Abide with Me - Tapa dura

In the 1950s, in the small town of West Annett, Maine, a minister struggles to regain his calling, his family, and his happiness in the wake of profound loss. At the same time, the community he has served so charismatically must conjure with its own strengths and failings-faith and hypocrisy, loyalty and abandonment - when a shocking secret is revealed. Tyler Caskey was not born in West Annett, but he has grown to love it; the short, brilliant summers and the sharp, piercing winters fill him with awe-as does his congregation, full of good people, people who seek his guidance and earnestly lean forward to listen as he preaches. But after suffering a terrible loss, Tyler finds it difficult returning to himself as he once was. He hasn't had The Feeling-that God is all around him, in the beauty of the land-for quite some time. He struggles to find the right words in his sermons and in his conversations with those facing crises of their own, And to bring his five-year-old daughter, Katherine, out of the silence she has observed in the wake the family's tragedy. A congregation that had once been kind and understanding during Tyler's grief now questions his leadership and propriety. In the kitchens, classrooms, offices, and stores of this village, anger and gossip have started to swirl. And in Tyler's darkest hour, a startling discovery will test his congregation's humanity-and his own will to endure the kinds of trials that sooner or later test us all.

Elizabeth Strout's tenure as a lawyer (six months) was slightly longer than her career as a stand-up comedian (one night). She has also worked as a bartender, waitress and piano player at bars across the USA. She now teaches literature in New York, where she lives with her husband and daughter.