| Title | : | Ordinary Grace |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1451645821 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781451645828 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 307 |
| Publication | : | First published March 26, 2013 |
| Awards | : | Barry Award Best Novel (2014), Anthony Award Best Novel (2014), Dilys Award (2014), Edgar Award Best Novel (2014), Left Coast Crime Award Best mystery set within the United States (The Squid) (2014), Goodreads Choice Award Mystery & Thriller (2013) |
New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson’s Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.
Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family— which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother— he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.
Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.
Ordinary Grace Reviews
-
I feel bad for the next book I plan to read, because Ordinary Grace is a very hard act to follow.
This book is very different from the author’s Cork O’Connor mystery series. Mr. Krueger wrote Ordinary Grace from his heart. He has said that writing it was easier than any other novel he has written before, and he feels it is the best piece of writing he has ever done. This is the fourth book in the last year and a half that made me cry, and the second that was written by William Kent Krueger. I wish I had the writing skills to do justice to its review.
This novel takes place during the summer of 1961 and is set in a small rural community in southern Minnesota. The narrator of Ordinary Grace is Frank Drum, who is 13 years old; he tells the story as an adult, 40 years later. The summer of 1961 was a tumultuous one, not only for Frank, his brother Jake, his sister Ariel, his minister father Nathan and frustrated mother Ruth, but for the whole community of New Bremen. Frank and 11-year-old Jake grew up quickly that summer. The events that occurred rocked the foundation of everything they believed in, including their faith, their values, the strength of their family, and the meaning of love. As Mr. Krueger puts it, the story is about “discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.”
Mr. Krueger’s story-telling ability and prose are strikingly unique. His writing imbues serenity, joy, and feelings of being home. It soothes me. It is very difficult for me to put this into words, but it’s the reason why he is by far my favorite author. You will have to experience this book (or any of his books) yourself to see what I mean.
I must comment on the time and setting of Ordinary Grace. I was 10 years old in 1961, so I grew up in this same era. The story brought so much back to me. The way my brother and I would spend the entire summer outside playing with friends or just enjoying each other’s company. There were no computers, iPads or cell phones to distract us from making the most of every moment with whomever we were with. We sat on our porches watching lightening bugs and listening to cicadas, stood in our dead-end street and talked to our neighbors who congregated there, explored the entire town as we rode our bikes everywhere. No ball field was ever empty. Our joys were simple. Childhood does not seem to be like that anymore. This makes me sad.
Ordinary Grace. To give away anything else about the plot would be unfair. I just want to say that the account of that fateful summer in New Bremen, the story of two young teenagers trying to make sense of their world where everything is crashing down at once, will stick with me for a very long time. If you are looking for a powerfully moving 5-star read this summer, find a copy of Ordinary Grace. You will not be disappointed. -
I adored this book. It stirred so many emotions within me, and for that I have to give it 5 stars. It is a wonderful coming-of-age story, complete with a small-town atmosphere and a mystery surrounding the quiet, unassuming community of New Bremen, Minnesota. We are told on the very first page that “It was a summer in which death, in visitation, assumed many forms.” But, this book is about much more than just the mystery; it is a story about friendship, brotherhood, family dynamics and bonds, death, faith, and “the awful grace of God”.
Thirteen year old Frank Drum, our narrator, bums around in the summer of 1961 with his younger brother, Jake. Running around the neighborhood and town without parental supervision, playing softball with big groups of friends, eating Sugar Pops, Franco-American spaghetti, and Jello-O salads, drinking root beer in frosty mugs, watching television, reading books and comics, laying awake at night in the stifling heat of a non-air-conditioned bedroom, and overhearing bits and pieces of conversation meant for adult ears only – all these things evoked my own memories of childhood summers where the days stretched long before you and the hours were filled with ideas of fun you devised on your own.
Frank relates this story forty years after the summer the events of this book occurred; so we learn his perspective as an adult looking back at his own reflections of his youth and his brief introduction to manhood once tragedy is thrust into the midst of his family. This family includes his quieter brother, Jake, who suffers from a stutter, his faith-filled, minister father, Nathan, his perhaps disillusioned mother, Ruth, who struggles with her own faith, and his destined for musical greatness sister, Ariel. One of my favorite characters, aside from Frank and Nathan, is the wonderfully-flawed Gus. A friend and keeper of Nathan’s old war secrets, Gus is the person everyone, especially Frank and Jake, can turn to for support and advice.
When dealing with loss, each person will experience a range of different emotions; anger, hope, despair, forgiveness, guilt, and faith are all explored by William Kent Krueger. He does this with such beautiful prose that all his words just resonated within me. Faith can be steadfast, it may be lost, and it may be re-gained. Tragedy can tear a family apart but the strength of love and family bonds can heal our wounds. “He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful graces of God.” I highly recommend this book; it will make you think about your own beliefs and even the power of your own “ordinary grace”. -
I was convinced to read this gentle coming-of-age story by an inundation of five-star reviews posted by wonderful Goodreads friends.
I would like the aforementioned friends to remain as such, so I'll get my main gripe out of the way and then move onto the good bits. : )
THE BAD BITS
Repetition of the word 'and':
>Thin and angry and blind and lost and shut up behind<
>trustworthy and loyal and thrifty and brave and clean and reverent<
>Forster's terns and black terns and great blue herons and egrets and bald eagles and warblers and other birds so ordinary and profuse<
Then there’s this little beauty:
>And I turned back and entered the shadow of the sanctuary still smiling and suffered the glaring condemnation of the congregation and sat through the long service in which Albert Griswold held forth in his impromptu and interminable sermon about the need to impress godly values on the youth of the day and when it was over I walked back to the house and found Jake upstairs in our room and I apologized.<
Holy bad editing, Batman! Eight 'ands' and not a comma in sight! Is the use of commas expressly forbidden in Minnesota?
