The Dearly Beloved

ΓÇ£This gentle,gorgeously written book may be one of my favorites ever.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöJenna Bush Hager (A Today show ΓÇ£Read with JennaΓÇ¥ Book Club Selection!) ΓÇ£A thoughtfulbeautiful multigenerational novel about loveGodjealousyand friendship.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöElizabeth Gilbertauthor of EatPrayLove ΓÇ£A moving portrait of love and friendship set against a backdrop of social change.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöThe New York Times Book Review (EditorΓÇÖs Choice) ΓÇ£Here is the power of the novel in its simplestrichest form: bearing intimate witness to human beings grappling with their faith and falling in love. That Wall executes it so beautifully? Wellthis is exactly why we read literary fiction…The best book about faith in recent memory.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇöEntertainment Weekly (A-) Charles and LilyJames and Nan. They meet in Greenwich Village in 1963 when Charles and James are jointly hired to steward the historic Third Presbyterian Church through turbulent times. Their personal differences howeverthreaten to tear them apart. Charles is destined to succeed his father as an esteemed professor of history at Harvarduntil an unorthodox lecture about faith leads him to ministry. How thencan he fall in love with LilyΓÇöfiercely intellectualelegantly sternΓÇöafter she tells him with certainty that she will never believe in God? And yethow can he not? Jamesthe youngest son in a hardscrabble Chicago familyspent much of his youth angry at his alcoholic father and avoiding his anxious mother. Nan grew up in Mississippithe devout and beloved daughter of a minister and a debutante. JamesΓÇÖs escape from his desperate circumstances leads him to Nan anddespite his skepticism of hope in all its formsher gentleconstant faith changes the course of his life. In The Dearly Belovedwe follow these two couples through decades of love and friendshipjealousy and understandingforgiveness and commitment. Against the backdrop of turbulent changes facing the city and the churchΓÇÖs congregationthese four forge improbable paths through their evolving relationshipseach struggling with uncertaintyheartbreakand joy. A poignant meditation on faith and reasonmarriage and childrenand the ways we find meaning in our livesCara WallΓÇÖs The Dearly Beloved is a gorgeouswiseand provocative novel that is destined to become a classic.