A young woman questions the patriarchal religious beliefs of her childhood in order to save her family from tragedy.
The tragic deaths of her mother and two younger siblings have left Grace Harmon responsible for raising her sister Miriam and protecting her from their abusive father, Luther, a zealot preacher with a penchant for speaking in Biblical verse who is on a downward spiral toward insanity.
Otto Singer charms Grace with his gentle courtship and devotion to his brother Henry. But after their marriage, Otto is unable to share with Grace the terrible secret he has kept more than twenty years. Otto believes he is responsible for a tragic accident that claimed the life of a young woman and left Henry severely brain damaged.
Luther's insane ravings and increasingly violent behavior force Grace to question and reassess the patriarchal religious belief of her childhood. Then tragedy strikes just when Otto's secret is uncovered, unleashing demons that threaten to destroy the entire family. Can Grace find the strength to save them, and in the process find her own redemption?
Redeeming Grace is set on Maryland's eastern shore in the late 1920's. The book will appeal to lovers of literary fiction who enjoy theological debate and who understand happy endings, in novels as in life, sometimes come at a heavy price.
Professional Reviews
SageWoman Magazine
Rarely does a book so succinctly capture the damage that fundamentalist Christianity can cause women. Redeeming Grace is a gentle, well-written reminder of the possibility of using faith and the power of love to liberate women to a fuller life who have the ability to develop a personal relationship to God/dess which is not dependent on doctrine. Smoky Trudeau presents a feminist message accessible to all readers.
--SageWoman Magazine
Love Overcomes Tragedy
Smoky Trudeau has written a book about love...marital love, love of family, love of nature and the land. But that love is threatened by the insane love of an old man for his jealous god. Long-surpressed secrets erupt into nightmares, a tornado strikes, and an unspeakable crime is committed. An unlikely hero saves the day and we see how authentic love does indeed conquer all things.
--Barbara Ardinger, Ph.D.
Author of Pagan Every Day, Finding New Goddesses, and Quicksilver Moon
www.barbaraardinger.com
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