The major concerns of the novel are the lapses in intimacy, the lack of communication, and the casual adulteries which often contribute to the destruction of contemporary marriages. But The Patience of A Saint is also about falling in love again with one's spouse and the persistence of love despite the difficulties of marriage. Additionally, it is concerned with the notion that a successful career as well as a successful marriage demand hard work, and that both need renewal in order to avoid midlife crisis. Most of all, it is about the pursuing love of God.

The central character of the novel, Peter Redmond Kane, is a two-time Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who presently finds that he can earn a living rapping out his own daily column with very little time and even less effort. To fill the void in his work, Red smokes too much, drinks...