Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Confessions of Frances Godwin
    The Confessions of Frances Godwin
    The Confessions of Frances Godwin
    Ebook326 pages3 hours

    The Confessions of Frances Godwin

    By Robert Hellenga

    5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Confessions of Frances Godwin is the fictional memoir of a retired high school Latin teacher looking back on a life of trying to do her best amidst transgressions-starting with her affair with Paul, whom she later marries. Now that Paul is dead and she's retired, Frances Godwin thinks her story is over-but of course the rest of her life is full of surprises, including the truly shocking turn of events that occurs when she takes matters into her own hands after her daughter Stella's husband grows increasingly abusive. And though she is not a particularly pious person, in the aftermath of her actions, God begins speaking to her. Theirs is a deliciously antagonistic relationship that will compel both believers and nonbelievers alike.

    From a small town in the Midwest to the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome, The Confessions of Frances Godwin touches on the great questions of human existence: Is there something “out there” that takes an interest in us? Or is the universe ultimately indifferent?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury USA
    Release dateJul 8, 2014
    ISBN9781620405512
    The Confessions of Frances Godwin
    Author

    Robert Hellenga

    Robert Hellenga was educated at the University of Michigan and Princeton University. He is a professor at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and the author of the novels The Sixteen Pleasures, The Fall of a Sparrow, Blues Lessons, Philosophy Made Simple, and The Italian Lover.

    Read more from Robert Hellenga

    Related to The Confessions of Frances Godwin

    Related ebooks

    Crime Thriller For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Jedediah Britton-Purdy

      Dec 11, 2019

      Books often bring the new for me, but this year they were more of a trace backward, stitching new experience into what underlay it. The post A Year in Reading: Jedediah Britton-Purdy appeared first on The Millions.

      10 min read

    • Article

      'Killing Commendatore' Is The Latest Evasive, Magical, Utterly Unique Novel By Murakami

      Oct 9, 2018

      Haruki Murakami weaves an intriguing, time-challenging story around the life of a portrait painter who is changed forever by a work of art.

      3 min read

    • Article

      5 Great Novels You Might Have Missed in February

      Mar 9, 2017

      February saw some heavyhitters in the world of fiction: Lincoln in the Bardo, anyone? How about Katie Kitamura’s A Separation? A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee. . . . But wait, t

      2 min read

    • Article

      Books

      Oct 16, 2023

      What a thing of joy is a new Francis Spufford novel. Golden Hill, his debut, was a transporting piece of historical fiction that captured life in early New York in all its quirk and contingence, and deservedly won a bag of awards. His second, Light P

      3 min read

    • Article

      Her Crown Jewels

      Jun 1, 2019

      Her Crown Jewels
      9 min read

    • Article

      What Really Happened At The O.K. Corral

      May 12, 2020

      The most famous gunfight of the old West lives on in movies and in our imagination. “Tombstone” separates the truth from the myth.

      2 min read

    • Article

      Chaco Canyon Catches a Break

      Feb 22, 2022

      Chaco Canyon Catches a Break
      1 min read

    • Article

      'See What Can Be Done' Is A Testament To The Breadth Of Lorrie Moore’s Intellect

      Apr 2, 2018

      See What Can Be Done, novelist and short story writer Lorrie Moore’s first nonfiction collection, takes its name from the words of Robert Silvers, the late editor of The New York Review of Books. When Silvers would send Moore a book for possible revi

      3 min read

    • Article

      5 over 50

      Oct 10, 2018

      5 over 50
      12 min read

    • Article

      The Smell Of Money: Inside The Fight To Take On ‘Unbelievable’ Pig Farm Pollution

      Oct 25, 2023

      Rural residents in east North Carolina are being shit on. That’s the crude but literal way to put the very grave injustice captured in The Smell of Money, Shawn Bannon’s infuriating documentary about the harm committed by factory farming against huma

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Mild-mannered, Solitary Librarian Discovers His Powers

      Jul 3, 2023

      Patrick deWitt, a droll satirist with a pointed taste for the bizarre, made his name with novels full of clever literary hijinks, including “Undermajordomo Minor” and “The Sisters Brothers.” His last book, “French Exit” (2018), was a loopy mother-son

      3 min read

    • Article

      Requiem for a Reader

      Jul 28, 2017

      My first memory of my father as a reader was him telling me to hurry up; it was almost time to silflay. The post Requiem for a Reader appeared first on The Millions.

