October Book, A Slant of Light

At the close of the Civil War, weary veteran Malcolm Hopeton returns to his home in western New York State to find his wife and hired man missing and his farm in disrepair. The repercussions of events that ensue ripple through a community with spiritual roots in the Second Great Awakening.

Hopeton goes from the horrors of war to far worse while the people around him try to make sense of it all. Many are damaged but stronger for it: a veteran profoundly changed by war, a father tormented by the loss of his daughter, a Seneca man more powerful than others realize, a boy forced too early to become a man. In this 19th century male world, women, too, are assuming new strength—through the roles they take on, and the loves they allow themselves.

Lent was born in Vermont and grew up there and in western New York State on dairy farms. No doubt he draws from his life experience to render a time and landscape so vividly that story, characters and place are inseparable.
 





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