These are just a few examples. I had to stop highlighting any others (there were several), as it was spoiling my enjoyment of the story.
THE GOOD NEWS
Clumsy writing/editing and run-on sentences notwithstanding, the story is a pleasant, inoffensive read and much of Krueger's prose is beautifully poetic. There is a strong narrative perspective and the author has a clear voice.
I felt that there was a Sunday afternoon, black and white movie atmosphere to the read; a 'To Kill a Mockingbird'-meets-'Stand by Me' vibe. It flows slowly and gently, like a lazy river, wonderfully depicting how children can often see things that adults miss because they have inquiring minds.
My favourite character was Jake, the younger brother who has a stutter. Because he is often uncommunicative, he listens keenly and possesses intuition beyond his years. I also warmed to Gus, who's an honourable, stand-up guy.
OVERVIEW
I prefer my books to come bounding in with some grit and pizzazz. There were no 'Omigod!' moments in this read and it was far too wholesome for my liking.
Please note that my inconsequential opinion is very much the minority one. This book has charmed almost everyone who has read it, so you can treat my review with a great deal of scepticism.
Big love to you all.
Don't hate me! -
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (Author), Rich Orlow (Narrator)
After reading This Tender Land, I knew I'd be reading Ordinary Grace at some point. Actually, I listened to the excellently narrated audio version of the book and now I want to investigate more of Krueger's work. In Ordinary Grace, we are hearing about the summer of 1961, in New Bremen, Minnesota. It's less a coming of age book than a losing of innocence for thirteen year old Frank Drum and his eleven year old brother, Jake. There is also the loss of five lives that summer, in this sleepy town, changing the lives of many of the townspeople.
I feel like we got to know the men in this story better than the women but then the narrator, Frank, was a thirteen year old boy when he experienced the events of that summer and he's relating the events to us, forty years later. I could feel the heat of the summer, hear the crickets and bullfrogs, the sounds of footsteps on the porch and the creaking of old boards on the stairs, the trains in the distance. Each death that summer had some impact on Frank's life but the third death was the one that shattered the childhood of Frank and Jake. For me, the story followed paths that made sense and I even figured out who had caused that third death, quickly. But the story is about the people and their interactions with each other and I enjoyed how the story progressed, watching the way each family member handled their anger, grief, and faith.
Pub March 26th 2013 -
At the beginning of the summer of 1961, Frank Drum is thirteen years old and living in the small community of New Bremen, Minnesota. It's a summer that will change his life forever, and his story, told from Frank's perspective forty years later, will resonate with readers for a very long time.
Ordinary Grace is a stand-alone from William Kent Krueger, an author best known for his Cork O'Connor mystery series. But this is not a crime novel in the traditional sense, although a number of crimes are committed and investigated during the course of the story. Rather, it's a brilliantly written meditation on the ties of family and community and on the nature of grace, whether granted (or withheld) by God or by frail and fallible human beings in times of crisis and terrible loss when any rational person might well doubt his faith in anyone or anything.
Frank's family includes his father, a Methodist minister and veteran of World War II who still harbors secrets and regrets from the war. Frank's mother has an artistic nature and seems vaguely disappointed in the life that she has found. Additionally, Frank has an older and very talented sister who is headed for Julliard and a younger brother, Jake, who suffers from a disorder that makes him stutter badly.
The book opens with the death of a young boy who is accidentally killed while playing near the railroad tracks and this is the first in a series of tragedies that will befall the people of New Bremen as the summer progresses. Each of the members of Frank's family will react in different ways to the events of the summer, as will the other members of the community.
Krueger has vividly recreated the time and place in which this story is set--an obviously simpler and much more trusting age, and he has populated it with a cast of deftly-drawn characters each of whom is totally believable and engaging. The story is moving and elegiac, and calls to mind both Larry Watson's,
Montana 1948 and Norman Macean's
A River Runs Through It. Each of these books was also set in a small community in an earlier age. In each case the narrator is also a young man on the cusp of adulthood, and in each book families and the challenges they face are also critically important themes.
With Ordinary Grace, William Kent Krueger joins a very select group of authors in the brilliance with which he explores these subjects. This is, truly, a wonderful book and no review can really do it justice; it's one that a reader needs to experience for himself of herself. Certainly, though, it's the best book I've read thus far this year and the easiest five stars I've given in a very long time. -
4.5 stars
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, is a beautifully written hard to put down novel full of twists and turns. William Kent Krueger is mostly know for his multiple-award-winning Cork O'Connor series. Ordinary Grace is a stand alone novel and is the Winner of the 2014 EDGAR Award for Best Novel, a Winner of the 2014 DILYS Award and was A SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2013.
This book is narrated by Frank Drum, 40 years after a fateful summer when he was thirteen years old in New Bremen, Minnesota. This novel is a coming of age novel yet at the same time it is a mystery and deals with deaths that rocked the small community. The book opens with the death of a young boy who is killed on the town's railroad tracks. This young boy's tragic death is just the first, but as the narrator informs the reader, the saddest death is yet to come. Each of the members of Frank's family will react in different ways to the events of the summer of 1961, as will the other members of the community. Deaths which assumed many forms and affected young Frank deeply. This book is a look at tragic loss and how it affects not only families but the community as a whole. Young and old, rich and poor, no one can escape the mysterious tragedies of that fateful summer.
