Rating: 
Summary: medication is the answer
Review: **Spoilers in here, so don't read this review if you don't want to know what happens.
I enjoyed the book and was anticipating an ending that would leave me pensive for a few days - it seemed it could be heading that way. Instead, Chester gets medication that cures the reasons for his homelessness, Francesca gets medication that results in her realizing she's not the Virgin after all, and the kid who was denied medication ends up dying. The message I got from the book is that medication is very good.
So, I was a bit disappointed by the time I got to the end. For a book that was otherwise an enjoyable read and which had potential to step around the usual notions of holy figures and spirituality, it seemed a bit of a cop-out to tie up all the loose ends so neatly.
Rating: 
Summary: Have to watch each chapter to see WHO is narrating.
Review: Francesca Dunn is a rather ordinary girl, albeit naive. Though she is good and kind, going out of her way to be helpful and not looking down of those society scorns, she is just a teen age girl. Nonetheless, there are some who see her as more.Most Christians look for the second coming of our Lord, but in this book, it's His mother that some seem to think has come once again. Francesca is dubbed the Virgin (she is one), by a crowd of homeless people, and is appears to have a healing touch. She even believes that she might be pregnant, despite having no idea what sex is. Through the eyes of her mother, her boss, her best friend, and a homeless man, we see the effects of this belief on Francesca's life and the lives of those around her. The test of truth is one that will bring a tear to your eye. ** If you don't pay attention to the chapter titles, you might become confused as to who is narrating each section. This story is unusual, something like Agnes of God; Francesca's mother, Anne, does have a bit of a Jane Fonda air to her. The power of belief and the damage false beliefs, even the most seemingly harmless ones, is clearly shown in this modern parable. ** Amanda Killgore
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous first novel
Review: I could not put this book down. It is the first novel from a new and exciting author. Her insights into the essence of the mind a teenage girl and the mania that is caused when her life is turned upside down by the assertion that she is a miraculous reembodiment of the virgin Mary are intriguing. At once one feels the out-of-control external aspects of Francesca's situation and the interior issues of identity that we all feel as humans - particularly teenage humans. I strongly recommend this book to young and old and look forward to more from this new writer.
Rating:
Summary: Beginnina was Great, ending, Not so great!
Review: I was really looking forward to reading this book. It was recomended in Newsweek Magazine I think or maybe Time. Anyways I read it in two days. I loved the beginning of the book and even in the middle I was thinking "this book is great" but I will say this..I was very dissapointed with the ending. I guess I was waiting for something to happen OR I was waiting for the author to elaborate on Francesca's "mental illness" a little more or SOMETHING! I felt like I was reading and reading and awaiting something wonderfull and I felt totally let down by the ending. I did enjoy how the story was told by diff people. I would have liked to know more about Chester and Francesca. I thought we learned too much about Anne and Sid and they were not REALLY the main characters of the book. I have to say I was dissapointed when I finally put the book down!
