They're not as 3-dimensional as they could be, perhaps, but her characters are delightful anyway. I'd invite them to my house. ( )

The characters immediately draw reader's attention; the plot not so much.
It's fairly improbable that a search for a possibly dead father holds up a man's entire life and career.

Story is also overburdened with secrets and predictable outcomes. ( )

I chose this book for its title --poetic and a line from the Louis Armstrong song "Wonderful World" but just as a cover is not a good reason to judge a book, same goes with a title. The story was a little pedestrian: 40-something Kit (short for Christopher) Noonan is mired in place, married to Sandra with school-age twins and not working, and not earning his keep at home either. He's a native art scholar who is ABD in his field, can't find a job, won't teach HS, and is truly probably depressed. Sandra believes this is because he doesn't know who his real father is, so off Kit goes on a quest to discover this knowledge. His mother, Daphne is still living, but steadfastly refuses to divulge the info and insists the man is dead anyway. Her tryst was part of the prologue and has alternating chapters throughout the book, so the reader is in the know long before Kit gets a clue. Next stop is his ex-stepfather, Jasper Noonan, who married Daphne when Kit was 9 and has been the only father he's known. They divorced when Kit was 18, so Kit has lost touch after college, etc. Jasper lives in the mountains of Vermont, and is the most likeable character in the whole book! He has always treated Kit well as a stepson, adopted him when he was younger and has honored Daphne's wish not to tell him his true parentage. Until now. He sees how the (lack of) knowledge has impacted Kit and gives him a lead to go on. Kit's father is dead, this is true, but when he tracks down the name, he is able to re-unite with a host of people who care about him and want to honor his true father's legacy. This whole second family section is very heartwarming and helps to get Kit back on track with his own family. A few more surprises occur before the end, but mostly it is a predictable story arch with a happy ending, ultimately. There are some great lines: "Saints are tyrants in the kingdom of virtue." but my biggest criticism is there is too much description from how the coffee percolates to how the tree branches bend in the snow, to how the musicians at camp tune their instruments etc. It becomes an impediment to the novel's momentum. ( )

Past actions, memories and secrets combine to create a haunting tapestry of relationships in Julia Glass’s And the Dark Sacred Night. The past might define or redefine the present. And the urge to face it might be born of bravery or cowardice. But perhaps the hardest thing is knowing when to hold on and when to let go.

A middle-aged man who never knew his father, but loved his stepfather, embarks on a journey to find his roots. A young girl enthralled by music takes her own journey to find someone who’ll really see her. And a mother combines deeply religious conviction with deeply human need. Relationships found at great cost are lost in the blink of an eye. But all these relationships live on—past influencing the present; choice influencing hope, as this novel so movingly portrays.

Of all the characters, my favorites are the stepfather, the lover who so kindly cares for the children, and the father I thought I would hate. But every reader will find their own, so many lives reflected in these pages. Rich and poor, bound and free, creative and analytical… all need relationships, imperfectly connected as they are. And truth and sharing just might be overrated.

And the Dark Sacred Night is musical, lyrical and beautifully told. A slow, absorbing read, I really enjoyed it.

Disclosure: I’d read the Three Junes, and thought these books are related, it really didn’t matter that I can’t remember a thing about it. ( )

I find Julia Glass to be an insightful observer of the sorts of lives I know a bit about from my own experience: white, middle class western families. In this book there's also quite a story of gay men, about whom I know much less. I will assume she's done a reasonable job of representing the gay male experience of that late 20th (including the AIDS crisis) and early 21st century. These days 'we' are all a little (or a lot) suspicious of writers who attempt to represent a life which is outside their person experience, and I am not sure how the LGBTIQ community would respond to these characters. Certainly the issue of sexual identity gets a solid workout in this novel and I was satisfied with the complexity with which Glass deals with it. I reckon many young people even now will spend some time being confused about their sexual identity, partly because of the expectations of people around them. This story shifts its focus as we go along, starting with Kit, his stepfather (Jasper), his wife and children, and then almost completely abandoning that aspect of the plot to focus on Kit's origins, the people associated with that time and then the sequellae. Actually, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second half, but I can see the necessity of the latter parts. Glass is making the point, I think, that the revelation of old family secrets won't be received equally well by everyone involved. And further, there are a lot more secrets kept than we might anticipate. It's not always easy to reveal aspects of your personal history to others, partly because that can mean coming to terms with your own past. As usual, I most enjoyed that parts and characters that I could most directly connect with, especially the almost retired, slightly disabled, old guy, Jasper. ( )