Frank Drum is the son of a Methodist Minister and a Veteran of World War 2, who proceeds over three church congregations. His Mother heads up each Churches' choir and his older sister, a gifted pianist, is Julliard-bound and his stuttering younger brother is very smart for his young age. During that fateful summer of 1961, Frank finds himself thrust into a world of mystery, crime, secrets, prejudice, and lies. This book also examines how the members of Frank's family deals with loss. Can Frank's Father, a Man of God, still maintain his faith? What will happen if his Wife abandons her faith? How can children maintain their innocence after all they have seen and learned?
This book was very simple yet very elegant at the same time. I had a hard time putting this book down. I wanted to keep reading until the very last page. I found myself thinking about this novel long after I read the last page. William Kent Krueger introduced a cast of memorable characters, some lovable and some not at all likable. All are important to the story. Issues such as prejudice, social class, sexual orientation, and young love are also explored in this novel.
I highly recommend this moving and beautifully novel.
See more of my reviews at
www.openbookposts.com -
There is a quote in the book where it talks about the “awful Grace of God”.
The meaning of ‘awful’ as an adjective:
1. extremely bad; unpleasant; disagreeable.
2. inspiring fear; terrible: an awful noise.
3. solemnly impressive: the awful majesty of the peaks.
4. extremely dangerous, risky, injurious, etc.: an awful fall; to take an awful chance.
5. Informal. very great: an awful lot of money.
6. full of awe; reverential.
What I find sad is that we almost always hear the word in its 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th context and rarely, if ever in the context of the meanings given in the 3rd and 6th. I wish this could change because it makes sense that ‘awful’ would mean “full of awe”. That is what this book inspired in me – awe. And its tone, through all the sadness and sorrow in the story, is reverential.
Although this story is told in the first person from the point of view of a 13 year old boy, it is told by a much older man named Frank – likely in his early 50’s – who is remembering a particular summer in his life when he was 13. That same summer, his brother Jake is 11 and his sister Ariel is 18. This summer of 1961 is one where the family was involved in varying degrees of closeness to several deaths in their town.
Their father, Nathan Drum, is a minister and as members of the minister’s family, his wife Ruth and their children attend all his services, including funerals. Ariel is also a gifted pianist and plays the organ in church, while Ruth has a beautiful soprano voice and organizes the choirs in the three parishes where her husband holds Sunday services. This is the summer their idyllic family almost comes apart at the seams.
Although death is a theme, the far greater and more powerful theme within the pages is grace. Moving through catastrophe and sadness and deepest sorrow with grace. Allowing grace to pave the way for personal miracles – of forgiveness, of healing, and of making sense of the incomprehensible.
The writing in this book flows like a river – there are the calm areas, the cataracts over sharp rocks, and the whirlpools. There are the parts that carry one so quickly it takes your breath, and there are the parts where the flow is easy and slow, carrying you closer to the next bend – and whatever lies beyond.
This book is full of wonder as well as sorrow, and the ending is beautiful. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys being awe-inspired by a majestic read. -
I am currently making my way through this author's Cork O'Connor series and enjoying them very much. So it was an easy step for me to pick up this stand alone novel and give it a try. So pleased I did because this is a beautiful book.
I love the easy, gentle characters that Krueger brings to his books. He seems to have an affinity with people who think deeply and people who care, but he can still portray the evil and the unkind when he needs to. I so enjoyed the many times in the story when the boys are in trouble and they actually go to trusted adults for help, instead of digging themselves further into difficulty, which would be the norm for contemporary literature.
I liked the easy pace of the book, not too fast so there was plenty of time to enjoy the scenery, and not so slow that it ever felt boring. All of the characters were well written and acted in character. And there was plenty of emotion - the tissues came out for the scene involving the title of the book for sure!
A lovely book. Highly recommended. -
A quiet novel that unfurls its sad story slowly, but eloquently, leaving its mark on your heart.
Found this book on Goodreads, thanks to my friends here! It's truly a beautiful melancholic story about a boy growing up, the grief of a family tragedy, the love and the unbreakable bonds of a family, the strong bond of young brothers... beautifully written, the book radiates a 'quiet beauty'. Reminded me of The Round House (Louise Erdrich). Dark and warm at the same time. About the Ordinary Grace of God. Sincerely recommended. 4.5 stars, I may upgrade to 5 even. Beau-ti-ful, slowly read & enjoyed book.
In 1961 New Bremen, Minnesota, all is quiet and serene. The Minnesota River flows through the countryside, the town barber knows everyone's name, and folks dutifully attend church every Sunday. But that serenity is thrown into turmoil as a series of tragic deaths lead 13-year old Frank Drum and his family on a search for terrible truths. But at which cost comes wisdom? Frank must leave his childhood behind and confront the dark nature of the adult world..... how do we deal with grief? And what solace is there in the ordinary grace of the world?
When tragedy unexpectedly comes to call on his family, which includes his Methodist minister father, his passionate, artistic mother, Juilliard-bound older sister, and wise-beyond-his years kid brother, Frank finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal. Told from Frank's perspective 40 years later, Ordinary Grace is a moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him.
-
This is a great book one not to be missed. I put it on the same level as California Girl by T. Jefferson Parker and The Bottoms by Joe Landsdale. A historical crime novel not to be missed.
