Ordinary Grace: A Novel


  • Soft cover: 307 pages
  • Publisher: Atria Books; First Edition edition (March 26, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1451645821
  • ISBN-13: 978-1451645828
New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were at the ready at Halderson’s Drug Store soda counter, 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 summer in which death assumed many forms.

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.

On the surface, Ordinary Grace is the story of the murder of a beautiful young woman, a beloved daughter and sister. At heart, it’s the story of what that tragedy does to a boy, his family, and ultimately the fabric of the small town in which he lives. Told from Frank’s perspective forty years after that fateful summer, it 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. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.

My Impressions

Told through the voice of 13-year-old Frank Drum, minister’s son, in hindsight 40 years later, “It was a summer in which death, in visitation, assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.” - See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ordinary-grace-novel#sthash.Gthw7fKk.dpuf


Told through the voice of 13-year-old Frank Drum, a minister’s son and 4 decades later in the small town of New Bremen Minnesota, this book is a type of coming of age story wrapped in darkness:  "Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder."  The novel begins with the discovery of a corpse, whose body was found near the train in the woods on the outskirts of town.

  Krueger has created a cast of compelling  and deeply rich characters who are  each searching for something unique  in life. I loved this book until closer to the end and then the plot kinda dwindled and became rather mediocre and left me a bit disappointed.  I know this novel is suppose to be one of grace and redemption, but for me the whole thing was rather sad and disturbing and read slow. 
Told through the voice of 13-year-old Frank Drum, minister’s son, in hindsight 40 years later, “It was a summer in which death, in visitation, assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.” - See more at: http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ordinary-grace-novel#sthash.Gthw7fKk.dpuf
About the Author

 Raised in the Cascade Mountains of Oregon, William Kent Krueger briefly attended Stanford University—before being kicked out for radical activities. After that, he logged timber, worked construction, tried his hand at freelance journalism, and eventually ended up researching child development at the University of Minnesota. He currently makes his living as a full-time author. He’s been married for over 40 years. 

Links
twitter username: WmKentKrueger

Disclaimer
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and opinion which I have given.

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