SOLACE - Part 2

Amos Townsend, anguished minister of  the Haddington Church of the Brethren, occupies the parsonage and tries to find the right perspective, despite his shortcomings: "...he couldn't possibly construct an adequate or coherent sermon; and he was sick to death of the people in his church."  The central characters however, are two small girls, whose parents died in a hideous fashion right before their wide-open eyes.  The children, who have renamed themselves Immaculata and Epiphany  (be prepared for a large amount of theology, philosophy and theological reference in this novel - remember, it's a novelized PhD dissertation on  Whitehead and the nature of grief!), are suffering from PTSD in a fairly creative manner.  I have to say, these children tore my heart out.  Well, they did that for everyone in the book, too, and that's the story Kimmel is really telling.  In the end these children bring grace and hmmm, dare I say,  salvation, to everyone;  a kind of miracle is wrought.  But I get ahead of myself and introductions -  we have Beulah, the children's grandmother; AnnaLee, Langston's fabulous mother (my favorite character), and Taos Braverman, who, though missing for ten years now, is definitely a presence.

It is in the coming together of all these characters for  the care of Immaculata and Epiphany that the story emerges.  A story of wounded hearts and broken souls looking for their better selves. 

And that's all I'm going to say about that!  There is some fine writing in this book, Haven Kimmel is an author I'm going to watch carefully.  I will pounce on her next book immediately.  If she keeps on getting better with every book, there is no end to the possibility.   The dialogue is intriguingly done, hard subjects are discussed in the way people really do it, children in deep trauma are portrayed with searing believability.