Slacks for Ella Funt

Lovely. Ann Patchett somehow manages to write books that could easily be described as heartwarming, but don’t turn me off with sappiness. It helps that she writes beautifully. Her scenes of wintry Boston and the Doyles’ drafty old mansion really come alive. There are no villains in Patchett’s books—everyone is eventually revealed to be well intentioned in some way. Her characters do seem a bit unreal in their unwavering good intentions. but they also feel fully fleshed out, and their good intentions don’t always lead to good results.