Saint Mazie By Jami Attenberg Narrated By Tavia GilbertNa

Saint Mazie
By Jami Attenberg Narrated By Tavia Gilbert

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Narrator Tavia Gilbert

The performance that Tavia Gilbert does for Saint Mazie is magnificent. Each person is unique and Ms. Gilbert brings out the smallest behaviorism, every subtlety is addressed, and all is blended to express the very best of each personality. The young Jeannie, who wants to dance, dance, dance, is perfectly captured by Ms. Gilbert, and when as grown woman Jeannie returns, Tavia Gilbert takes her voice to a new level that brings out the still youthful inner Jeannie, melded with the mature Jeanie, giving a new dimension to her that is charming and lovable. It is uncanny the way Ms. Gilbert brings characters to life.

Book Review: Saint Mazie By Jami Attenberg 

Author Jami Attenberg

Saint Mazie, is written in a diary form, some entries are very short, just a line or two. Others are long,  giving more details about the different people in Mazie's life. I am not usually fond of books written in this format,  but Tavia Gilbert with her magical voice paints a good story that otherwise might have turned stale. Mazie in my humble opinion was not all that remarkable or interesting. She lacked character and backbone, and was more apt to let people and events create her life for her. She would say one thing and do another. Mazie was one very mixed up girl.

The first half of the book covers Mazie and her lover, Mazie and her sisters, Mazie and her friends. Mazie and her strange loyalty to so many wrong things. Even the last part of the book that covers Mazie's taking care of the street people is sketchy at best and focuses on just a couple men and not in that much depth either. It never occurs to Mazie that many people are taking advantage of her. I couldn't see Mazie as a Saint maybe people around her called her that and thought of her in that particular way, but it's more likely she was a Saint to them because Mazie did not know how to say no, gave anyone anything they asked for even her body and soul.




I found Saint Mazie slow and a little frustrating with incomplete sketches of events or people with the important ingredients missing. I never was sure if she loved her boyfriend or if he was just an exciting lay, that breezed in and out of her life. She did not want children, but when she lost her baby she was sad and upset. But not devastated after all she intended to give the child to Rosie, who couldn't have children. Probably was  a good thing she miscarried as neither she nor Rosie would have been good mothers. To wait years and years before telling her boyfriend about the baby was just wrong and selfish. I guess I did not like Mazie and finished the book because of Tavia Gilbert's, splendid narration and because the secondary characters were more interesting.