      12 min read

    • Article

      Fantastic Realms

      Feb 3, 2022

      Fantastic Realms
      6 min read

    • Article

      Character Study

      Nov 8, 2018

      Walter Mosley is known for iconic characters. From Easy Rawlins to Leonid McGill and Fearless Jones, his heroes quickly come to life on the page in a way that draws interest and empathy from readers. Their personalities are so distinct that legions o

      4 min read

    • Article

      Cream

      Jan 16, 2020

      Cream
      4 min read

    • Article

      Must an Author’s Wishes Be Honored After Death?

      Oct 24, 2017

      Authors once turned to fire to be rid of writing they didn’t want the world to read. Terry Pratchett took a slightly more creative – and modern – route. He ordered that his hard drive be crushed by a steamroller after his death.

      1 min read

    • Article

      Simply Knitting NEXT ISSUSE

      Jun 22, 2021

      Simply Knitting NEXT ISSUSE
      1 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Confessions of Frances Godwin

    5/5

    1 rating1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      First things first: I LOVED THIS BOOK!! I know, caps and exclamation points - I sound like a teenage girl. But I'm a guy, and I'm more than fifty years past teenage. But Robert Hellenga's newest novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF FRANCES GODWIN, was just so damn good I couldn't believe it. Well, yes I could, because I've already read three other Hellenga novels over the past fifteen years or so - THE SIXTEEN PLEASURES, BLUES LESSONS, and SNAKEWOMAN OF LITTLE EGYPT - and they were all great. But CONFESSIONS may well be Hellenga's best book yet. I think this one is truly a labor of love. The story is set in Galesburg, home of Knox College, where Hellenga taught English for decades and is now a Professor Emeritus and writer-in-residence. The town, lovingly mapped and described, is so important to the story that it practically becomes a character. The title character grew up on a farm nearby and attended Knox College, where she met her husband, Paul Godwin, her Shakespeare teacher (married to someone else at the time). Galesburg, Milwaukee, Rome, Verona. All important places to Frances Godwin. Parts of her life both with Paul and later with her troubled daughter Stella and by herself. Faith, art, music, life itself. All the big questions are in here, and maybe some answers too. I'm not going to do any plot summaries here. The thing I kept wondering as I was reading was whether Hellenga was intentionally writing a kind of modern version of St. Augustine's CONFESSIONS.Because narrator Frances calls her story a "spiritual autobiography." A lapsed Catholic, she is fluent in Latin, a dead language, but also the language Augustine wrote in. She has her regrets about things she has done in her life, things recounted in stark and vivid detail, and is constantly toying with the idea of confessing her great sins, and moving "out of the shadows into the light." She has frank conversations with God, a God who seems oddly human and keeps urging her to confess. On one of her trips to Italy she is even carrying a copy of Augustine's CONFESSIONS.I know a little about St. Augustine, but have to confess I have never read his books. So I am a bit over my head in trying to make a comparison. In the contest of wills between Frances and God, does God win? (Sorry, but I couldn't resist that.) That's something each reader will have to decide. The thing is, this narrative is just so rich with sidebars and details about so many things - all fascinating - that I just did not want it to end. But it does, and when I read that last paragraph, that final line, it gave me goose bumps. It was so perfect, positively perfect. One more comparison kept popping up as I was reading Hellenga's CONFESSIONS. I kept remembering Agatha McGee, a fictional spinster teacher, the creation of the late Minnesota writer, Jon Hassler, who first appeared in his 1976 novel, STAGGERFORD, and then in several subsequent novels. Like Frances, she was Catholic, but a pragmatic and practical one, who also had her doubts at times.St Augustine or Jon Hassler? Yeah, there are parallels and comparisons, but Hellenga's Frances Godwin is one of a kind, a kind you don't often see in contemporary fiction. I am selfishly hoping that Hellenga might follow Hassler's lead and bring Frances back again in another novel. She's that fascinating a character. Did I say I LOVED this book? Oh yeah, I guess I did. Terrific book! VERY highly recommended.

