Good to a Fault

By Marina Endicott

In a novel reminiscent of the work of Penelope Lively, Anne Tyler, and Alice Munro, acclaimed author Marina Endicott gives us one of the most profound and most memorable reads of the year.

Absorbed in her own failings, Clara Purdy crashes her life into a sharp left turn, taking the young family in the other car along with her. When bruises on the mother, Lorraine, prove to be late-stage cancer, Clara - against all habit and comfort - moves the three children and their terrible grandmother into her own house.

We know what is good, but we don't do it. In Good to a Fault, Clara decides to give it a try, and then has to cope with the consequences: exhaustion, fury, hilarity, and unexpected love. But she must question her own motives. Is she acting out of true goodness, or out of guilt? Most shamefully, has she taken over simply because she wants the baby for her own?

What do we owe in this life, and what do we deserve? This compassionate, funny, and fiercely intelligent novel looks at life and death through grocery-store reading glasses: being good, being at fault, and finding some balance on the precipice.

'Good to a Fault is a wise and searching novel about the fine line between being useful and being used.' - Elizabeth Hay

'Not even the best detective novels can claim the steady, inexorable suspense that Endicott brings to this story. Emotional stakes have never been higher.' - Lynn Coady

'Fierce and wise - a compelling read.' - Annabel Lyon

PRAISE FOR MARINA ENDICOTT

'Endicott's writing is clear as fast-running water and hard as gemstones. She writes with wisdom, grace and conviction. Open Arms demonstrates a lucid, hard-won faith in the ability of people to find love and hold on tight. It's hard to imagine wishing for anything more.' - The Vancouver Sun

'(Endicott's) novel offers lucid, unembellished prose that hides convolutions of deeper meaning. Six girls and women are the linked heroines of this deceptively episodic tale - deceptive because events scattered over thousands of miles and several decades are finally fused into a striking emotional whole, a continuum of fractured, rarely spoken, but persistent and mysterious love.' - The Globe and Mail

• Language: English
• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Release date: Oct 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781741768862

Reviews for Good to a Fault

[neil_luvs_books · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent book. A lovely consideration of what it means to je good and why we might try to je good and the heartbreak that comes with unrequited goodness. Highly recommended.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Clara Purdy is a forty-something single woman with a dead-end job, living in the home she'd shared with her now-deceased parents. She yearns to do good and to connect with people. After hitting the car of a family who is living in it, she is overcome by guilt. When it is disccoverd that the mother has cancer, she takes the three children, father and grandmother into her home. Predictably, she falls in love with the kids and finds it hard to return them to their mother.The story has been described as a re-telling of the story of the Good Samaritan, and as an exploration of the concept of being good. Perhaps, but I found the plot a little unbelievable, and the characters (except for Clara and the eldest child, 10 year old Dolly) a bit stereotyped. Everyone is so understanding and helpful, except for the evil mother-in-law and the unreliable husband. These weaknesses distracted me from the bigger questions I'd been told would be provoked by the text.That being said, this is an enjoyable read, despite not living up to the hype surrounding it.

[julie10reads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found Good to a Fault absorbing, real people with real lives. People you like, people you don't like living their lives and nobody's bad or good, just who they are. If I compare Marina Endicott to Barbara Pym I am afraid it will give the wrong impression. Pym's world was a microscopically small Anglican place peopled with "good" spinsters and absent-minded priests dancing their roles in a comedy of 1950s English manners. Like Jane Austen, Pym dealt with social and moral issues that remain meaningful to us in the 21st century. Marina Endicott's characters don't dance however; they stumble along, lovably, truthfully, resentfully, meanly.....in every way.You can't really quote from this book, I find. It would be like pulling a thread from a tapestry and expecting you to be able to grasp the beauty of the whole piece. But here is an exchange between the women who are the two main characters:"Lorraine said, Here's the difference between us: you got taken to the dentist more, and your mother filled your head with stuck-up shit about how great you are, and you got to live in the same house all your life. That's most of it. You went to school longer, and you worked in a clean office instead of cleaning the office. You have a better-looking face and better-looking clothes, and that gives you some feeling that you're better than me."From the comments I've read on the web, not too many people want to read about a middle-aged single white woman finding meaning in trying to fix the lives of an itinerant family. Endicott described her book as "a domestic comedy wrapped around a sorrowful meditation on God and death. So watch out."

