A Peculiar Grace — Jeffrey Lent

The acclaimed author's “transcendent story about the healing power of love and art” set in the New England woods -- “magisterial and . . . beautifully written” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
 
Hewitt Pearce lives alone in his Vermont family home, producing custom ironwork and safeguarding a small collection of art his late father left behind. When Jessica, a troubled young vagabond, washes up in his backwoods one morning, Hewitt's hermetic existence is challenged. As he gradually uncovers Jessica's secrets and reestablishes contact with Emily, a woman he thought he had lost twenty years before, Hewitt must confront his own dark history and rediscover how much he craves human connection.
 
Rendered in prose that is “lustrous -- rich in supple dialogue and finely patterned imagery,” A Peculiar Grace is a remarkable achievement by one of our finest authors, an insightful portrait of family secrets, and a rich tapestry filled with characters who have learned to survive by giving shape to their losses (Booklist).
 
“Echoing the rhapsodic specificity and gravitas of Steinbeck and Kent Haruf, Lent has constructed a resolute tale of paradise lost and found.” -- Booklist, starred review
 
“Jeffrey Lent has quietly created some of the finest novels of our new century.” -- Ron Rash
 
“Jeffrey Lent builds characters and their world like a painter layering his canvas, telling his story but substantiating it with color and light.” -- Tim Pears
 
“Sentence by sentence rural New England comes alive, and Lent's language draws you in like a clear stream in summer.” -- Tim Gautreaux