We begin with “Dad” Lewis, owner of a local hardware store,
who has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. His devoted wife Mary does all that she can
to make Dad comfortable. The book
focuses a lot on glimpses into Dad’s past and we see him grapple with events of
which he is not proud as he slips in and out of consciousness. Soon, the couple’s daughter Lorraine arrives
from Denver to help her mother. But
there is fourth presence in the house, an elephant in the room that no one
wants to discuss. The Lewis boy, Frank,
ran away from home years ago and is a painful memory for all three relatives. It is this relationship more than any other
that plagues Dad’s thoughts in his final weeks.
Next door, a young girl named Alice moves in with her grandmother. Her mother has recently passed away from
cancer. Alice is a breath of fresh air
for all of the Lewis’s and their friends in a painful time though Dad’s
condition often reminds her of her mother.
An elderly widow and her daughter, along with Lorraine Lewis take an
interest in the motherless girl and she becomes the center of their simple
lives.
Across town, the new preacher is dealing with his own demons. He’s been removed from a big church in Denver
and sent to hole-in-the-wall Holt as a sort of punishment for his outspoken
ideas. His teenage son is devastated to
have left all of his friends behind and strikes up a tenuous with a local girl
before he begins his sophomore year of high school. His wife is on the brink of leaving due to
the shame of having to leave Denver only to end up in a dusty country
town. But Reverend Lyle just can’t keep
his opinions to himself; dividing his congregation in two and turning his family
relationships to rubble.
Like in Haruf’s past novels, all of his characters’ lives
intertwine in a story that gives a glimpse into one corner of life in a small
plains town. It is the austerity of the
everyday that makes this novel such an addictive read. Readers who appreciated the stark beauty of
Haruf’s simple prose in novels such as Plainsong
and The Tie That Binds will enjoy
the new inhabitants of Holt, Colorado that are visited in Benediction. This book is a story of quiet losses. Of the pain that people live with every day
after a loved one passes or disappears from your life. Of living each day though sadness and grief
may be part of every step. It is a
simple story. And one that is beautiful
because of that simplicity.
