess you can assume that everybody gets over their issues and and turns over a new leaf, but who can tell?On the bright side, Maguire doesn't trot out the thesaurus quite so often as he does in his fairy tale retellings (Wicked, et al), which made for a less frustrating read. All in all, it's not bad for a free book, but not something I'd want to read again. I like books that tell a story, and I felt like one wasn't really told here. I can deal with the open-endedness, but I finished this feeling more like the plot was simply set up and then left as an exercise for the reader.
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LibraryThing member yoda1489
I have tried countless times to finish this book, but alas I cannot. Every time I start becoming invested in the characters the plot changes and I am left feeling like the author does not care. There also seems to be several different stories taking place at the same time. I think if the author had
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stuck with Mrs. Scales being injured and her childrens attempt to care for her, and not adding adding the side story of Jeremy Carr, the book would flow smoother and be an easier read. Show Less
LibraryThing member avanders
This is one of those novels where you care... but then you don't. For some reason, as interesting and extraordinary as the characters were supposed to be, most of the time I could not bring myself to *really* want to know what was going to happen. Maybe because they were *all* written as
I will be more specific. You have a stereo-typical evangelical christian who gets conked on the head while sneaking in the basement of the neighboring catholic church with, of all things, a statue of a catholic figurehead, her "slutty" and "stupid" daughter, her bully son, and her other highly effeminate, "confused" son. After being hit in the head, Leontina (the mother)'s behavior becomes bizarre---though never quite bizarre enough---cutting off the beginnings of her words, acting like a child in many ways, and eventually shutting down (much more interesting examples exist, but I do not wish to spoil any of the story). This all happens while her children, 17, 15, and 13 (ish.. I am not sure of the age of the youngest), are "taking care of" her and attempting to move forward and grow in their own lives. Just to add a little more, the daughter is also suffering from a boyfriend who is suddenly unavailable, as well as being the object of grown men's attentions.
And that's just one of the story lines. The other centers around three gay guys in this small new york town who need to practice for their singing group in a building housing a dozen or so elderly nuns. One of the guys, who also happens to be the musical director for the catholic church in which Leontina hit her head, is fighting demons from his past, another of the guys is fighting his too-catholic parents as well as a life-threatening disease, and the third is jewish.
In under 300 pages, the book became a series of events instead of a novel wherein the reader could actually feel attached to any of the characters. In the end, it was difficult to feel anything---sympathy, joy, laughter, pain---for the characters because they had all become caricatures of who they could have been.
Criticism aside, Maguire is still a great writer with interesting approaches, good ideas, and a nice use of words.
I would recommend this book to people whose favorites books are among the "drama" or "life" books.
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extraordinary, they all became ordinary within the novel.I will be more specific. You have a stereo-typical evangelical christian who gets conked on the head while sneaking in the basement of the neighboring catholic church with, of all things, a statue of a catholic figurehead, her "slutty" and "stupid" daughter, her bully son, and her other highly effeminate, "confused" son. After being hit in the head, Leontina (the mother)'s behavior becomes bizarre---though never quite bizarre enough---cutting off the beginnings of her words, acting like a child in many ways, and eventually shutting down (much more interesting examples exist, but I do not wish to spoil any of the story). This all happens while her children, 17, 15, and 13 (ish.. I am not sure of the age of the youngest), are "taking care of" her and attempting to move forward and grow in their own lives. Just to add a little more, the daughter is also suffering from a boyfriend who is suddenly unavailable, as well as being the object of grown men's attentions.
And that's just one of the story lines. The other centers around three gay guys in this small new york town who need to practice for their singing group in a building housing a dozen or so elderly nuns. One of the guys, who also happens to be the musical director for the catholic church in which Leontina hit her head, is fighting demons from his past, another of the guys is fighting his too-catholic parents as well as a life-threatening disease, and the third is jewish.
In under 300 pages, the book became a series of events instead of a novel wherein the reader could actually feel attached to any of the characters. In the end, it was difficult to feel anything---sympathy, joy, laughter, pain---for the characters because they had all become caricatures of who they could have been.
Criticism aside, Maguire is still a great writer with interesting approaches, good ideas, and a nice use of words.
I would recommend this book to people whose favorites books are among the "drama" or "life" books.
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LibraryThing member porch_reader
I'm a fan of Gregory Maguire's books. I enjoy his alternative views of stories like the Wizard of Oz, Snow White, or Cinderella. But this book is quite a bit different than the others that I've read. In The Next Queen of Heaven, Maguire tells the story of the residents of the small town of Thebes,
For the most part, I enjoyed this book. The main characters, Tabitha and Jeremy, are flawed and interesting. The supporting cast, especially the nuns, add depth and sometimes humor to the book. But I was never quite certain what to think of the story. Maguire creates a story that blends real life with some out-of-the-ordinary events that kept me feeling a bit off balance. At times, I was expecting some supernatural event to bring the book to the end, but the ending was surprising and somehow fitting.
