Unexpected Grace
Ruth Porter, Bar Nothing Books, 616 pages. $20.60.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Over the past 11 years, Ruth Porter of Adamant has produced three enormous novels — each a meticulously observed study of life in rural Vermont, each self-published with professional design and presentation. Together, The Simple Life, Ordinary Magic and Unexpected Grace form a graceful triptych, a rebuke to stereotypes of the state. In Grace, which opens in 2010, Porter traces the fortunes of two middle-aged couples living cheek-by-jowl on what was once a single property. Sam and Bonnie Martel are struggling farmers with deep roots in the land, while Richard and Alyssa Bradshaw are white-collar transplants “from away.” But none of that matters when Sam loses his job, or when Alyssa receives a frightening diagnosis. The novel’s disparate characters support one another through thick and thin — until Tropical Storm Irene enters the scene. While Porter unabashedly takes her time with her tale, evoking novelists of another era, she offers strong emotional payoffs. And readers will be impressed by the breadth of the author’s knowledge, whether she’s detailing the slaughtering of pigs or the wanderings of the human heart.”
— M.H. (margot@sevendaysvt.com)
Margot Harrison is the Associate Editor at Seven Days; she coordinates literary and film coverage. In 2005, she won the John D. Donoghue award for arts criticism from the Vermont Press Association.
(The original print version of this article was headlined “Page 32: Short Takes on Five Vermont Books”)
PREVIEW OF THE BOOK
Chapter 1
Monday, April 19, 2010
West Severance, Vermont
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Alyssa stopped walking and looked down at the trail. There was the little arrow Richard had made out of pebbles to mark the place where they could look down on the brook and the ravens’ nest in one of the trees along it. There were four eggs in the nest when they found it a few weeks ago. That was when Richard marked the spot with pebbles. Alyssa thought it was like Hansel in the fairy tale.She would have to tell Richard if she wanted his opinion, and it would be easy for him to say she ought to have the tests, even if some of them were painful.
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REVIEWS FROM READERS
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And so begins Ruth Porter’s new novel, Unexpected Grace. Here are some comments from early readers.
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“I did so enjoy Unexpected Grace. I keep seeing the characters wherever I go! And I really missed them for several days!”
“Your writing draws me into it immediately and personally…it just caught my attention in the most subtle ways from page one, just picked me right up and put me right in the middle of these people’s lives…there has not been a minute I’m not looking forward to the next chapter.”
“I love the characters, intergenerational perspectives and fact that the setting/people/struggles are all incredibly familiar and real.”
“I love the excellently observed and slow detail. It is so well described and careful, that not only can you very precisely imagine the scene, but also it creates a tension and expectation that carries you through. So much of it too represents a very classic Vermont life.”