-
***New book by this author coming out in Fall 2019, titled "This Tender Land" you will want to watch for this one :) ***
I listened to this book on audio, it was a book club book and I hadn't been familiar with it at all.
This is a beautifully written book with gorgeous prose and very in depth character development. It really made me feel as if I were in a small town in Minnesota in the 1961. I live in Wisconsin and have been in numerous small towns in the north woods area that have this same "feel".
This was a simpler time and place. I was 11 in 1961 and can remember running around the neighborhood, skating, riding bikes and then outside at night just sitting on our porches and in backyards, talking, looking at the sky and watching fireflies. My parents had no fear that anything would happen to me.
The book is told in first person narrated by Frank Drum as an adult looking back on that fateful summer when he was just 13. There was so much that happened to the Drum family that summer but I won't give away a thing.
What I'd like to do is press this book into virtually everyone's hand and just say read it, you will love it!! The writing is so exceptional and the story simple yet profound.
Highly recommended and I don't give out 5 stars very often! -
An amazing, bittersweet and poignant coming of age novel. Beautifully written with wonderful thoughts on loss, forgiveness and the "awful grace of God".
Update - I'm re-reading this for a book club. I had borrowed a kindle edition the first time I rad this and was able to highlight passages. Now my library is using Axis360 which does not allow for highlighting. So, I've been jotting down passages I wanted to remember. Come to find out, all the passages I'm writing down are the same as those previously highlighted.
This books is hitting me just as hard the second time as the first time I read it. Can't wait for our church book club discussion as so much of this book deals with God and faith. -
5.0 STARS!
Warning: Reader discretion is advised. This book contains sweet, sirenically addictive prose that can warm your heart, flood your eyes with tears and induce a deeply meditative state in which the reader ignores time and place to ponder nostalgically the enchanting, soothing, carefree days of youth. Various psychiatric studies have determined that literature of this nature can result in higher levels of affective empathy, compassion, understanding, emotional perception, prosocial behavior and a sharp improvement of the theory of mind
For those readers who thrive on murder, mayhem, blood, guts, gore, sexual violence, torture, abduction, misogyny, child abuse, lurid sexual encounters and the like, stay away! This book will bore you to death.
OUTSTANDING! I wept my way through the epilogue, the final chapter of a philosophical story about life and death and the circumstances and emotions of living that make us human, that mold us into who we are, fashioning the prism through which we view the world. I fell in love with the examination of our past ... what is our true past? Can our past really be a truth, a black and white historical accounting of our lives? Or is our notion of the past anything but rigid, more fluid, more variable, like weaving in and out of the bright sunshine and dark shadows of a tree lined trail on a warm summer day, as we look backwards through the prism of our life’s experiences and influences?
That being said, I had such a difficult time crafting this review. The story rattled around in my head for days on end but I still couldn’t articulate specifically why this book meant so much to me. My friend Kelli mentioned she was having similar difficulties, using the word “languid” to describe her reaction. EUREKA! That’s it ... I was trying way, way too hard. I was blinded by the simplicity of the descriptive, emotional prose. The story’s simplicity about regular folks attempting to live their lives as best they can is a seduction by language in a warm bath in nostalgia ... ahhhhh!
Now in his early 50’s, Frank Drum tells the story of growing up - coming of age? I hate that term! - in New Bremen, MN during the summer of 1961. Frank was thirteen years old at the time, his brother Jake was eleven. His sister Ariel turned eighteen that May and in June graduated from New Bremen High School with aspirations to attend Julliard that fall. The events of the summer of 1961 changed everything for the Drum family, the last of five years Nathan and Ruth Drum and their three children resided in New Bremen.
Some of the deaths in New Bremen that summer were shrouded in mystery, others were painfully obvious. Some were anonymous, others hit far too close to home. Nathan Drum, an aspiring lawyer before he was profoundly changed by the horrors of war during service in Europe during World War II, has pursued God as the minister leading the new Bremen Methodist Church. Compassionate, reserved, understanding, down to earth and willing to come to the aid of anyone in need, Nathan presides over the funerals of those lost that summer, often times with Frank and Jake by his side.
Ruth never signed on to be a minister’s wife. When she married Nathan during her junior year at UMN, she expected to marry a litigation attorney. After the war, she was a pastor’s wife and a deep-seated, bitterness simmered at her core. When heart breaking tragedy strikes the family that summer, her tolerance of Nathan’s love of God was shattered and the family struggles to hold it together.
Everyone in this story is in some way physically or emotional damaged. War, racism, homophobia, hatred, intolerance, jealousy all leave their marks on the characters ... except Frank. Frank feels like the rock of the story, the anchor of the Drum family. Several miracles happened that summer and Frank looks back on the summer of 1961 with fond memories and a deeper understanding of events and people in his life during that fateful Minnesota summer.
Memories. Oh this story brought back so many wonderful memories of my childhood growing up in the 1960s. Very different times indeed. Unthinkable in today’s twenty first century electronic world where kids thrive on digital stimulation under their ever watchful parent’s eyes, we hopped on our bikes and played outdoors all day long – without parental supervision! Just like the kids in this story. When not reminiscing about my boyhood years, I was constantly reminded of the complex intricacies of life - integrity, honor, loyalty, trust, love, judgement, stereotypes, hatred, faith, family, forgiveness, compassion, empathy.
