What do readers think of Wayward Saints by Suzzy Roche? Write your own review.

The story grabs the reader from the first page. Mary Saint, lead singer for the hardrock band, Sliced Ham - almost famous, and then Garbagio, bandmember and Mary's lover dies and it's over. The characters are unique, real, and marvelous. You laugh and cry with them. I'm not a hard rock fan but loved the words to "The Back of My Ass" and "Sewer Flower", and the reaction of Mary's mother to the concert is priceless. Watching Mary overcoming her past, reconnecting with her mother, and beginning a new life is a joy to read.

WOW! When I first started the book, I really didn't think I was going to like it. But once I got into it, I couldn't put it down till I was finished with it. Even though this was fiction, it definitely could have been real. To see what happens within a rock band, the ups and downs the good and bad. I loved it.

Mary Saint left Swallow NY to become a raunchy rock star but never really shook the pull of home. This was an entertaining book but some things I felt were never really explained. What really happened with Garbagio? What was the back story of Mr. De Sockie? The characters were engaging and I would like to know more about them. Maybe in the next book?

I have to admit that I never heard of the Roches. It is my feeling that a lot of the people in the traveling music business have demons in their past. The storyline about Mary Saint from Sliced Ham was sad. Her family troubles that caused her to leave home, plus her troubles along the way, and finally ending up back in her hometown after many years did make an interesting read.

I really enjoyed this book! The 2 main characters were very well developed in both the here and now and in the secrets they were keeping. Having a musician for a husband, I could really relate to Mary's character and I think she got the ups and downs of that life pretty accurately. I enjoyed the developing story lines between the 2 characters.

It seems, when I read other readers' reviews, that mine do not dissect the book the way some do. If it holds my interest and don't want to stop after the first three or four chapters, I will finish it. This is one of those books. I liked it. I would imagine quite a few reviewers might not. However, I loved Suzzy's word choices and enjoyed the story. It let me know that, in many ways, you really can go home again.

Story reminds me of some words in a Harry Chapin folksong "...I'm not going anywhere but somewhere is a better place to be...."

Lonely people can be found in all walks of life. Mary Saint became a lonely person because early in life her father abused her and her mother, who was also abused, could not or would not protect her. When she became a rock star she was an abrasive and cruel person until Anthony Celebrese became part of the band. They quickly became a couple until he died. She left the band and wandered aimlessly and eventually moved to San Francisco where she met a homeless man in church named Thaddeus . He became the person who brought her back to the "living."

From the first page to the last I was enthralled with this quirky fun read. There was some symbolism that was immediately obvious, aka the book's title, the main character's first and last name, Mary Saint, and some not as obvious, as the location Swallow, NY and how "swallow" is translated in the Bible. A rock group called Sliced Ham and a drummer named Garbagio (well OK, it isn't his real name) just add to the cleverness of the book. The author was part of a singing group with her sisters in the 1970's and draws on her expertise of the music business to make the story even more enjoyable. Comical and creative, I liked the book a lot.