    Book preview

    The Confessions of Frances Godwin - Robert Hellenga

    2^book_preview_excerpt.html}[#GVbLf*ҴL$hY&daUs WQHj4?h cHD{*jz~>}9?;>7g;> !gpyߕ9vep! }l8jq ؄*tq\î:>kNaC}?|ihS~ʚ({|3&x54?nøҀM:n'[Mcq3uf0`h)A͘o[:l1) -4cHm˹}>QsSݟ}2q:PKK0Domtn1Nߕ/y:R &[,@ݱl 86ā'>1xi}KoW "0Emmz?"A?XcihGMôi,dDrkX\5}w&7y ׄp _2i0G בqF0^~Yc4)bXXvObL8i:x)aJ+ziD:{Ᏹ8ßYהA;<=py|_5}SZ rF]q1U3yp)tui4 n}nCH]9/* s8z1۴x'^ g[KsxִLd CQZBѤd:P89$k|CI[!74Wl ZWoÙ[Me+C\1BzZ,yt~JJ(n?]iO)4O+)$F: ڈ4B3ْш~1]lw $csš|D)KPtOsZ:D8Ҡx7CIs>w%Ac/dM[)هnA?1m&?<$9J+T(Z^hަNq׮r<pLSFXwmC 1>mnc_lLE`|hPJ0M'E&ΎQd\C4@G@ұGu7ǷcwKP"X}81s8ئyL =%ZoP،|l\c#q^s S?iC"74!iOq ށf2ù4p0aS9k@*JI*b}L7~P #GQj$16?v MYn|99OmbiE.X Jqk)pr :.m>f 'fPHzG@3K_d((òxWeiLPR'L7T7fc"iFctB&Plq(3M&z|XY5d?aM$MȽ|=:|`pu/0؂kV؏] ZpxСyMyAiD0-kښr=;l5A63:;n CК \tolP&(!`bգhP54Qq/-&D- ]) AO?0ajCj*Rs5 7S?xXܚ\f&ݧ;bTCz»i Z[ϓ#cD&|xĖ(?aD&@veI!|l{q//n~wXuR`H7Ak&[Իq8@-{HD Zˏo7H' a@5~d}l88q0R/1V ӡ\$ mL!ٵ.INsg>SP ց6$+@gND&⭣+%hH6x.X)A`VޘxDtS63syE6d}/)H'MCMLVu$׋K@S8:ԇnc%vzerP-. Dgya3OŌi |B|ל ffܛW)S51#c춴/h0ryi hKDP:$Zy: ~!%&iOYlo 4"2Cjӧee ʸ6@6;bF=b7z|iÙ}9'p9 a8Rs7O#>s]-EPʣB*0UٲM{duR˜ׇ3QA(Qcre_1W"ۼ0.vpܭz4a)5+0mߡ;*V|Gl ݍ&X<=awL_7.fC;S/ >/ha8|ܔ6%z!a=+TK`=š3^GqG=rڧ4L[čKPQkEZo9[^dy<@r JTSE!ɈVv-"5f J%Q"̥yImw_@ w7I2M%G%".0!nȮNU :4o8CR\9Cݤz 組!v\m f2rV{d WK9o4w0>W3mng}BJkoIç[!ÜywΫZdI2TH+{"#(q m0 dk}QO$.ْ̛@ ~;{.t`ཌྷ|˟B lkdJ\qXڜ˅C%tB?.\Gv4Lu&qsQ]9,W6Dy T4MK;"qixcl/V^w`Ι%],Ћ̽#)&t2ng"Dɋa%FVKL%DV?zpvi(~PbQ5cd핬4`nMuKyi5|8=ZJ0Bd'BZȟY<8LȎ|-9OVKP}Y]}ځ·8.