I’m certain I've inadequately described the emotional wonder of this book but I highly recommend it – with a box of tissues at your fingertips! Read it slowly, savor the story as you make a connection with the characters through your own childhood memories and keep the tissues close by. Enjoy! -
Ordinary Grace was an extraordinary read. It is set in the deep heat of the summer in 1961, in a small town of New Bremen, Minnesota where the story takes place for Frank and his family. It's a summer of death and darkness but also one of miracles and love. This is a story of relationships, of heartache and heartbreak. It is also about what happens when a family is pulled apart and is healed through the 'awful grace of God'. What an understated read with so many powerful messages. 5 stars.
-
A Brilliant coming-of-age story set in Minnesota in the 1960s. Ordinary Grace is a story of family and community, tragedy and secrets, compassion and forgiveness. A wonderful story of life experiences written in beautiful prose. Most enjoyable is that it's told from the narrator's perspective 40 years later.
A must read.
5 out of 5 stars. -
Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger is set in New Bremen, Minnesota and spans the long hot summer of 1961.
We are guided through this dramatic and turbulent time by Frank Drum, the son the the town’s Methodist minister. Small town life is lovingly and poetically described and this coming of age tale is packed with incident and contains a central, well crafted mystery.
‘ .......... it was a summer in which death, in visitation, assumed many forms. Accidental. Nature. Suicide. murder........’ A summer in which Frank becomes aware of ‘......... the terrible price of wisdom. The awful grace of god ........’
My only criticism, and it is slight because I greatly enjoyed this book, is the way in which the author sprinkles his philosophical thoughts throughout the narrative. I’m sure that Krueger is a wise and thoughtful author but to have so many characters, so often, come up with philosophical gems or wise statements of great portent is a bit unlikely.
Franks dad, who is a minister ok fair enough, it’s part of his calling to philosophise - Frank’s sort of uncle (and World War One veteran) Gus, ok too, there’s lots of life experience for him to muse about - but when even a ten year old comes up with ‘ ......Some things you can’t run from, Frank (like) who you are. You can’t run from that. You can leave everything behind except who you are ......’ and Frank’s 17 year old sister talking about sailing, states she ‘ ........ loves being freed from the stultifying solidness of dirt ......’ !
Even though New Bremen seems to be a town full of deep thinkers and philosophers it didn’t detract from the excellent writing, carefully drawn characters and involving plot.
Ordinary Grace is an affecting, thoughtful and atmospheric read and has the feel of an American classic. -
Beautiful, Heartbreaking, Poignant, Profound.
The year is 1961, the place is New Bremen, Minnesota.
Frank Drum is thirteen years old when the world around him begins to take shape. He and his little brother Jake are best friends. Their lives have been fairly simple. Everything centers around religion, family and community. Days are spent playing outside, enjoying life. Then tragedy strikes. Thereafter, the hits keep on coming. For Frank, Jake and their parents, as well as the town of New Bremen, things will never be the same.
Life unravels like a spool of yarn, beautiful, colorful, poetic, lonely.
Frank and Jake witness much more than they should at such young ages. Both so astute. Frank: Desperate; Inquisitive, Needy. Jake: Clever; Quiet; Watchful.
So much is lost and yet what we the readers gain is astounding. My heart broke for Frank and Jake and yet my cup also runneth over. Jake, I simply adored you: I just loved your kind heart and your quiet awareness.
“Ordinary Grace” is the second book that I’ve read by William Kent Krueger (the first being “This Tender Land”). I went out and bought this book right after reading “This Tender Land” and though this sat on my bookshelf for over a year and a half, I’m glad I finally got to it. This truly is Literary Fiction at its finest. The writing is lovely and lyrical. If only every book impacted me this way, I would be content for all of my days.
Thank you to William Kent Krueger for writing the perfect book. 5 brilliant stars for this incredible novel, which will be on my Goodreads best of list for 2020.
Published on Goodreads on 9.22.20. -
I FULLY enjoyed this glorious reading experience!!!
Frank's narration captures this entire page-turning-mystery-novel profoundly intimate.
Irresistible!!!!
I loved it -- I loved it -- I loved it!! -
This was an easy 5+ stars from me and will be on my "favorites of all time" book list. I listened to the audio version, which I highly recommend. In fact, the author himself said he imagined the book as a story told aloud to another and he is right. It was a superb listening experience. For fans of Krueger's mystery series, it should be noted that this is not a mystery in the strictest sense. There is a murder but it is not the main focus of the story.
On page 1 is a quote from Aeschylus:
"He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain, which cannot forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us through the awful grace of God".
That statement sums up the the major theme of the novel. Frank, looking back, says maybe that was what that fateful summer was all about: "...the terrible price of wisdom. The awful grace of God"
The story is told through Frank, as he recounts the events that happened 40 years earlier when he was a child. There is a strong sense of place, of small-town America in the early 60's, recognizable to those of us who grew up in that era.
The novel opens with a loss, and the themes of loss, hope, love, and faith are carried throughout the book. Many of the characters in the story are broken in some way - by war, physical infirmities, failed ambitions - and in ways we all have areas of brokenness. In the words of the author in an interview, (and I paraphrase), life is about taking those broken pieces and creating a whole. Not a perfect whole, but through the "awful grace of God" (those things that passes human understanding), we make it work.
I realize this sounds like heavy-handed, depressing, religious book but it's written in such an elegant way, that it never comes across that way. No review I write could possibly do justice to this quietly powerful novel so I'll stop here and just say this is a book I highly recommend!
