Amy Espeseth's "Sufficient Grace"

Sufficient Grace follows a young girl, Ruth, and her family who live in a small religious community that focuses on taking care of its own. Her family attends church on Sundays, and outside of that, they follow the seasons, alternating between the hunt and the harvest.

Ruth’s family bonds, for better or for worse, are one of the main themes of the story. Her adopted cousin Naomi, a Native American girl, is her best friend, and both are on the cusp of puberty. They live like sisters: for all their differences and sometimes petty words, they know they always have each other. A shared secret starts to simultaneously divide them and bring them closer as they together experience the world for the dark place it really is.

It’s really very hard to talk too much about the story without giving away the secret and all its repercussions. Ruth and Naomi are starting to feel the responsibilities of adulthood in their own ways, with each girl having to make their own significant decisions, and stand by them.

The entire book is poetic in its language, as Ruth talks exhaustively and earnestly about her daily life. She discusses the landscapes, (natural and manmade), the changing of the seasons, and the people of her community.  Featured frequently but honestly is hunting, described as brutal, bloody, and smelly, but also as essential to their survival.

While religion is a clear backbone to Sufficient Grace, defining and motivating many of the characters, this is a novel for all kinds. Every reader, regardless of their particular beliefs, will find something likable and possibly relatable in Ruth, as well as certain other members of her family.

Sufficient Grace is hauntingly beautiful one moment, almost naïve in its narrative, but atrociously human the next. Though hard to put down, the ending is one that invites speculation, and as a result, will keep you wandering through the wintery forests of Wisconsin long after you’ve turned the last page.