After firmly placing the story in the 1950s by describing 13-year-old Charity’s serious bout with polio, the author sets the stage for further change as the Brown family is shocked to inherit a grand home from a fellow member of their strict Christian sect, the Lucasites. They move into Gospel Fields, intending to make it “a haven of peace and beauty for the weary and heavy-laden.” Along with this sudden change in circumstance, Charity navigates returning to school after her illness. She feels different because she’s not allowed to do the worldly things the other young people do. In her first-person narration, Charity, whose father is Scottish and mother comes from New Zealand, contemplates faith and community and describes her efforts to befriend neighbor Rachel Stern, who’s Jewish. The wider world and its complexities come to her through her older siblings’ arrivals and departures, her exposure to new cultural opportunities, and her parents’ welcoming of people into their home (including a German with shell shock, a young man from India who’s convalescing, and a medical student from Nigeria). This evocative, character-driven novel informed by the author’s own childhood will resonate with contemporary readers who are asking questions and seeking their own paths.
