The novel Saint Maybe by Anne Tyler is a beautifully thought-out book that follows the complicated life of seventeen-year-old Ian Bedloe as he seeks forgiveness from his sins both with himself and with God. Ian blamed himself for causing the suicide of his older brother Danny and his guilt slowly ate away at him until he was dragged into the Church of the Second Chance. At that time, Ian was in college and Danny's daughter and stepchildren were orphaned and cared for by his elderly parents. So Reverend Emmett, the pastor of Ian's new church, decided that the only way Ian could gain forgiveness from God and himself was to leave college and volunteer all his time to raise Danny's children. The plot spans a period of approximately 25 years, during which Ian and the three children slowly mature and become highly developed and complex characters. The story takes place in the city of Baltimore between 1965 and 1990. Anne Tyler tells a very believable tale, using a writing style that easily reminds the reader how life goes by quickly. The novel begins with Ian Bedloe, seventeen years old, young and handsome, and without a care in the world. He's still dating his high school sweetheart and planning to get married right after they both finish school and his whole family seems to be the exact representation of the American dream. Unfortunately, all this changes dramatically when Ian's older brother brings home a mysterious beauty, announcing that after only two weeks of knowing Lucy, he plans to marry her immediately. At first, Ian didn't seem to care and he barely seemed to pay attention to his two children from his previous marriage. However, Ian begins to notice that Lucy is behaving suspiciously, e.g. ... middle of paper ...... Perhaps this is an extraordinary novel. For middle-aged men and women, the setting of the story would bring back memories of their childhood and provoke feelings of nostalgia, showing that life passes almost too quickly. Honestly, any reader between the ages of 16 and 80 would be able to read this book. The vocabulary is simple, the diction is precise and the structure of the book, for the most part, ensures the flow of the book. The characters have a timeless quality, which allows everyone to identify with at least one or two of them, and every aspect of the book is so realistic that I could have been convinced the story was based on real events. This book was beautifully written and so if it wasn't out of print and incredibly hard to obtain, I would recommend it to anyone who needs a gripping book to read. Works Cited Saint Perhaps by Anne Tyler