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The Solace of Leaving Early

A Novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
Using small-town life as a springboard to explore the loftiest of ideas, Haven Kimmel’s irresistibly smart and generous first novel is at once a romance and a haunting meditation on grief and faith. Langston Braverman returns to Haddington, Indiana (pop. 3,062) after walking out on an academic career that has equipped her for little but lording it over other people. Amos Townsend is trying to minister to a congregation that would prefer simple affirmations to his esoteric brand of theology.
What draws these difficult—if not impossible—people together are two wounded little girls who call themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. They are the daughters of Langston’s childhood friend and the witnesses to her murder. And their need for love is so urgent that neither Langston nor Amos can resist it, though they do their best to resist each other. Deftly walking the tightrope between tragedy and comedy, The Solace of Leaving Early is a joyous story about finding one’s better self through accepting the shortcomings of others.
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    The publisher provides the following statement about the accessibility of the EPUB file supplied to OverDrive. Experiences may vary across reading systems. After borrowing the book, you may download the EPUB files to read in another reading system.

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    This ebook features mark-up that supports accessibility and enables compatibility with assistive technology. It has been designed to allow display properties to be modified by the reader. The file includes a table of contents, a defined reading order, and ARIA roles to identify key sections and improve the reading experience. Images are well described in conformance with WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Colors meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA contrast standards. There are no hazards.

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    • The publication contains a conformance statement that it meets the EPUB Accessibility and WCAG 2 Level AA standard.

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    • Table of contents to all chapters of the text via links.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 27, 2002
      A romance evolves in the wake of a domestic shooting in Kimmel's intelligent and compassionate debut novel, which brings two friends of one of the victims together in a small Indiana town. Amos Townsend is the male protagonist, a 40-ish preacher who counseled the late Alice Baker-Maloney as her frayed marriage degenerated into a fatal confrontation with her controlling husband, Jack. Amos remains tormented by his attraction to Alice and his inability to have prevented the tragedy. Meanwhile, bookish Langston Braverman has returned home after dropping out of her Ph.D. program following an affair with an academic colleague and subsequent nervous breakdown. The two clash after Langston's mother, AnnaLee, orders her to abandon her literary projects to care for Alice's two orphaned daughters; Amos accuses Langston of being unfit for the job when both girls continue to exhibit a bizarre variety of compulsive, religiously oriented behaviors. The girls' crisis continues to escalate, leading to a series of melodramatic scenes in which Amos and Langston are forced to confront their own demons. There are some winning moments as the protagonists move toward a romance, although things are hindered somewhat by the sluggish pace in the early going, as Kimmel (A Girl Named Zippy) meanders through scenes detailing smalltown Midwestern life and as she delves into the pasts of the two leads. Still, she proves a wise, compassionate and often very witty storyteller whose affection for her characters is contagious. Agent, Stella Connell. Author tour.

    • Library Journal

      February 1, 2002
      Once A Girl Named Zippy, Kimmel is now a novelist as well. Here, a young woman who has fled home, unable to face her Ph.D. orals, encounters the death of a friend and two girls who claim to speak with the Virgin Mary.

      Copyright 2001 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      June 1, 2002
      It's not often that a character will use the phrase "existentially insulting" to describe a task she's being asked to do, but Langston Braverman does just that when she's asked to take care of the children of her dead childhood friend, Alice. Langston returned to her parents' house in the small town of Haddington, Indiana, after walking out of her Ph.D. defense and fleeing graduate school. Langston wants nothing to do with the world, and she hides herself away from the details of Alice's shocking death. To draw her out, her mother forces her to help Beulah, Alice's mother, with Alice's two daughters, who, claiming to have seen the Virgin Mary, are now calling themselves Immaculata and Epiphany. The town's minister, Amos Townsend, who is still smarting from the guilt of not being able to save Alice, is also helping with the children, and he and Langston clash about what is best for them. Kimmel's debut novel boasts vast theological and philosophical thought as well as unusual but compelling characters.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)

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Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:6.8
  • Interest Level:9-12(UG)
  • Text Difficulty:5

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