Saints for All Occasions

Saints for All Occasions is an Irish historical novel by J. Courtney Sullivan. First published in 2017, the book follows what happens when two sisters start a new life in the USA and nothing goes as planned. The book received a generally positive reception upon publication, and critics note how well it explores family secrets and their consequences. Sullivan is a bestselling author who typically writes female-centered novels about family, friendships, and internal change. When she’s not writing novels, Sullivan contributes to leading publications including Elle, Glamour, Allure, and the New York Observer. She also co-edited Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists.

The protagonists are Nora and Theresa Flynn. When the novel opens, Nora is 21, and Theresa is 17. They are very close, although their personalities couldn’t be more different. While Nora is serious and reserved, Theresa is outgoing and extroverted. All Nora wants is to live a quiet life without any trouble. She takes her role as the older sister seriously. Theresa, on the other hand, lives life on the edge and takes too many risks.

After introducing the characters, the story jumps forward in time 50 years. The sisters no longer speak. Nora leads the sprawling and successful Flynn family. She’s content and couldn’t wish for a better life. She doesn’t tell her own children about Theresa or her past life. Meanwhile, Theresa is a cloistered nun. She despises her life and how cut off she is from everything.



One day, word reaches Theresa that a boy called Patrick is dead. The other nuns think that Patrick is Theresa’s nephew. What they don’t know is that Patrick is her biological son. Nora raised him as her own. At the funeral, Theresa introduces herself, and the whole Flynn family changes forever. Despite Nora’s protests, her four children set out to discover what else they don’t know about the family.

Returning to the past, the narrative reveals how the sisters end up in America. Nora plans on marrying a boy called Charlie. Charlie lived on the farm next to Nora until he moved to New York City. He plans on making his fortune over there. He asks Nora and Theresa to join him in the States, and although Nora doesn’t love Charlie the way she should, she knows he can offer her financial security. She agrees to go.

Theresa willingly agrees to the move because she’s looking for new adventures. She knows that, in New York, she’ll meet many eligible bachelors. She spends all the money she has on fancy dresses so she can attend glamorous parties. Nora doesn’t chastise Theresa because at least one of them is happy. Nora, unfortunately, can’t bring herself to love Charlie, no matter how hard she tries, and she doesn’t know how she’ll marry him.



One day, Theresa gets into trouble. She tells Nora that she’s pregnant and she doesn’t know who the father is. Nora, as the older sister, feels responsible for Theresa and what happens to the unborn baby. She pleads with Theresa to give the baby up for adoption, but when that isn’t an option, she says that she’ll look after the baby if Theresa gives up custody.

The baby, Patrick, is born. Nora tells Charlie that she’ll marry him if he promises to raise the child with her. He agrees, and so Theresa doesn’t feel like she has any choice but to hand the baby over. While Nora and Charlie raise her son, Theresa feels left on the sidelines. She hates knowing that Patrick won’t ever know the truth about her.

Eventually, Theresa runs away. She plans on earning enough money to come back and take Patrick with her. The problem is that she can’t get a job. She gives up trying to get Patrick back and she joins a convent. She doesn’t want to see Patrick again because it will only break her heart. She secretly hates Nora for making her give Patrick up, even though she knows that he’ll have a good life with her.



When Nora later has three more children, she doesn’t tell Patrick that he isn’t their biological sibling. Patrick is a problem child who always gets into trouble, and he’s nothing like the other siblings. For a long time, Nora regrets taking him in. Things only get worse when she finds out that he spat at a priest and brawled with local boys outside school.

The siblings eventually get older and go their separate ways. Despite his troubled youth, Patrick runs a successful bar in New York now. One day, he drinks on the job and dies in a car crash. Nora knows that she should tell Theresa, but she can’t bring herself to visit the nunnery.

Finally, Nora calls Theresa and tells her about Patrick’s death. Nora expects Theresa to bawl and cry on the phone. Instead, she is very calm and later calls back to say she’s coming to the funeral. Now that the children know the truth about their family, Nora decides that it’s only right to make amends with Theresa. She begs Theresa for forgiveness, because she never meant to make her so unhappy. It’s unclear if Theresa accepts the apology.