I’m on deadline this week. Recently, I’ve been sharing Sandie Herron’s reviews of the audiobooks in William Kent Krueger’s Cork O’Connor series. There will be more of those to share. But, today, I’m going to share her review of Ordinary Grace, a book that was not ordinary. This coming-of-age is one of my two favorites of William Kent Krueger’s books. It’s an unforgettable story that swept the awards the year it was released. If you haven’t read or listened to Ordinary Grace, you might want to find a copy. Thank you, Sandie, for reviewing it.

Ordinary Grace

Written by William Kent Krueger, Narrated by Rich Orlow

Unabridged Audiobook

Recorded Books (March 26, 2013)  ASIN:  B00BPA1T8G

Listening Length:  10 hours 59 minutes

Barry Award for Best Novel, Anthony Award for Best Novel, Dilys Award Nominee, Edgar Award for Best Novel, Left Coast Crime Award for Best mystery set within the United States, Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Mystery & Thriller

It was summer in New Bremen, Minnesota in 1961.  There was a new, young President in the White House.  Frank Drum was on the cusp of manhood yet still very much a young teenager when death visited him in many forms.  We open following the accidental death of a boy on the railroad tracks which had the town of New Bremen talking.  Frank’s father Nathan is a Methodist minister who managed three congregations, and he presided over the funeral.  Frank’s mother Ruth often lead the choir while his sister, Ariel, bound for Julliard, played the organ.  Frank’s little brother Jake stuttered terribly.  And Gus was a sort of big brother who lived in a room in the basement of the church next door; he wasn’t family but had fought next to Nathan Drum in World War II.  The Drums live in the less affluent section of town down near the Minnesota River although Ruth’s father lived in The Heights.

The second time Frank faced death, he and Jake were on the railroad tracks by the river, just where they’re not supposed to be, when they saw a man who appeared to be sleeping.  Another man, an Indian, approached and declared him dead.  The boys ran all the way to tell Gus who was drinking with a local cop that Saturday afternoon.  The next day the story became greatly embellished after retelling at three church services.

Frank and Jake knew their sister was their mother’s favorite.  Ariel was going to fulfill her mother’s passion and continue in music.  Her fingers could coax gorgeous music from the keyboard.  The boys didn’t fault Ariel since they liked her so much.  Ariel studied music with Emil Brandt, a man Ruth had briefly been engaged to before the war, who was a piano virtuoso and composer.  He’d returned after the war blind and disfigured.  He currently lived with his deaf and autistic sister Lise.  One day Lise finds her friend Jake and is distraught and insistent.  She conveyed that Emil had tried to kill himself, and the Drum family rushed to his aid.

By the fourth of July a piece of music written by Ariel was to be performed for the town just before the fireworks.  Emil Brandt would make a rare appearance and accompany the choir while Ruth conducted.  It was a smashing success.  But the world fell apart that night.  Nothing would ever be the same. 

Nathan preaches to his congregation the day after a profound loss:  “When we feel abandoned, alone, and lost, what’s left to us?  What do any of us have left except the overpowering temptation to rail against God and to blame him for the dark night into which he’d led us…”

“I will tell you what’s left, three profound blessings:  faith, hope, and love.  …And whether you believe in miracles or not, I can guarantee that you will experience one: … you will rise in the morning and be able to see again the startling beauty of the day.  For each of us, the sun sets and the sun also rises and through the grace of our Lord we can endure our own dark night and rise to the dawning of a new day and rejoice.”

And through the grace of God, the Drums and the town of New Bremen begin to heal gaping wounds, not all of which were yet revealed, for the worst was still to come.

William Kent Krueger has found a way to convey the ordinary grace of God by telling a story of a boy in a small town the summer he turns into a man.  There was mystery, there was loss, there was death, but there was also forgiveness, discovery, and courage.  Most of all, there was faith, hope, and love.