I'm glad that I read this one, but I guardedly recommend it. I think it is one of those books that will delight some and frustrate others.
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NY in the final months of 1999. Two storylines are woven together. Teenager Tabitha Scales struggles to care for her mother after she is hit on the head by a falling statue in the Catholic Church, while the Catholic choir director Jeremy Carr prepares for Christmas and cares for his friend Sean who has AIDS. Although this is a book about real people, not wicked queens or wizards, the town of Thebes is anything but ordinary. For the most part, I enjoyed this book. The main characters, Tabitha and Jeremy, are flawed and interesting. The supporting cast, especially the nuns, add depth and sometimes humor to the book. But I was never quite certain what to think of the story. Maguire creates a story that blends real life with some out-of-the-ordinary events that kept me feeling a bit off balance. At times, I was expecting some supernatural event to bring the book to the end, but the ending was surprising and somehow fitting.
I'm glad that I read this one, but I guardedly recommend it. I think it is one of those books that will delight some and frustrate others.
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LibraryThing member norabelle414
This book is something new for Gregory Maquire, as far as I know. The best way to describe it is an Ann Patchett novel written by Maguire. It is extremely character driven, and it's the characters that actively cause the plot to develop. While I enjoyed many of the characters (Tabitha, Jeremy, and
When it comes down to it, the reason I read Gregory Maguire is for the fairy tale retellings. So I'll stick to those.
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Kirk), I found the others to be flat and lifeless. At the end of the novel I realized I knew nothing about Leontina, despite the fact that she was supposedly the catalyst. I even had trouble telling the pastor and the priest apart at times, which is a big problem in a novel about the differences between two religious groups. But it was nice to read about a community in which the Catholics are not the close-minded extremists. When it comes down to it, the reason I read Gregory Maguire is for the fairy tale retellings. So I'll stick to those.
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LibraryThing member jasmyn9
This book has one of the most diverse cast of characters I've ever seen. We start out with the rebellious teenage girl (Tabitha) and her super religious mother (Leontina - a Pentacostal). The two brothers of the family - one an attention starved young man that would do anything to please and the
This is where things really get interesting as Leontina seems to have lost her mind and is left at home with her three children to care for her. But back to the Catholics. My favorite was Jeremy, the gay choir director, and his two friends are trying to find a place to practice for an AIDS benefit concert. Well, the only place they can find is a nunnery. A nunnery full of old retired nuns that ask only for some conversation in exchange for letting the boys used some space there.
Somehow Maguire manages to get all these people tied up into the same story line as Christmas is quickly approaching. I won't want to say too much more or a lot of the surprises would be spoiled. An amazing book, that actually has you looking at a few serious issues of the world in a new way without even realized it until you're finished.
5/5
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other surprisingly like Tabitha. Next we meet the Catholics (they share a parking lot with the mother's chuch). The way we meet them is rather interesting. Leontina sneaks into the Catholic church one morning to "borrow" some cream and gets knocked out by a falling virgin Mary statue.This is where things really get interesting as Leontina seems to have lost her mind and is left at home with her three children to care for her. But back to the Catholics. My favorite was Jeremy, the gay choir director, and his two friends are trying to find a place to practice for an AIDS benefit concert. Well, the only place they can find is a nunnery. A nunnery full of old retired nuns that ask only for some conversation in exchange for letting the boys used some space there.
Somehow Maguire manages to get all these people tied up into the same story line as Christmas is quickly approaching. I won't want to say too much more or a lot of the surprises would be spoiled. An amazing book, that actually has you looking at a few serious issues of the world in a new way without even realized it until you're finished.
5/5
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LibraryThing member PirateJenny
I'm a big fan of Maguire's fairy tale retellings, so when I won this from LibraryThing I was quite excited. I mean, Maguire on weird religious stuff! But I ended up a bit disappointed. The characters were interesting, the whole idea of a fundie getting hit on the head by a statue of the Virgin Mary
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when trying to "borrow" milk from the Catholics then ending up speaking in tongues amused me. But something just didn't hit the mark for me. I'm not quite sure what it was. Maybe it's that there were no huge revelations, though even that works very well in the story, since it takes place right before Y2K and is rife with all the nutty theories that abounded and came to nothing. Perhaps it's that in fairy tales, there's an ending that ties up everything with a pretty (if bloody) bow. Not so here. And so I was left feeling a little unfinished. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shuffy2
It is 1999 and Y2K is just around the corner, is all hell breaking loose?