[kikoa_8 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I am having a hard time getting through mediocre reads, after reading really good novels. To me this is just a pass the time book. So to be honest I just skimmed it. Not my favorite.

[scrabblenut · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Clara accidentally hits the car of a family that is living in their car and is overcome by guilt, and decides on the spur of the moment to help them out when she learns the mother has lymphoma and the three young children need someone to care for them since their father and grandmother are not very competent. She takes them into her home and falls in love with the children while coping with all kinds of very human problems and frailities. All the characters ring true and are utterly fascinating, even if the story is a little unbelievable. I loved it.

[seekingflight · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Thematically interesting novel about a woman who seems ordinary enough, and yet acts with an apparent 'goodness' that seems extraordinary. The novel raises questions about what it means to be 'good', and whether this can ever really be separated from selfishness and self-interest, and shows quite powerfully some of the uglier thoughts that can be hidden behind supposedly 'noble' acts. I found this part of the story quite thought-provoking, confronting and worthwhile. Overall, however, I was bored by the story - which focused too much (for my liking) on the trivial day to day interactions of the characters. This would in some ways make a great companion to Nick Hornby's How to Be Good, which deals with similar themes, although I personally found the Hornby book to be more my cup of tea.

[cecilturtle · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this novel, Endicott recreates an improbable but heart-warming tale of generosity, family and community. While the circumstances, actions and developments are perhaps too optimistic for this age of cynicism, Endicott does not try to simplify or negate complex emotions - which is why the novel works and the reader becomes entangled in this story of relationships. I liked that each character was given a clear and unique voice, that each had their own agenda, perspectives and opinions, children included. The ending, while it could have been syrupy and unbelievable, is actually quite charming without being simplistic. All in all, a lovely uplifting story which restores faith in human nature.

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars When Clara's car crashes into a family, there are only minor injuries, but once at the hospital, the mother, Lorraine, is found to have cancer. The family was living out of their car as they were moving from Winnipeg to Fort McMurray, Alberta so the father, Clayton, can find work. With Lorraine now in the hospital in Saskatoon, they have no place to stay. Clara feels so badly that she takes in the entire family (Clayton, 3 kids (Dolly, Trevor and baby Pearce), and Clayton's mother). Clara also visits Lorraine at the hospital, as Clayton disappears shortly thereafter. I quite liked this. I kept waffling between 3.5 stars (good) and 4 stars, but went with the lower of the two as it didn't quite hit 4 stars overall for me. It's an unusual situation, but I was certainly wondering what would happen in the end... would Lorraine get better? If she does - or doesn't - what happens later, as Clara grows more and more fond of the children? And what about Clayton? I'm glad I finally read the book and I already have another book by the same author I'm planning to read (though it's historical fiction rather than contemporary).

[shelleyraec · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Clara Purdy is involved in a minor car accident, is it a mix of misplaced guilt and personal dissatisfaction, or simply an altruistic wish to help someone less fortunate, that prompts her to take in and care for the homeless Gage family? Good To A Fault is a thought provoking novel that examines some intriguing moral and social questions.After years of dutifully caring for her parents, 43 year old Clara discovers that she is dissatisfied with the emptiness of her life but is at a loss to know how to change it. The collision prompts her to open her heart and her home to the homeless Gage family but the situation grows more complex when Lorraine is diagnosed with late stage Lymphoma. What was a temporary impulse to help the family get back on it's feet becomes a daunting responsibility when Lorraine must remain in hospital for treatment and her husband Clayton abandons his family to Clara's care. Clara finds she is unable to, nor wants to, leave the fate of the family to social services and so chooses to keep the three children, Dolly, Trevor and Pearce and their grandmother, Mrs Pell with her. While Clara fleetingly regrets her impetuous decision she finds that she enjoys caring for the children, and with their father gone, their grandmother indifferent and Lorraine desperately ill, Clara begins to fantasise about keeping them to raise as her own. Endicott so deftly explores the blurring of the line between altruism and egotism, when the desire to help someone else becomes a means to satisfy your own needs is it still the right thing to do? As the reader you can not help but consider what choices you would make in the same situations. I like to think I would do everything possible but I think if tested, uncomfortably, my generosity would have limits.Good at Fault is not only a thematically rich novel but is also populated with interesting, authentic characters who evoke compassion, distaste, love and resentment.One of the biggest struggles for me was the inherent conflict between Lorraine and Clara. Lorraine is desperately ill, she has no resources to help herself or her family, yet she is nothing if not practical and so she is willing to take Clary's offer of help. It's not so much a matter of taking advantage but more taking what is available and making the most of the opportunity to ensure her children are cared for. I sympathise with her motives, I can not imagine being so isolated at a time when need was greatest, still as Clary's attachment to the children grows I, like Clary, begin to resent Lorraine's claim. After all Clary offered the children opportunities and a level of care Lorraine can't but, and it is a huge but, Lorraine is their mother and she does love her children, she just simply can't shower them with the trappings that a middle class mentality consider to be indicators of good parenting. This thread really challenged my thinking and honestly, I felt ashamed that even if for only a moment, I felt Clary deserved the children more than Lorraine.Good At Fault engages the reader in both an internal and social debate about a wide range of issues and I think it would be an ideal read for a book club. While I felt it dragged a little in places, it provokes thought and emotion and I found myself ruminating on it long after I had put it down. A compelling read, Good At Fault is a wonderful novel.