ʾGo`wC4c!y! B0.s9KP90,UL!Uq2ؖi#;d |ɓ,M&^O@[aPN}>*􀡹q:JuhZ&8ru:gW] KX_mD$'˶rQ0}E~|m(Q% *LݞHYdCT0~:w~Yz+QUxBhOK ~$ڳmLp/Q:2 _(C(s/u @Y*q*a#B kt̾kz.§CK] &~ǀR:0F*(1YT<̓'8+:FHCwqUTނ?Q)`Op:+>4Ǥ:U`>liY^]Yc[*|t5Gs戕%A>IRk! X ZdXKh^0vqbMѽ #ۏ(gE.yk`S<b$2HN+[LiWڎe 1DRMF\edZ#>PuriP3' ًT Ky 7zRH0LwE #NLH6.B={S#)ǒy V%p̃C!3rۄTDY PcOn `4 KF땷c` Sg`RhŔT]dQaՄy8M:ܹUbcTnO?7iO3dWŧ)ZqäH37/w+XI#<4+RY&9 UCf)xÊ<\Pu^eŚwUU}* 4ǝLe %`5UٲnOkmƷƳ՝~8ޯ.kn2nVXqꩧ@h/I}W)K o端sWl-кP=5#ƚ`囫MU)H}W\B|e~3q 4]VorG+1 ɪyX .X屗oUT(f1sn˙݊Kw܍r\(F;8JM%6"cʾ(UYkn0=$yhmqֻl}OHԦ8$Q33r vK`Qkcy \1 U/mX;XFf߾o_ndｑo NLMX@b<;bE[0p1s afgkk@ju@?\rCp4YT$5Mlp"`cKQ8D⛥s33RaKc7V+hQ CYMȼAOꕇp VEjgdk1w}:|޼:E̺Eފ&kbk>j@`k }roՆv, ;’5D J3;ȵ)$\dc}`Q 5s!;rkL{l*{nִFq=6WNB p}oКKCG$Nav> +ef`[WvPKꗅQ N]"U-$22%iU6^jIۗ.Nץݳ/U5_ )x$N\2ã619qZh }2e .ޮKxTzp\W|aeOcFFI[)r:IIg|c/hn=0č='U~{B z)0Bw!m3[z5kIV< |^aGxd7y^ek*zO_dջ@cOO c*бso=:PGe{}%VZmxa,$  mMrX*NdJT9:9cJOO;*QTtG Xj Ov^5ϜEi**R2GɕM%оWer +W}*NfEJ?S=bt49_l?a6kXI% r!^dKzbW^Q䠚Cj[󱾙]lGovpLxXXoc;DZK$l0RzvnҰZ^\<..kgQ`9kpopd0X ʵCj̑yIaڛ}Ak^/zR/t8Q -Ôj7Wݳ7Z΁ B5=r}mMɊ\sg>,F8ӗw[a^{CM[)<%/^9IKѮ_,UhN Mxp7T[ ?2QE2O3#\R90H|GUت36WIy8)YV3oj3 ̧GUUcoﮁ=ک:1I`YUvHϴf<;46xґ杸S\^aGE2xM^iȵ[+ ~ T~}swWzVtKd:j^j zyUAGSsaSp~T(j\dԬʈG/y*gsQlvBҏ7WY`utuZϠ>,m۩˼M?W0XձM}Lc;RM}T㞚tj {5J-Oc%ü GmHEz  k]v+sEVՖYQehzG6 f@]0j9iyw]ŒV Z{]QXl.5 52Q}jL ˠ# e!\ /QU"%5=ݝP(}(NE&1{*\^Z˭XOuQIHHɥMV-DSe˙_U㜿MۚӂD5y=iA;ep3p#+=~X *m*4Z{Q?A C3z T*՝jUr'^WpӔzb)C\qUXV Wr 1?/ !_OP{H9g>5 Bق$ ,ng*]eCiaq?yz Z=K#εR~w2x5{ڟ]8]Jlu`ŧfQ,жSSX(XX-կ1)e>fb]g4JQWƶ@&6r#8xYk)]MX{LEqPc
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1