Mrs. Leontina Scales, a weekly church-goer, gets hit over the head and is no longer the same person. Jeremy Carr, church choir director, has a lot on his plate to deal with in his personal life. The lives of Leontina's
It is a story about everyday life, something one does not come to expect from Gregory Maguire. As a fan of Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister I was waiting for the supernatural or fantasy aspect of the story to kick it, it never arrived. It kept me wondering how it would all come together, especially the story line of Jeremy Carr. It was an good story, not a page turner for me but some may be surprised at the story.
Mrs. Leontina Scales, a weekly church-goer, gets hit over the head and is no longer the same person. Jeremy Carr, church choir director, has a lot on his plate to deal with in his personal life. The lives of Leontina's
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children are also in tormoil- daughter Tabitha, is having man problems while her son Kirk, is confused about his feelings.It is a story about everyday life, something one does not come to expect from Gregory Maguire. As a fan of Wicked and Confessions of an Ugly Step Sister I was waiting for the supernatural or fantasy aspect of the story to kick it, it never arrived. It kept me wondering how it would all come together, especially the story line of Jeremy Carr. It was an good story, not a page turner for me but some may be surprised at the story.
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LibraryThing member PennyAnne
If I had clicked that this book was written by the man who had written 'Wicked' I would never have picked it up. Not that it is anything like the usual 'fractured fairytales' Maguire usually writes but it was still poorly written pap. A vaguely entertaining cast of characters but a pointless read.
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The only part I liked was the relationship that developed between the group of ageing nuns and the three gay men who rehearse in the nunnery - other than that the book has nothing to offer. Show Less
LibraryThing member LynnB
LIke so many others, I bought this book because Gregory Maguire wrote it. It is very different from his other books -- no fairy tale recasting here.
This is the story of Tabitha Scales, a teenaged delinquent being raised by her three-time divorced mother, Leontina. Tabitha has two 1/2 brothers,
This is also the story of Jeremy Carr, the gay choir director of the Catholic church, who is coping with unrequited love and with the terminal illness of a close friend.
At first, I just loved this book. It had me laughing aloud at the clever dialogue and various anxieties of the characters on the eve of Y2K. Part way through, though, I stopped laughing. In part, the plot became more serious; at the same time, it became less interesting.
All in all, I liked the various perspectives presented by the different characters on issues such as religion, faith, sexuality and friendship. I only wish the ending had been as strong as the beginning.
This is the story of Tabitha Scales, a teenaged delinquent being raised by her three-time divorced mother, Leontina. Tabitha has two 1/2 brothers,
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each with a different father and both named after TV characters, too: Hogan and Kirk. When Leontina is struck on the head by a statue of the Virgin Mary and begins behaving strangely, Tabitha and her brothers have to look after her and themselves.This is also the story of Jeremy Carr, the gay choir director of the Catholic church, who is coping with unrequited love and with the terminal illness of a close friend.
At first, I just loved this book. It had me laughing aloud at the clever dialogue and various anxieties of the characters on the eve of Y2K. Part way through, though, I stopped laughing. In part, the plot became more serious; at the same time, it became less interesting.
All in all, I liked the various perspectives presented by the different characters on issues such as religion, faith, sexuality and friendship. I only wish the ending had been as strong as the beginning.
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LibraryThing member kaelirenee
Normally, Maguire writes about characters in such a way that I feel I know them and if I met them on the streets,I could recognize them. In The Next Queent of Heaven, he only accomplishes this for one or two of his characters. Most of them, I didn't understand, empathize with, or relate to at all.
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This book seemed to lack his normal wimsy and humor, not to mention his ability to take a story and turn it on its head. It looked like an interesting experiment on his part, but I hope he sticks to his forte from now on. Show Less
LibraryThing member judiparadis
I love Gregory Maguire's adult fairy tale stories, but this is something very different. It is a magical fiction story set in upstate New York in the 1990s and follows an incredibly dysfunctional family through its single-mother's descent into craziness after a statue of the Virgin Mary falls on
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her head. While the events are difficult to believe, and the characters are completely over-the-top, Maguire uses the events to present some interesting and funny bits about the clash of cultures between Evangelicals, gays, Catholics and small town folk trying to live a "normal" life. Maguire nicely captures the awful period in the HIV epidemic before drug therapy reached its current ability to help people lead life with a chronic rather than fatal disease with a good subplot involving three gay men. A good beach read, but I like the usual Maguire stuff better. Show Less
Language
Original publication date
2009
2010-10-05 (USA)
Physical description
368 p.; 7.9 inches
ISBN
006199779X / 9780061997792
Local notes
OCLC = 645
Google Books
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