The Miracle on Monhegan Island

Starred review from March 28, 2016
Thirty-one-year-old Jessie “Spark” Monhegan returns to his dilapidated Maine home after leaving in a shroud of disgrace and secrecy. The house is still a residence to three other Monhegan males: Pastor Ragnor, Spark’s semideluded father; Hugh, his demoralized artist brother; and his Spark’s 13-year-old son, Hally, who is keen to discover the truth about his mother and Sparks’s apparent abandonment. Accompanying Spark on his journey is the dog-napped Ned—an intelligent, highly observant and intuitive three-year-old Shitzu—who also happens to be the charming and wise narrator. At once touching and humorous, Kelly’s (Apologize, Apologize!) story boasts a plethora of themes and an enticing plot, complete with suspenseful moments. The Monhegan men struggle to reconcile their past resentments, ongoing personality differences, and inner demons, amid small-town gossip. The transformation of fathers and sons is catalyzed by Hally’s vision of a woman in white—the encounter that Ragnor dubs the miracle on Monhegan Island and creates a fervent religious following. While Kelly’s multidimensional characters and descriptions—even the olfactory ones—are evocative and engaging, the winning element of this story is Ned’s voice, which provides an entertaining perspective on a dog’s life.

Starred review from March 1, 2016
Risk-taking fiction from Kelly (The Last Summer of the Camperdowns, 2013, etc.), this time featuring a canine narrator, an apparition, and a whole mess of trouble between fathers and sons. Whatever resemblance the wry musings of Ned may bear to the inner life of an actual Shih Tzu, he serves Kelly brilliantly as an outside observer suddenly thrown into the dysfunctional interactions of the Monahan family when prodigal son Spark steals him from the back seat of a Mercedes to bring home to Maine as a peace offering to his own son, Hally, whom he hasn't seen in four years. Spark does not, to put it mildly, get along with his father, Pastor Ragnar, leader of a sect Ned describes as "occupying the murky middle ground somewhere between Jonestown and the La Leche League." Kelly's trademark dark wit is in evidence throughout, as Ned's scornful running commentary on the foibles of other dog breeds provides some light notes in the increasingly sad drama that plays out after 12-year-old Hally sees the Virgin Mary standing on a cliff near their island home. This vision is a red flag to Spark; Hally's mother, Flory, it gradually emerges, heard voices and imagined things as a result of the mental illness that descended after Hally was born. The last thing Spark wants is for his son to be used as a marketing tool by manipulative, self-serving Pastor Ragnar. But having left infant Hally with his family in the aftermath of Flory's death, Spark is not in a position to do much but watch with dismay as Pastor Ragnar's publicitymongering attracts hordes of invasive gawkers who further unsettle Hally's already fragile emotional state--as well as a murderous stalker whose menacing actions drive the plot toward a dramatic climax. Plenty of damage is done, but Kelly allows her vulnerable, fallible characters to grope toward better understandings of themselves and each other, with Ned acting as their engaging and affectionate chronicler. More terrific work from a writer who gets better with each book.

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June 15, 2016

In Kelly's most recent offering (after The Last Summer of the Camperdowns), Pastor Ragnar Monahan is raising his adolescent grandson, Hally, with the help of artist son Hugh on Maine's scenic (and car-free) Monhegan Island. In May 1986, Spark, Hally's father, unexpectedly returns home bearing a purebred shih tzu, who turns out to be our narrator, Ned. Spark discovers that little has changed since his departure four years prior. Charismatic Ragnar still rules his family and waning church congregation with a strong hand, and the Monahans' island house continues its slow descent into dilapidation. Spark's attempts to reconnect with his father and his son are thrown into uncertainty when Hally experiences what could be a Marian apparition or disturbing hallucinations reminiscent of his late mother's psychosis, which Ragnar aims to exploit to strengthen his church. In a narrative that recalls Elizabeth Strout's dysfunctional New England family (Olive Kitteridge), Carolyn Chute's charismatic Maine cult leader (The School on Heart's Content Road), a touch of John Irving's dark humor (A Prayer for Owen Meaney), and even Garth Stein's canine narrator (The Art of Racing in the Rain), Ned provides interesting insight into the human (and canine) conditions to craft an absorbing read. VERDICT For contemporary fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, 12/14/15.]--Jennifer B. Stidham, Houston Community Coll. Northeast

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2016
Ned doesn't know why a man named Spark Monahan would steal him from the luxurious backseat of a Mercedes and throw him into a smoke-belching beater, but he knows his life is about to change. Spark heads to his family's home on Monhegan Island and presents Ned to his estranged teenage son, Hally, as a peace offering. Ned may be a purebred shih tzu with best-in-show lineage, but he's intrigued by the sights and smells of coastal Maine. Serving as the novel's omniscient narrator, Ned quickly realizes that the relationships between the Monahan men are incredibly complicated. In this charming, witty, and well-paced novel, Kelly uses Ned's clever narration to examine how family members who barely like each other learn to love in times of crisis. The secluded atmosphere of Monhegan Island amplifies the family's drama as hostile weather mirrors inner turmoil. Comparable to Spill Simmer Falter Wither (2015) and the works of Rebecca Makkai, this novel is equally thrilling and therapeutic.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)