[lexport · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author writes from the perspective of several characters and convincingly portrays the voices of women of all ages, a difficult feat to achieve. The story is a bit slow at times but mundane, daily activities are effectively used to illustrate the characters' motivations which creates a deeper understanding of these people.The events in this book raise many interesting questions relating to right behaviour. I'm glad to have read this book but it is not my first choice in the Canada Reads selections for 2010.

[gypsysmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I finally read this book and just in time because it has been chosen as one of the Canada Reads books for 2010. It will be defended by Simi Sara who I am not familiar with but she's been in radio and TV for 20 years so she should do a good job.I really liked this book but I'm not sure it will win the contest. It is up against Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald which I read years ago and thought was a great book. More recently I read Nikolski which may be quirky enough to take the title as well (thinking back to 2008 when King Leary by Paul Quarrington won.Clara Purdy was living a quiet life in Saskatoon, working in an insurance office and living by herself in the home she grew up in. Then she ran her car into a Dodge Dart owned by a family that was moving to Fort MacMurray. They had been living in the car for a while as they had very little money. The family consisted of father (Clayton), mother (Lorraine), Clayton's mother Mrs.Pell, children Darlene, Trevor and Pearce. No one was badly hurt in the accident but while at the hospital it was noticed that Lorraine had some peculiar bruises, not caused by the crash. After some tests she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma which would require extensive treatment. Clara decided to open her house to the family so they would have a place to stay while Lorraine was receiving treatment. Little did she know what she was getting herself in for. After one night Clayton disappeared in Clara's mother's car. Mrs. Pell can not be trusted to look after the children while Clara goes out to visit Lorraine. It becomes clear to Clara that she has to take a leave of absence from work. Fortunately Clara (who is soon called Clary by the children and everyone else) has some assistance from her next door neighbour, Mrs. Zenko (everyone should have a next door neighbour like her) and her cousins who live just outside of Saskatoon. Clayton manages to get in touch with Lorraine's brother, Darwin, (by using Clara's phone calling card) and he comes to stay in Lorraine's room at night which removes some burden from Clara. And then there is the Anglican priest at Clara's church, Paul Tipett, who has personal problems of his own but manages to provide some support for Clara.I really loved how all the characters grew throughout the book. Darlene discovers the solace that books can give and what book lover could resist that even though Darlene is also a sneak and a thief. Clara is not just a person who helps others, she is also using them to enrich her own life. Even Mrs. Pell, a disgrace to grandmotherhood, has some emotional depth.I think this would be an excellent book for a book club. There is lots of room to discuss everyone's motives and the ending should provide lots of fodder for discussion too. I imagine one of the questions would be "What would you do in a situation like this?" I doubt if I, personally, would be able to step up like Clara did. I wouldn't want my comfortable life changed to the extent that hers was. I hope I would try to put the family in touch with agencies that could help them and I would check on them from time to time but I wouldn't take them into my home. But then I wouldn't have the kind of enriching experience that Clara had.

[janismack · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked this book. I enjoyed the author's writing style and just the idea of someone giving up their life to take in a whole other family. The main character was different, I had a hard time imagining her and understanding why she would do what she did. i would have preferred a more settled ending.

