Presbyterian Outlook's Page Turners - Fall fiction 🍁

As days get shorter, here are some books to sink your teeth into. Dear Outlook Readers,   The judges for the National Book Award for Fiction considered 473 works before longlisting just ten, several of which are on my nightstand and one of which (Percival Everett’s James) has already graduated to a prime spot on my bookshelf of modern classics. Fall is a delicious time for fiction lovers — we can look to this carefully curated list (or to others such as The Booker Prize shortlist, which also includes James). Or we can devour new releases as this is the season of eagerly anticipated books in both “literary” and “popular” fiction. Will you seek out a beloved author like Elizabeth Strout (whose latest, Tell Me Everything, is as richly imagined and sparely written as her other fine works)? Will you discover someone less familiar? If you choose the latter, you will want to immediately pre-order Amy Frykholm’s brilliant High Hawk, reviewed below.   One of my trusted sources for faith-based reading is The Englewood Review of Books. I recently participated in their current effort to understand the reading habits of ministers and how they might contribute to thriving church communities. It was quick and easy and encouraged me to wonder how reading informs my life and work.   If you would like to add your voice to the conversation, they’re inviting Outlook readers serving in pastoral ministry to participate in the survey before Saturday, October 5. Happy Reading,   Amy Pagliarella Outlook Book Review Editor BOOK OF THE MONTH High Hawk Amy Frykholm University of Iowa Press, 242 pages Publishing October 8, 2024 High Hawk is the story of Father Joe, an avuncular priest at St. Rose Catholic Church serving Windy Creek Reservation. “Banished” to this isolated corner of South Dakota after expressing mild concern about the behavior of his fellow priests, he builds a quiet life, leading a speedy daily mass and losing himself in the parsing of biblical Hebrew in the afternoons.   When a baby is abandoned on the church steps, Alice Nighthawk, Father Joe’s friend and connection to the reservation takes him in, raising “Bear” as her own. Years later, Alice’s older son is murdered outside a bar and Bear is accused of attempting to kill a man who witnessed the brawl. If they are to keep Bear out of the federal courts, Father Joe and Alice need to prove he is “one of theirs.” The search for Bear’s mom reveals ugly truths about the church and the climate of secrecy that likely led to her pregnancy and subsequent choices. At the same time, a woman from Joe’s past reaches out, and their conversations challenge his choices and understanding of vocation.   Amy Fryholm offers a satisfying mystery as she connects Bear’s puzzles with the secrets of the Catholic Church. By centering Father Joe as the affable (yet ineffectual) investigator, we are privy to his interior thoughts. He is the local secret keeper, receiving his congregation’s confessions and responding with the appropriate language. “But what (seminary doesn’t) tell you is what to do with the accumulation of things you know, things that no one else knows, and how that piles up,” he muses. As Joe replays conversations with former superiors and relives old questions about the behavior of his fellow priests, we wonder what he has done … and what he has left undone?   Frykholm explores universal themes in less familiar territory: Belonging. Justice. Vocation. Family. Why do humans create an “other”? Must there be two “sides”? How do institutions perpetuate evil? Can individuals be complicit without understanding their role? To whom does the church “confess” its sins? How does it atone for harm inflicted? High Hawk weaves these compelling themes through a narrative that is, at its core, about loneliness and love, the belonging of family and chosen family, and the grace of God that weaves it all together. QUOTE OF THE MONTH “Finn, we’ve called you out of retirement for one last under-cover operation,” (said the Associate Director of the Counter Terrorism Unit).   “We think you’re the man for this challenge. Let your hair and beard grow out. We’ll get you some up-to-date training on cult thinking and language before you go in, and you’ll learn how to preach from a theology professor.”   “Finn, I can’t overstate how important this is … The fate of the country, maybe of civilization, is at stake.” All Saved Great and Small: Surviving a Chesapeake Cult and an Appalachian Apocalypse   David Howell Resource Publications, 192 pages Published August 1, 2024 Book Giveaway!  Congratulations to last month’s winner Tracy Williams. Thanks to our generous partners at Farrar, Straus and Giroux, they received Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church by Eliza Griswold. This month, one fortunate reader will receive a copy of All Saved Great and Small by David Howell. If you're reading this note, then you're all set! Know someone else who should be reading Page Turners? Send them this link and they'll get entered for a chance to win, too. The contest closes on October 20.   OTHER READS 2024 Advent devotional recommendations curated by Amy Pagliarella Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, reviewed by Amy Pagliarella The Scent of Bright Light by Jean Dudek, reviewed by Michael M. Gibson Books you should know curated by Amy Pagliarella Magic Enuff by Tara M. Stringfellow, reviewed by Amy Pagliarella