There's a bonus author interview at the end of the audio book that is well worth the time to listen to.
P.S. It would make an excellent book club selection! -
1961 was a great year - this book was based on that year, that's why is 1961 great. Recommended by a Goodreads friend, Ordinary Grace is like the roots of a tree, silently and solely burying in the soil to find treasure. Like the leaves stretching out to find the golden sun's rays.
I've gotten a bit tired of the murder victim in my book be a girl. I'm a bit over-saturated on that count. I only hope that this fact didn't deaden my sensitivity to this story, and I believe it didn't. Maybe if the girl had survived, her recollections would have been so vivid and quirky, if not detached, that the book couldn't have been called Ordinary Grace.
I kind of get it why the book was thus titled. It reminded me of the movie Half Nelson. The latter is a Judo move where there is no demerit yet your opponent is half pinned. Ordinary Grace is a very good book, very satisfying, very rewarding. -
A beautifully told story of a family living in New Bremen during 1961 experiencing some good times along with heartaches that somehow appear unexpectedly on the door step of most individuals. Told from the perspective of a young boy Frank Drum, 13 years old, who has much on his shoulders as he strives to do the right thing, but not always succeeding. Frank loves many things in his life including his younger brother Jake who stutters most of time and he tries his best to protect him from the bullying of others. The writing is exceptional as each chapter unfolds with several heart warming scenes as well as the sorrow of lives lost that will touch many in this small town in Minnesota. Winner of several awards, it was a poignant magical book and recommended to all readers.
-
Ordinary Grace, a novel by William Kent Krueger is a beautiful and engaging novel and it certainly worked its magic on me. This is a short novel and it certainly proves good goods comes in small parcels.
Set in New Bremen, Minnesota in 1961. It was a time of innocence a hope for a country with a new young president. But for a thirteen year old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident, nature, suicide and murder. Told from Franks perspective forty years after that fateful summer.
I have to be honest what drew me to this novel in the first place was the beautiful cover and having read the blurb I eager to get my hands on this book and was so happy when the hardback edition popped through my letterbox as this is a book I want on my bookshelf.
This is a very well written and eloquent novel and yet the story is told in a simple and quiet manner. I loved the writing as it is so vivid and felt myself totally engrossed in this short novel from page one. The character are so well fleshed out and yet the author respects the readers ability to imagine and wonder for themselves and I loved that about this novel. I really loved the sense of time and place and was totally drawn back to the 1960s.
I think this would make a great discussion book and a great summer read. I think readers who liked
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake will enjoy this novel.
This was my favourite read of the year so far and for me a well deserved 5 stars. -
I woke up in the middle of the night a week after finishing this story with a single word. I didn't write it down and try as I may, I can't quite get it back. Nonetheless, it is a good book that picks at your brain as you sleep. Having read my friends' reviews already, I feel there is little I can add and for that reason I will keep my review very brief.
This is a gorgeous story of discovery, both tangible and intangible, told in a languid manner that is reminiscent of the days that it describes. Another great story about memory; the importance of and unreliability of what we remember; how it shapes us and carries us along in life. I loved the beautiful storytelling and the ordinary grace from which the novel was titled. A subtle masterpiece. 5 stars. -
5★
“Jake drew his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them and stared at the river. ‘So what do we do?’
‘We tell Gus,’ I said.”
Gus is their father’s disreputable friend of whom their mother doesn’t approve. But he saved their father’s life in the war (WWII), and Dad lets him stay in a room in the church basement, across the street from their house. Dad is the local Methodist minister, and this is one of ‘his’ three churches.
Frank Drum is remembering his childhood, and the story is told from his thirteen-year-old point of view. He is almost always accompanied by his eleven-year-old brother Jake, who stutters badly when he has to speak in public.
Gus is a regular in the town’s drunk tank (no wonder their mother doesn’t care for him), and as the book opens, Nathan Drum is the one called to pick him up in the middle of the night. As a minister, he is used to late night calls. The boys go along – it’s too hot to sleep and they want to see what a jail looks like. Dad is too hot and tired to argue.
At the station, they hear about a little boy who was killed, sitting on the railroad tracks. They talk about how he was often there, just sitting. He was known to be a bit slow, but the men realise that all kids are attracted to walking along train tracks.
“Doyle looked back at me. ‘You play on the tracks?’
‘No,’ I lied.
He looked at Jake. ‘You?’
‘No,’ I answered for Jake.
‘Good thing. Because there are bums down there. Men not like the decent folks in New Bremen. You ever get approached by one of them men you come straight here and tell me. Ask for Officer Doyle.’
‘You think that’s what happened to Bobby?’ I was thunderstruck. It would never have occurred to me that his death wasn’t an accident. But then I wasn’t a trained policeman like Officer Doyle.
He began popping the knuckles of his fingers one by one. ‘I’m just saying you watch out for guys drifting along those tracks. Understand?’
‘Yes, sir.’”
Back at the church, when Dad is putting Gus to bed in his basement room, the boys overhear some of their conversation.
“Then Gus said something I’d never heard him say before. He said, ‘Captain, you’re still a son of a bitch. Always will be.’
‘I know, Gus.’
‘They’re all dead because of you, Captain. Always will be.’”
Their father sends them home, but Frank isn’t quite ready to call it a night, so he and Jake sit outside, where he sees the beginning of the dawn.
“And I saw something else. On the other side of the street a familiar figure separated itself from the cover of the lilac bushes that edged our yard. I watched my older sister sneak across the lawn and slip into our house through the back door. Oh the secrets of the night.
