Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
David R. Godine, Publisher (2020), 288 pages
Description
"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"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member diana.hauser
BENEFICENCE is written by Meredith Hall.
It is a story told by members of the Senter Family - Tup, Doris, Sonny, Dodie and Beston.
The Senters are dairy farmers living in rural Maine. The farm has been in the Senter Family for several generations.
There are 4 Parts to the story.
Part I is
Part II is ‘During’.
Part III is ‘After’.
Part IV is ‘Here’.
The dates of the family’s memories and reflections range from 1947 to 1962.
The writing is beautiful, lyrical, poetic. It is a deeply personal story; an emotional story; a pastoral story.
There are hundreds of ‘characters’ - the Senter Family, the cows, the crows, the deer, the unfolding seasons, the sky, the fields, the landscape, the gardens, the family cemetery on the hill. Together they weave a tapestry of farm life, of family life. It is a story of love; of deep happiness and contentment; of deeply satisfying labor; of tragedy and of overwhelming grief. It is also a story of selfishness; of abandonment; of failure.
BENEFICENCE is a deeply moving story, very reflective, very compassionate.
*****
It is a story told by members of the Senter Family - Tup, Doris, Sonny, Dodie and Beston.
The Senters are dairy farmers living in rural Maine. The farm has been in the Senter Family for several generations.
There are 4 Parts to the story.
Part I is
Show More
‘Before’. Part II is ‘During’.
Part III is ‘After’.
Part IV is ‘Here’.
The dates of the family’s memories and reflections range from 1947 to 1962.
The writing is beautiful, lyrical, poetic. It is a deeply personal story; an emotional story; a pastoral story.
There are hundreds of ‘characters’ - the Senter Family, the cows, the crows, the deer, the unfolding seasons, the sky, the fields, the landscape, the gardens, the family cemetery on the hill. Together they weave a tapestry of farm life, of family life. It is a story of love; of deep happiness and contentment; of deeply satisfying labor; of tragedy and of overwhelming grief. It is also a story of selfishness; of abandonment; of failure.
BENEFICENCE is a deeply moving story, very reflective, very compassionate.
*****
Show Less
LibraryThing member aseikonia
This is a heartfelt and very well written novel about how a family copes with tragedy. The writing is stunning and the details of farm life are fascinating and detailed. It has a subtext of spiritual growth as well that I found compelling.
Awards
Route1Reads (2022)
Original language
English
Physical description
288 p.; 9.5 inches
ISBN
156792669X / 9781567926699