The Ninth Hour

By Alice McDermott,

Book cover of The Ninth Hour

Book description

WINNER OF THE PRIX FEMINA ETRANGER 2018 SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 KIRKUS PRIZE ONE OF TIME MAGAZINE'S TOP TEN BOOKS OF 2017 ____________________ From the National Book Award-winning author comes a luminous, deeply humane novel about three generations of an Irish immigrant family in 1940s and 1950s Brooklyn - for…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Ninth Hour as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

McDermott writes about Irish-American people, and this novel is about nuns in Brooklyn who help out a young widow and her little daughter after the suicide of her husband.

I was a nun for eleven years, so loved the realistic portrayal of the nuns with all their human foibles and virtues! 

The young girl becomes the central character as she grows up helping the sisters in their work with the poor, even deciding she might like to be a nun herself until she has a disastrous encounter on a train. Beautifully written with humor and compassion. 

From Marian's list on Ireland and the Irish.

Want books like The Ninth Hour?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 85 books like The Ninth Hour.

Browse books like The Ninth Hour

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in suicide, New York State, and widows?

Suicide 197 books
New York State 554 books
Widows 85 books