I sat on the steps of my father’s church thinking how much I loved the dark. The taste of what it offered sweet on the tongue of my imagination. The delicious burn of trespass on my conscience. I was a sinner. I knew that without a doubt. But I was not alone. And the night was the accomplice of us all.”
So right from the start, there’s a death and the looming possibility of foul play and danger to young boys. Is their father guilty of something? What’s Ariel doing? In brief, it’s the stuff that stirs up curiosity in kids, and Frank is easily stirred up. Jake is the quiet one, quiet because his stuttering embarrasses him but also because he’s thinking. Frank knows Jake sees things Frank misses.
“I still spend a lot of time thinking about the events of that summer. About the terrible price of wisdom. The awful grace of God.”
It’s a summer where the boys play along the river and wander freely everywhere on foot, except when Gus gives them a ride in his ’53 Indian Chief motorcycle with a sidecar. It’s easy to see the attraction for a pair of kids. When they find a dead body under the train bridge with an Indian man (Sioux) nearby, it sends them off in another direction.
They decide to tell Gus. From then on, when they have questions they can’t ask their parents, they talk to Gus, because he won’t tell on them, that they were playing by the train tracks and disobeying orders.
Meanwhile, their mother, Ruth, is making the best of her lot as a minister’s wife (he wasn’t a minister when they married), by using her love of music and her beautiful voice to advantage in the three church choirs. Rounding out the family is beautiful eighteen-year-old sister, Ariel, whom the boys adore.
“In the simple way of the wild daisies that grew in the grass of the pasture behind our home she offered the beauty of herself without pretension.”
She is a talented pianist and is studying music and enjoying her summer with her boyfriend, the son of the local elite family. Everything seems pretty normal for a Minnesota family in 1961. Of course, it isn’t.
Thirteen is young for the fast growing up Frank is forced to do. How he and his family deal with subsequent tragedies and mysteries is compelling reading, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
So much for my early misgivings, worrying that this might be some kind of religious-themed story, which isn’t my interest at all. I come from a family of teachers and preachers, and I inherited the interest in education but not in the practice of religion, which is why I wasn’t such a fan of the author’s more recent book,
This Tender Land. This one, I loved! -
This book is every bit as wonderful as everyone has told me it would be. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it.
Set in small town Minnesota in the summer of 1961, it was a simpler, more carefree time when children were free to roam on their own. Thirteen year old Frank Drum and his younger brother Jake would disappear on their bikes from dawn to dusk, to explore along the river bank and railway line or join in an impromptu ball game. However, this summer tragedy will strike at the heart of their family and change them all forever.
Seen through Frank's eyes, the novel reminded me somewhat of
To Kill a Mockingbird, with Frank's father Nathan, a Methodist minister and advocate for fairness and justice and the close knit small town community that is protective of its young, but is all too ready to blame an itinerant native Indian as soon as a crime is committed. Frank's mother is bitter that she had to give up a career in music to become a Minister's wife (instead of a lawyer's wife) and has invested her hopes in Frank's musically talented sister Ariel who will be going to the Juillard at the end of the summer.
This is a beautifully written novel, with meaningful and tender prose. The relationship between the two boys, their courage and the love and faith they have in their family is beautifully rendered and will stay in my memory for a long time. -
I have my very good friend, Jan, to thank for recommending this gem to me. It was well worth her glowing review for it fulfilled all the wonderful things that she and many others have said.
“The dead are never far from us. They're in our hearts and on our minds and in the end all that separates us from them is a single breath, one final puff of air.”
After reading this author's, This Tender Land, I knew I needed to pick up Ordinary Grace. Books from authors that are written from the heart are definitely ones that earn both my love and respect for what author's places upon a page. It is evident in this book Mr Krueger has put both his heart and soul into its creation. This is a book that touches the reader's heart in so many places and leaves one disappointed when all the words have been said, and the last chapter read.
It's 1961, in a rural town in southern Minnesota, as Frank Drum now fifty three, looks back upon his life particularly the year he was thirteen. In that year many heart rending things happened to Frank and his family. Frank's dad was a minister, his mom a somewhat distant and frustrated wife and mother, his beloved sister, Ariel, and his younger brother who stutters but adores his older brother and sister are the family he reflects upon.
The descriptions of life during this time are truly wonderful and each member of the cast of characters is presented so that their humanity and also their human frailties are shown. When tragedy strikes the Drum family, the author guides us through how each and every person faces adversity. Everyone, the town included, are shown to jump to conclusions and succumb to gossip and innuendo.
Yes, this is a mystery story, but in reality it is so much more. It shines a powerful light on family relationships, the things that make us tick, the things that hurt and harm us, and the joy that often occurs as one realizes that they have come from calamity and will survive, for going forward is often a miracle when all is dark around you. “The miracle is this: that you will rise in the morning and be able to see again the startling beauty of the day.”
If you are looking for an extremely wonderful, loving look at family, small town relationships, and faith that’s behind adversity, I can't recommend this book more highly as it is one not to be missed. -
Probably more 3.5 stars.
This was a lovely book. I think many people will love it very much. I have my effervescent Goodreads friend Christine to thank for guiding me to this one, we both decided to read a book that both of us have loved, and it just happened to fit in at the same time for each of us. This was a brilliant idea, I’d recommend it.
