Now Read This: 'Ordinary Grace' by William Krueger

As you might imagine, I love to talk about books. Sometimes readers who have seen this column will recommend books to me. “Ordinary Grace” by William Krueger came highly recommended to me by a friend whose book club meets here each month. She was fairly insistent and when I finally read it (all in one day!), I understood why. The world of this novel is one of redemptive grace and mercy, as well as unidentified corpses and unexplainable tragedy.

“Ordinary Grace” takes place over the summer of 1961 in a small town in Minnesota. The 13-year-old narrator lives with his father, who is the local Methodist town pastor; his mother; his younger brother, who suffers with a severe stutter; and his musically talented older sister. Five people die in this town over the summer, which shakes both the family and the community to their very core. It’s all a complicated web of secrets, adultery and betrayal. Oh yes, and also one small miracle of ordinary grace. It’s a story about the members of the family and how they each cope with the tragedies, such as Father Nathan, the Methodist pastor, who quietly ministers to his flock with “ordinary grace.” Grace, by the way, is my minister husband’s favorite topic, so I have heard a lot about it and have come to love the word.

Krueger uses some beautiful phrases and imagery in his novel. The last words of the novel are: “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.”

This book is shelved in the mystery section probably because all of Krueger’s other books have been mysteries and there is some mystery surrounding the deaths. But also, one of the reviewers said “A respected mystery writer turns his attention to the biggest mystery of all: God.”

When I looked the book up in NoveList to find similar reads, I wasn’t familiar with any of them except “To Kill a Mockingbird.” “Ordinary Grace” did, however, remind me of “Peace Like A River” by Leif Enger, one of my favorite books that I reviewed a few years ago. It’s about a father raising his three children in the 1960s, also in Minnesota, and is a celebration of family, faith and America’s pioneering spirit.

Happy readings!