Benediction

Shortlisted for the Folio Prize
'Unforgettable' - Anne Tyler
'Stunningly original' - Guardian

One long last summer for Dad Lewis in his beloved town, Holt, Colorado. As old friends pass in and out to voice their farewells and good wishes, Dad's wife and daughter work to make his final days as comfortable as possible, knowing all is tainted by the heart-break of an absent son. Next door, a little girl with a troubled past moves in with her grandmother, and down town another new arrival, the Reverend Rob Lyle, attempts to mend strained relationships of his own.

Utterly beautiful, and devastating yet affirming, Kent Haruf's Benediction explores the pain, the compassion and the humanity of ordinary people.

"The precious ordinary," is the central concern of this remarkable book. Benediction is quiet and nearly uneventful, but it is also unforgettable . . . In the very best sense, it is an old-fashioned novel-virtuous and kind-hearted, dealing with issues that are timeless Anne Tyler

Haruf, KentKent Haruf is the author of six novels (and, with the photographer Peter Brown, West of Last Chance). His honours include a Whiting Foundation Writers' Award, the Mountains & Plains Booksellers Award, the Wallace Stegner Award, and a special citation from the PEN/Hemingway Foundation; he was also a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and The New Yorker Book Award. Benediction was shortlisted for the Folio Prize. He died in November 2014, at the age of seventy-one.

'Supremely graceful' TLS 'With startling emotional insight, he makes you feel awe at even the most basic of human gestures' Esquire 'Benediction suggests there's no end to the stories Haruf can tell about Holt or to the tough, gorgeous language he can summon in the process.' New York Times 'A brilliant end to his brilliant Plainsong trilogy.' Lucy Mangan, Stylist 'Kent Haruf describes Dad Lewis's last summer with beautiful simplicity ... Haruf's existing fans have been waiting patiently for Benediction for years. They won't be surprised by how fine this book is, but newcomers to his writing will be reaching for his previous novels to catch up.' Sunday Express