Since October is such an extraordinary month we had to pick an equally amazing book. And we did – “Ordinary Grace,” by William Kent Kruger.
“When my mother finally sang it was not just a hymn she offered, it was consummate comfort. She sang slowly and richly and delivered the heart of that great spiritual [‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot’] as if she was delivering heaven itself and her face was beautiful and full of peace. I shut my eyes and her voice reached out to wipe away my tears and enfold my heart . . . And when she finished the sound of the breeze through the doorway was like the sigh of angels well pleased.” Pure nirvana!
Death visited the small Minnesota town of New Bremen in many forms one summer and it shaped the lives of the protagonist, Frank and his entire family. This is Frank’s coming of age story and he tells it as an adult looking back forty years. The story is filtered now with his years of experience.
At the time of the story, Frank’s father was a local minister, his mother was the choir director, his sister had just been accepted to Julliard, and his younger brother, Jake, was his side-kick and suffered from a severe stutter. This ordinary summer started out with a tragedy for one family. That tragedy seemed to bring a string of bad karma for some other townspeople before landing at Frank’s family’s door.
The characters of this story, including Emil Brandt and his sister, Lise, vividly depict small-town America in the 1960’s including all the wonderful details of the era.
After tragedy strikes Frank’s family this story could have turned very melancholy. However, the story finds a surprising strength – it keeps its hope. In the end Frank and his family find a way to go on, to go forward. A good lesson for all of us.
We loved this book and highly recommend it to everyone. Book clubs can talk about marriage, parenting, and childhood. How our youthful experiences shape our adult live.
One of the things I really loved in this book is how richly flawed the parents are, especially the mother. But we are drawn to her. We know her dreams and her fears. We want her to find happiness. There are profound lessons in this novel for all of us.
There’s a very good pod cast with the author, William Kurt Kruger. I recommend that book clubs listen to it. We did and everyone enjoyed it.
Rating: 9.0
Before book club we signed our book Novel Women!