[macfly_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marina Endicott’s Good to a Fault was on the Giller prize shortlist for 2008. This book deserved that placement. The story explores the concept of good as the main character, Clara, cares for three children of a woman who is stricken with cancer. Clara comes to care about the children immensely and, in her heart, wants to keep them because she feels she can best care for them. This book kept me interested throughout and had an ending that was satisfying but not predictable.

[scrat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this novel!After having been involved in a car accident, Clara, the protagonist, decides to look after the family of a woman who has been diagnosed with cancer. Unaccustomed to a house full of children, one of whom is an infant, Clara finds herself exhausted, unemployed, and questioning her own motivations. The characters are exceptionally realistically brought to life, the plot, intricately woven, the sentences infused with images which seemingly occur naturally and do not interrupt the flow of the writing. It was so good, I was truly sad to reach the last word.

[jovilla_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Clara Purdy is a single woman in her forties who is involved in a car accident at the very beginning of the book, spinning her life out of control and in a totally new direction. Who is at fault in the accident is questionable but Clara takes it upon herself to take full care of the family in the car she hit. The mother of the family is very I'll, not from the accident but from previously undisguised cancer. The father of the family is angry and irresponsible and quickly runs away. Clara finds herself in a new life of caring for three small children, sacrificing her job and her quiet life for all these new people. Life in her community in a Canadian town and all it's characters become part of the story. I loved it!

[spudd_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's great to read Canadian literature from time to time. It's not every day authors refer to "RRSPs" and other Canadian-isms. This is a compelling story. I won't mention the plot here so as not to spoil it. :)

[karenajeff · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. It didn't go far on Canada Reads but I thought it was a good read. I empathized completely with the main character and felt that I would act in much the same way as she did in that situation.

[icolford · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Marina Endicott's novel Good to a Fault is one of those rare pieces of fiction that makes compelling drama out of the stuff of everyday life while avoiding sentimentality and remaining true to its author's literary ambitions. Forty something Clara Purdy's uneventful and unfulfilling life is thrown into disarray in the wake of a car accident, but not in the way we expect. Clara, alone in her car, is shaken up but not hurt, and neither are the six members of the Gage family, who occupy the other car. But Lorraine Gage, the young mother of Dolly, Trevor and Pearce, and wife of Clayton, is diagnosed with advanced lymphoma after being examined at the hospital. Clara, a claims adjuster who knows a thing or two about liability--long divorced and living by herself in her parents' house after the recent death of her mother--and motivated by a potent mix of guilt and loneliness, invites the itinerant Gage family to temporarily share her home. Soon after this Clayton takes off, who knows where, and Clara is left with the children and selfish, contrary Mrs. Pell, Clayton's mother. What ensues is not high drama but an awakening of sorts. Clara has no choice but to rouse herself from her middle-age stupor and forge emotional connections when Lorraine's recovery takes the better part of a year and she is the sole provider for three children. Along the way various others barge into Clara's life, and after discovering the joy and heartbreak of depending on and providing for other people, once the children are gone Clara finds herself unable to return to the tentative aloofness and crushing solitude of her old life. This is an unpretentious novel that shows us what it is like to place oneself at risk emotionally, to be vulnerable and to live in the world. Endicott's characters experience joy and sorrow and disappointment, they argue and make up, they connect and drift apart. This is real life, masterfully rendered. Essential reading.

[danivg_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had never heard of Marina Endicott or her novel, Good to A Fault until it was chosen for Canada Reads 2010. I am so glad it was selected or I might never have read this book and I loved it.The storyline kept me turning the pages and it's themes were very thought provoking. I felt for each of the characters although they were almost a little too heartbreaking to be real. I thought they were too forgiving of each other and pretty passive about their situations.I adore Endicott's writing style. She often uses words in an unexpected way to describe a feeling or a moment with very powerful results. I found myself rereading sentences and marvelling at her ability to conjure such a vivid picture with language.

[robindawson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book starts with quite a bang - in more ways than one. It's a great start, but then it starts to sag a bit as it goes on. I think it's quite hard to write a story about goodness that's interesting (evil is much more dramatic) - and it's also hard to make the daily round of domestic duties interesting. So Endicott gave herself quite a challenge, but I think she's done a reasonable job with tough material.