num_pages: 288
description: Using small-town life as a springboard to explore the loftiest of ideas, Haven Kimmel’s irresistibly smart and generous first novel is at once a romance and a haunting meditation on grief and faith. Langston Braverman returns to Haddington, Indiana (pop. 3,062) after walking out on an academic career that has equipped her for little but lording it over other people. Amos Townsend is trying to minister to a congregation that would prefer simple affirmations to his esoteric brand of theology.What draws these difficult—if not impossible—people together are two wounded little girls who call themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. They are the daughters of Langston’s childhood friend and the witnesses to her murder. And their need for love is so urgent that neither Langston nor Amos can resist it, though they do their best to resist each other. Deftly walking the tightrope between tragedy and comedy, The Solace of Leaving Early is a joyous story about finding one’s better self through accepting the shortcomings of others.
language: English
title: The Solace of Leaving Early
titlecomplete: The Solace of Leaving Early
genres: Fiction, Book Club, Contemporary, Religion, Adult, Literary Fiction, Romance, Adult Fiction, Literature, Novels
ratings_count: 3310
places: Indiana
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Orange Prize
category: Fiction Longlist
publisher: Anchor