The Grace That Keeps This World

A Novel

By: Tom Bailey

Narrated by: Tom Bailey

Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

On the edge of the Adirondack wilderness, survival is a way of life for the Hazen family.

Gary Hazen is a respected forester and hunter, known for his good instincts and meticulous planning. He and his wife, Susan, have raised their sons to appreciate the satisfaction of this difficult but honest life. 

In spite of this, the boys, men now, are slipping away. His older son, Gary David, is secretly dating a woman of whom his father would not approve even as Kevin, the younger boy, struggles against the limits of his family's hardscrabble lifestyle, wanting something more. 

On the first day of hunting season the Hazen men enter the woods, unaware that the trip they are embarking on will force them to come to terms with their differences and will forever change their lives.

In The Grace That Keeps This World, Tom Bailey gives us an emotional pause-resister, infused with a deep sense of foreboding. Alternately narrated by the Hazens and their neighbors in Lost Lake, the story perfectly captures the enduring rhythms of life in a rural town.

The Grace That Keeps This World is an October, 2005 Book Sense pick. 

©2005 Tom Bailey (P)2005 Books on Tape

Critic Reviews

"This novel has the validity of deeply felt truths and characters who are bound and motivated by a love that arches the chasm of divergent ambitions and desires." (Publishers Weekly)

"In his first novel, Bailey displays a consummate sense of craft, employing multiple perspectives to tell a dramatic, heartbreaking story to stunning effect." (Booklist) 

“A compelling first novel about love and rivalry in the Adirondacks builds toward a shattering conclusion.” (People) 

This is a great story

This book is a fascinating story of a father and his sons. It is beautifully written and hard to put down, I loved it