Title: The muse was here
Product review: A Jewish friend gave me the book with a hearty recommendation. She had read Olive Kitteridge and loved it while I was neutral about that novel, so I was surprised when I found that I couldn't put down ABIDE WITH ME. This rare novel of a clergyman-- privy to the secrets of so many but at a loss to unveil that of his child--felt authentic. I already want to read it again, to see exactly how Strout conjures her magic. I sense that Strout didn't plot the novel to the nth degree,but depended on the muse to help her out as she went along. The ending was satisfying--at once strange, in character, and plausible. I enjoyed the theological discussions, being an admirer of Bonhoeffer, but some readers might feel they go on too long and too admiringly although that is remedied at the end. The portrait of the minister's wife was a marvel! This book would make a marvelous choice for a church book club.
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