Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A glorious debut novel by a New York Times-bestselling memoirist. In the years after World War II, the Senter family built an Eden-like life on their isolated dairy farm in rural Maine. When tragedy strikes, the close-knit family is shattered. Each must fight the isolation their own grief and guilt as they attempt to reclaim some semblance of their old life--if they can.
Like the best work of Kent Haruf and Marilynne Robinson, Meredith Hall's Beneficence beautifully illuminates the effects of love and loss while exploring the meaning of family, and the possibilities of forgiveness, both of others and ourselves.
Synopsis
"Beneficence is amazing in its vision. Luminous. With wisdom and compassion, Meredith Hall writes about the capacity for atonement. Beneficence, then. Goodness. Generosity to see deeply, to live through fear and pain on your journey toward the awareness of splendor."
--Ursula Hegi, New York Times bestselling author of Stones from the River, an Oprah's Book Club selection
A glorious debut novel by New York Times bestselling memoirist, Meredith Hall. In the years after World War II, the Senter family built an Eden-like life on their isolated dairy farm in rural Maine. When tragedy strikes, the close-knit family is shattered. Each must fight the isolation their own grief and guilt as they attempt to reclaim some semblance of their old life--if they can. Like the best work of Kent Haruf and Marilynne Robinson, Meredith Hall's Beneficence beautifully illuminates the effects of love and loss while exploring the meaning of family, and the possibilities of forgiveness, both of others and ourselves.
Synopsis
"If the word 'luminous' didn't already exist, you'd have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall's radiant new novel Beneficence."--Richard Russo
When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup's love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm, where his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents are buried under the old pines. Their lives follow the calming rhythms of the land--chores in the cow barn, haying the fields, tending their gardens--and in this they find immeasurable joy.
Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive--precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston--but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. They are grateful every day for the grace of their deep bonds to each other, to their family, and to their bountiful land. As they hold fast to this contentment, Doris is uneasy, and confesses, "We can't ever know what will come."
When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by a dark shadow of grief and guilt. Slowly, the surviving Senters must find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other.
New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall's radiant debut novel is a study of love--both its gifts and its obligations--that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion, Beneficence illuminates the heart's enduring covenants and compromises.
Synopsis
A profoundly moving family saga, one of the most widely praised novels of the year. "If the word 'luminous' didn't already exist, you'd have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall's radiant new novel Beneficence."--Richard Russo
When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup's love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm, where his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents are buried under the old pines. Their lives follow the calming rhythms of the land--chores in the cow barn, haying the fields, tending their gardens--and in this they find immeasurable joy.
Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive--precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston--but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. They are grateful every day for the grace of their deep bonds to each other, to their family, and to their bountiful land. As they hold fast to this contentment, Doris is uneasy, and confesses, "We can't ever know what will come."
When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by a dark shadow of grief and guilt. Slowly, the surviving Senters must find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other.
New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall's radiant debut novel is a study of love--both its gifts and its obligations--that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion, Beneficence illuminates the heart's enduring covenants and compromises.
Synopsis
A family's only hope to heal their lives is that love is stronger than grief. "These voices from the past speak so clearly to our time, at a moment when many of us wonder whether we'll lose the things that we consider blessings....Beneficence is a quiet but steady book, one that echoes ancient and important rhythms."--Washington Post
When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup's love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm, where his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents are buried under the old pines. Their lives follow the calming rhythms of the land--chores in the cow barn, haying the fields, tending their gardens--and in this they find immeasurable joy.
Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive--precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston--but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. They are grateful every day for the grace of their deep bonds to each other, to their family, and to their bountiful land. As they hold fast to this contentment, Doris is uneasy, and confesses, "We can't ever know what will come."
When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by a dark shadow of grief and guilt. Slowly, the surviving Senters must find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other.
New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall's radiant debut novel is a study of love--both its gifts and its obligations--that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion, Beneficence illuminates the heart's enduring covenants and compromises.
Synopsis
A family must overcome tragedy to reclaim goodness and peace in their lives. Reviewers and readers have called this a "hauntingly beautiful" novel, "hard to put down," "a page-turner and an artistic triumph," "a masterpiece of compassion." Written by a masterful storyteller, this is a book that illuminates the journey we make through loss to healing.
In the midst of a nearly perfect life, Doris Senter is thankful but wary. "We can't ever know what will come," she says. When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by sorrow and guilt. Slowly, the surviving family members find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other.
Few writers know the human heart and the burden of grief as New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall (Without a Map). This is a radiant novel of goodness and love--both its gifts and its obligations--that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion, Beneficence shows broken hearts becoming whole as this family reclaims their love and peace.
Here's what people are saying...
"One of the best books I've ever read."--Simon Van Booy
"A modern American masterpiece."--Dani Shapiro
"If the word 'luminous' didn't already exist, you'd have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall's radiant new novel Beneficence."--Richard Russo
"These voices from the past speak so clearly to our time, at a moment when many of us wonder whether we'll lose the things that we consider blessings....Beneficence is a quiet but steady book, one that echoes ancient and important rhythms."--Washington Post
"A quiet gem...hard to put down."--Library Journal
"Hauntingly beautiful, emotionally devastating, and infused with great compassion."--Kim Barnes
"With wisdom and compassion, Meredith Hall writes about the capacity for atonement. Goodness. Generosity to see deeply, to live through fear and pain on your journey toward the awareness of splendor."--Ursula Hegi
Synopsis
After a sudden and terrible loss, how does a loving family find their way back to the goodness and peace they once shared? Reviewers and readers have called this literary historical novel "hauntingly beautiful," "a masterpiece of compassion," "a page-turner and an artistic triumph."
Written by a masterful storyteller, this is a book that illuminates the journey we make through grief to healing.
In the midst of a nearly perfect life, Doris Senter is thankful but wary. "We can't ever know what will come," she says. When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by sorrow and guilt. Slowly, the surviving family members find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other.
Few writers know the human heart and the burden of grief as New York Times bestselling author Meredith Hall (Without a Map). This is a radiant novel of goodness and love--both its gifts and its obligations--that will stay with readers long after the last page. With a rare tenderness and compassion, Beneficence shows broken hearts becoming whole as this family reclaims their love and peace.
"People stay together, fall apart, come back together, altered. It is a book about work, about grief, about thick ongoing love. Hall's prose is hewn, sinewy, with moments of electrifying beauty and grace."--Boston Globe
"One of the best books I've ever read."--Simon Van Booy
"As organically as it traveled to heartbreak, Beneficence progresses to the place of wisdom that lies beyond it, where we learn that a home is part of the 'vast world of innocence and harm, ' not an island beyond it."--Wall Street Journal
"A modern American masterpiece."--Dani Shapiro
"If the word 'luminous' didn't already exist, you'd have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall's radiant new novel Beneficence."--Richard Russo
"These voices from the past speak so clearly to our time, at a moment when many of us wonder whether we'll lose the things that we consider blessings....Beneficence is a quiet but steady book, one that echoes ancient and important rhythms."--Washington Post
"A quiet gem...hard to put down."--Library Journal
"Hauntingly beautiful, emotionally devastating, and infused with great compassion."--Kim Barnes
"With wisdom and compassion, Meredith Hall writes about the capacity for atonement. Goodness. Generosity to see deeply, to live through fear and pain on your journey toward the awareness of splendor."--Ursula Hegi
Synopsis
A family's only hope is that love is stronger than grief.