I thought about the “likeability” issue a lot as I read Ann Patchett’s 1992 debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars. Rose - the book’s first POV character and the person whose actions drive the novel - is one of the more unlikeable protagonists I’ve encountered in my recent reading. I don’t have to want them as friends, but I do have to find them interesting and care about their fates in order to truly love a book. My own take on this is twofold: first, somehow likeability seems to matter a lot more when we talk about female authors and characters (shocker), but second, it does make a difference to me as a reader if I enjoy spending time with the characters in a book. There’s been some chatter in the book-reading world lately about whether characters’ “likeability” should matter to readers and critics.
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