Preacher's Lake — Lisa Vice

Those lovelorn and weary travelers who find their way to the dead-end road otherwise known as Preacher's Lake, Maine, come expecting to take a break from their hectic, hard-to-make-sense of lives. Escape turns to discovery, then commitment as they find in this tiny coastal town all the meaning and miracles their lives were previously lacking. The large and lively cast of this comic, poignant novel include a Downeast version of St. Francis (Slim Riley, the immesely tall keeper of the local landfill), a distressed single mom, a burned-out local beauty, a mismatched lesbian couple, and a passionate, though unconventional young minister, among others. As the paths of these delightful characters cross and recross, the residents of Preacher's Lake knit themselves into a real community. Reminiscent of such recent treasures as Elizabeth McCracken's The Giant's House and Alice Hoffman's Illumination Night, Preacher's Lake is the story of unlikely love triumphing over all.