My peculiar quirks do not suit all genres, I have learnt only just today. A book that is to be savoured and really pleasantly enjoyed and meandered through and not rushed doesn’t quite suit me. I am impatient! This isn’t a bad thing, but I truly feel I do miss things. This is quite a story, a summer that should be full of innocence and outdoor play, turns into an alarmingly sad tale of murder, suicide and twisted endings.
I have not read any books by this author, and I think I would like to read more of his work. The writing is very good, the imagery of 1960’s America was so vivid, and the storyline a beautiful piece. It’s a wonderful story of a tragic summer of loss for the family of a Methodist minister, I loved all of the characters, particularly young Jake and Frank, who were wise beyond their years. I appreciated and really felt for their mother who felt somewhat trapped in a marriage with the lovely Minister, this was a very real scenario for me. The epilogue was very satisfying.
Liked this one, not loved – but I am sure I am in the minority here. The wow factor for me here was the title, when these two words were uttered toward the end, I had goose bumps. Loved this. -
When the majority of your friends love a book that you didn't do you find yourself second guessing? Searching for that magic that everyone else felt and you missed? I won’t bore you by analyzing this to death Worth reading and a solid 3 stars, ordinary rather than extraordinary.
Circa 1960’s told through the eyes of 13 yr old Frank Drum a series of deaths disrupt the lives of everyone in a small town in Minnesota.
It has its strengths The dynamics between Frank, a kid with a bad habit of eavesdropping and his younger brother Jake who struggles with a debilitating stutter - great. Admired his ability to capture time & place. Childhood memories came flooding back – a summer day spent crossing an old trestle bridge, following a river, wandering down forbidden railroad tracks, the smell of creosote, the blasting heat relieved by an unexpected breeze – bliss.
And its weaknesses Tad slow paced & predictable. While the characters are well developed most are stereotypes. The casting of the ‘non-believer’ portrayed as weak & shallow, the minister’s wife –she smokes, she drinks, she’d rather play the piano than cook and clean, she feeds her children spam sandwiches!! In fairness Jake an exception - interesting & well developed, wish he’d been the main protagonist.
Bottom-line I guess it’s focus on ‘The awful grace of God’ combined with loss of innocence brought on by death and bereavement was just a bit too gloomy for me. Probably not helped by my mood (damn these hotflashes) Many people found it uplifting.
If you’re looking for something with a similar flavor (even down to a Methodist minister as the father) suggest you try
The Homecoming of Samuel Lake Another character driven coming of age story that’s also getting a lot of buzz. It has the same high drama bordering on tragedy, but it’s lightened with gentle humor. -
The narrator of this story is Frank Drum, a 13-year-old boy who lives in a small Minnesota town with his family: younger brother Jake, who has a severe stutter; older sister Ariel, a talented musician destined for Julliard; father Nathan, an earnest Methodist pastor; and mother Ruth, choir director and superb singer who thought she was marrying a future lawyer and is not happy with her husband's vocation. The Drums are an average family with loving parents and nice children who behave as typical children do.
The book - structured as a mystery - is really about death and faith. As the tale opens it's the very hot summer of 1961 and the town seems to be experiencing more than its share of death. A schoolmate of the Drum brothers, playing on the railroad tracks, is killed by a train - and soon afterwards the brothers find a dead hobo in almost the same spot.
This naturally get the boys thinking about death, and God, and heaven - sentiments apparently reinforced by regularly attending three church services every Sunday where their father preaches, their mother conducts the choir, and their sister plays the organ.
Soon afterwards the Drums experiences a personal tragedy that rocks their world, tests the faith of some family members, and starts to tear the family apart. Some turn to God for comfort, others reject God for allowing such a thing to happen.
As authorities investigate the tragedy, Frank - determined to keep himself informed - snoops around, usually with Jake tagging along. Thus the brothers discover things they shouldn't know, talk too much, and add to the damage themselves.
The book is filled with interesting characters: Gus, a jack-of-all-trades with a drinking problem who served in the army with Nathan;
Ariel's boyfriend, a son of the town's wealthiest family who drives a fancy car and has snobby parents;
Ariel's music teacher and mentor, a blinded, emotionally damaged man who once jilted Ariel's mother;
A deaf, disturbed girl with a passion for gardening;
A crude, bigoted cop whose prejudices get in the way of his job;
A rough-living Indian man who appears a likely suspect;
A family with an abusive father; and more.
The mystery of the book is resolved in a believable fashion and the characters' faith is restored by a small, touching 'miracle'. Overall a good story with a satisfying mystery and a touch of faith that's not overly preachy.
You can follow my reviews at
https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot.... -
I implore all of you to read this book! It is heartbreakingly mesmerizing in it's writing, not a word is poorly chosen or out of place. William Kent Krueger writes of a young boy, Frank, and his family as they ride the waves of love, loss, accidents, death and mercy in a little town in the Midwest.
Frank narrates the story forty years after the occurrence of the death of his sister, and how the events leading up to, and after her death shaped the lives of his younger brother, Jake, and himself.
This book explores race relations, faith (and the moments when we wish to believe, but simply are stripped of the last shred of belief in God), education, special needs, and of course GRACE.
The voice of William Kent Krueger reminded me a bit of Wallace Stegner, and the way the sing songy lyricism flowed across the pages.
A friend recommended that I read this book, and it's the best book I've read this year without question or reserve.
"In your dark night, I urge you to hold to your faith, to embrace hope, and to bear your love before you like a burning candle, for I promise that it will light your way."
If I could give this book twenty stars, I would.