Rating:
Summary: A great, solid novel with engaging characters
Review: I'm a literature student and read so much for school that I can be picky when it comes to books for enjoyment. I thought this was a great novel. The characters were engaging and the plot kept me reading. I just had to finish it in one sitting! I had no problems with the multiple narrators and it added much more depth to the book. The writing flowed and the story had great character development. I highly recommend and definitely plan on reading it again.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical, but way too shifty
Review: Janis Hallowell tries to hit a home run with Francesca Dunn but she might have been better trying get to base rather than hitting for the stands. Her words are certainly lyrical: "The World was waiting for snow just as it was waiting for salvation. Trees stood naked and ready. Gardens were frozen black." But all the crafty streams of words in the world can't cover the confusion of perspective in this story. This novel, which deals with a teenage girl suddenly being proclaimed - to her disbelief, at least at first - that she is some version of the Holy Virgin. Interesting plot, but the delivery is convoluted, being told alternately by four different voices. Here's a glimpse. The opening chapter is told by Chester (a homeless man whose descriptions rely heavily on scent) and the last chapter is from Francesca's perspective. Chester, Sid and Anne all tell the story from the first-person point of view while Francesca's chapters come from third-person. Even worse, Francesca's chapters are told in present tense and the other three are told in past tense. It's just enough confusion to annoy the reader and make the story drag. The novel might have been more appealing with one narrator, or at least all of them being in the same tense. I'm just happy Ms. Hallowell didn't have God speaking to us in the second person.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical, but way too shifty
Review: Janis Hallowell tries to hit a home run with Francesca Dunn but she might have been better trying get to base rather than hitting for the stands. Her words are certainly lyrical: "The World was waiting for snow just as it was waiting for salvation. Trees stood naked and ready. Gardens were frozen black." But all the crafty streams of words in the world can't cover the confusion of perspective in this story. This novel, which deals with a teenage girl suddenly being proclaimed - to her disbelief, at least at first - that she is some version of the Holy Virgin. Interesting plot, but the delivery is convoluted, being told alternately by four different voices. Here's a glimpse. The opening chapter is told by Chester (a homeless man whose descriptions rely heavily on scent) and the last chapter is from Francesca's perspective. Chester, Sid and Anne all tell the story from the first-person point of view while Francesca's chapters come from third-person. Even worse, Francesca's chapters are told in present tense and the other three are told in past tense. It's just enough confusion to annoy the reader and make the story drag. The novel might have been more appealing with one narrator, or at least all of them being in the same tense. I'm just happy Ms. Hallowell didn't have God speaking to us in the second person.
Rating:
Summary: Nice read, interesting first novel
Review: Not the most remarkable book I've read recently, but an impressive debut novel with unusual characters and a theme (i.e., what is God? Is God mental illness?) that I found very appealing. Book seems to assert that what our society labels mental illness is what past societies would have labeled mysticism or sainthood. A nice light summer read that still makes you think.
Rating:
Summary: Keeps you interested throughout...
Review: Some say that this book is hard to read because of the different characters telling the story, however, there are only four narrators telling the story which I thought made the book more interesting to read. The Annunciation of Francescia Dunn tells the story of a 14 yr old who suddenly finds people are worshiping her. Throughout the book you feel for her, and you feel for her mother and the people around her. The book keeps you hoping that she really is the virgin mother, with each chapter you wait to see what new developments take place. Not until the very last chapter does the full picture come together.
Rating:
Summary: effortless, enjoyable, uplifting read
Review: The 5 stars probably shows my lack of literary sophistication, but I really liked the book. It was the first book that actually held my attention, not because of a burning mystery (which usually means I'm tempted to skip to the end) but because Ms. Hallowell wrote the recollections of the main characters (except Francesca's; hers was narrated) so rich, yet so uncontrived, that one really wants to spend time with each one and find out what makes each of them tick. The author wrote with such grace that I was completely immersed in the story (I didn't notice the difference in tenses, but I always viewed Francesca's chapters as the 'trunk' on which the other characters' recollections hung, and not narrated by Francesca herself but by the author). I hate loose ends (which is why it took me a while to pick up another book after reading Dan Brown's _The_da_Vinci_Code_) but Hallowell tied up just enough loose ends to not make me feel cheated after the book ended, but not too much so as to make the ending too neat and fabricated. My favorite chapters are Chester's recollections, because it showed the author's discipline: Chester is the onion with the most layers, and it must've taken a lot of literary self-control to save some of the best revelations for the last layers. The female-narrated parts of the book resonated with the female in me as well (Anne's motherhood and her recollections of the young Francesca and Sid's jealousy of a more fortunate friend). My husband says the Barbara Kingsolver's _The_Poisonwood_Bible_ is written in a similar fashion (alternating recollections and narrations) so I'll probably tackle that book next. In the meantime, though, I think I'll just enjoy the lightness of being I got from reading _Annunciation_. Oh, (this is an aside) though Renaissance genius Leonardo's last name is common knowledge, and Michelangelo's (Buonarotti) is something I learned from reading _The_Agony_and_the_Ecstasy_, Raphael's (Sanzio) is something I learned from this book. Now, I just need to find out what Donatello's last name is, and my TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) mission will be complete. :)
| 
