I already liked this author a lot for his mystery series. I also like that he is a Minnesota author and that his books are set in Minnesota. This stand-alone novel did not disappoint!
This was a wonderful, if sad, coming-of-age story. I really liked both Frank and Jake, and their relationship as brothers. Their father, Nathan, provided such a strong "center" for the Drum family. I think this family would have completely fallen apart without Nathan's unwavering faith in God, the value he placed on forgiveness, and his belief in redemption. Jake was certainly his father's son. At Ariel's funeral, when Ruth said "For God's sake, Nathan, can't you, just this once, offer an ordinary grace?" I realized that both Nathan and Jake personified "ordinary grace" - and we could all take a lesson from them. At the worst of times, in the midst of personal tragedy, they were the only two that didn't jump to conclusions with the rest of the town, and they both continued to see the best in all people. They didn't judge, or assume, but showed compassion in all things. They absolutely both ended up in the right profession!
Great character development. These characters, like real people, were multifaceted and even in the characters you love to hate, like Doyle, you would sometimes see a glimmer of something positive. I wasn't sure what to make of Gus initially, but he ended up being one of my favorite characters as well. What would this family have done with Gus?! What would Frank and Jake had done without Gus?!
This book demonstrates how much time has changed people's acceptance of things like premarital sex, homosexuality, pregnancy, domestic abuse - or at least how we handle these things as a society. I love that is was set in the 1960's, back when people weren't so "jaded" in their thoughts about people. Sure, they were less tolerant of people of different nationalities (especially the Native Americans!) and sexual orientation, but it was interesting how everyone assumed that people were virgins until marriage; that people only fell in love with people their own age; that people didn't have adulterous affairs. I don't know too many men today that could handle the close relationship between their wife and her ex-fiancee! Most men today would think their wife was having an affair, but Nathan didn't seem to ever think that was even a possibility.
It was a little frustrating for me that Jake didn't figure out who killed Ariel sooner than he did!! Good grief, he was so busy blaming himself for letting Redstone go that he couldn't see the forest through the trees! I kept waiting and waiting for him to figure it out - and had to wait till nearly the last page until he had his "aha" moment. Of course the same could be said for everyone else concerning the relationship between Ariel and Emil. Those were just different times....
Wendy's Rating: *****
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