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thread of grace: book of the month

Thread of grace is a superb novel. Set in Italy in WW2, and based on reality, it explores the hospitality extended by Italians to Jews fleeing the Nazi Holocaust. Russell moves effortlessly between Italian Catholics, Italian Jews and occupying Germans, to offer an absorbing and emotionally draining work of art.

Thread of Grace is the 3rd art of fiction from the imaginative pen of Mary Doria Russell. I first discovered The sparrow and then the sequel, Children of God. Both are works of sci-fi, that also explore themes of grace and redemption with the same absorbing emotional intensity.

Thread of Grace made me glad to be human. Russell is never a rose-tinted writer. She confronts the worst of humanity. Yet through characterisation, plot and tender attention to detail, she manages to weave a redemptive tapestry. For the spiritually alert, themes of hospitality toward the stranger, the extent of grace and the potential for human redemption, are worth discussing with friends long into the night.

For more of Steve’s book of the month recommendations, go here.