From the New York Times–bestselling author of Without a Map comes a breathtaking debut novel about love, loss, family, and forgiveness.
“If the word ‘luminous’ didn’t already exist, you’d have to invent it to describe Meredith Hall’s radiant new novel Beneficence.”
—Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winner
Beneficence: A Novel
“This fiercely beautiful novel took hold of me from the very first page. Beneficence is at once a page-turner and an artistic triumph.”
—Dani Shapiro, New York Times bestseller
A family’s only hope to heal their broken lives is the belief that love is stronger than grief.
In the hope-filled years after World War II, the Senter family has built an Eden-like life on their isolated dairy farm in rural Maine. When tragedy strikes, the close-knit family is shattered, and each must fight the isolation of their own guilt and grief as they attempt to reclaim some semblance of their old life together—if they can. Meredith Hall’s radiant debut novel illuminates the effects of love and loss while exploring the possibilities of forgiveness—both of others and ourselves.
Without A Map: A Memoir
“A modern-day Scarlet Letter.”
—LA Times
The New York Times–bestselling memoir about banishment, reconciliation, and the meaning of family.
Meredith Hall’s moving but unsentimental memoir begins in 1965 when she becomes pregnant at sixteen. Shunned by her insular New Hampshire community and kicked out of the house by her mother, her father and stepmother reluctantly take her in, hiding her before they finally banish her altogether. After giving her baby up for adoption, Hall wanders recklessly through the Middle East. She returns to New England and stitches together a life that encircles her silenced and invisible grief. When he is twenty-one, her lost son finds her, following a childhood of gritty poverty and abuse. Their reunion is tender, turbulent, and ultimately redemptive.
About the Author
Meredith Hall is the award-winning author of Beneficence and the New York Times–bestselling memoir Without A Map.