Sufficient Grace - by Darnell Arnoult (Paperback)

About the Book

Gracie Hollaman hears voices in her head that tell her to get in a car and leave her entire life behind. At home, her husband Ed begins a new life for himself. Arnoults debut novel explores the power of unconditional love and faith--and the many ways they come to pass.

Book Synopsis

Set against the backdrop of two neighboring Southern towns, Sufficient Grace is the powerful, affecting story of two families over the course of a year, from one Easter season to the next. One quiet spring day, Gracie Hollaman hears voices in her head that tell her to get in her car and leave her entire life behind -- her home, her husband, her daughter, her very identity. Gracie's subsequent journey releases her genius for painting and effects profound changes in the lives of everyone around her.

A spellbinding work, Sufficient Grace explores the power of personal transformation and redemption, and the many ordinary and extraordinary ways they come to pass through faith, love, motherhood, art, even food. This poignant, poetic study of the human condition affirms the enduring importance of relationships and the strength we derive from them, even though we sometimes have to leave behind an old identity in order to discover our soul.

Beautifully paced, filled with unforgettable characters, Sufficient Grace reveals the vital place that spirit and belonging have in every inner life -- and in the everyday world.

Review Quotes

"Sufficient Grace examines both the nature of love and kinds of nurture we all hunger for. Arnoult invites us to a feast of love, a kind of communion." --Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls

"A complex tale of Southern love and life, one with many layers...The shades blend together to create the most unusual, and impressionable, characters." -- Clarion Ledger (Jackson, MS)

"A stunning debut of a novel, a Southern shout of Amen and Hallelujah." -- The News & Observer (Raleigh, North Carolina)

"Arnoult knows the frailty of the human spirit, its hungers and failings...[a] fine first novel...Arnoult captures African-American speech beautifully as well as Southern dialogue without phonic spelling. Arnoult's themes of family and faith, of food and various hungers are satisfying." -- The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)

"Engaging debut novel...Her lyrical gifts...portray a range of interesting, offbeat characters that readers will find themselves rooting for as they struggle to stay in the present while letting the past take care of itself." -- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"If I were to tell you everything that's humane, witty, smart, touching, captivating in this book, I would be hoarse." -- Judy Goldman, author of Early Leaving

"In brisk scenes, Arnoult's rhythmic prose beautifully reveals the human potential for unconditional love and faith, and wholly convinces us -- despite the heartache her mental illness causes -- of Gracie's essential wisdom and worthiness." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"In regional literature, 'Southern' and 'spiritual' often go hand in hand, and nowhere is that piquant association more radiantly portrayed than in Arnoult's debut novel, a transcendent exploration of the unrestrained vagaries of faith and the unexpected roads to redemption...With astute sensitivity, Arnoult bravely and generously endows her formidable characters with charming candor and perceptive humanity in an elegiac yet hopeful tale of elegant strength, serene love, and infectious desire. Deeply felt." -- Booklist

"Southern culture and religion are themes interwoven in the story...and... redemption comes in unexpected ways." -- KnoxNews

"Tennessee is blessed with a growing number of outstanding writers. While each has a distinctive voice, their work often invites comparison to other writers. Arnoult brings to mind the work of Flannery O'Connor...Poignant...This wonderful story...is truly one of the literary highlights of this summer." -- The Tennessean