"Hall's memoir is a sobering portrayal of how punitive her close-knit
New Hampshire community was in 1965 when, at the age of 16, she became
pregnant in the course of a casual summer romance . . . Hall offers
a testament to the importance of understanding and even forgiving the
people who, however unconscious or unkind, have made us who we are."
—Francine Prose, O Magazine
"An unusually elegant memoir that feels as though it's been carved
straight out of Meredith Hall's capacious heart. The story is riveting,
the words perfect." —Lauren Slater, author of Welcome to
My Country and Opening Skinner's Box
"Hall emerges as a brave writer of tumultuous beauty." —Alanna
Nash, Entertainment Weekly
"First-time author Hall pens a haunting meditation on love, loss,
and family . . . Hall colors outside the lines with this memoir, full
of unexpected twists and turns." —Caroline Leavitt, People
(rated 4 out of 4 stars)
"A modern-day Scarlet Letter." —Susan Salter Reynolds,
Los Angeles Times
"A poignant, unflinchingly assured memoir . . . exquisite."
—Robert Braile, Boston Globe
"A deeply affecting mosaic of stories, Souls in the Hands of
a Tender God unveils the tragedy of homelessness, mental illness,
and estrangement, and reveals the power of hospitality and accompaniment
in the daunting journey toward home, healing, and belonging. You're
unlikely to find a better portrayal of what it means to truly love your
neighbor as yourself." —Ken Kraybill, training specialist,
National Health Care for the Homeless Council
"If you're wondering why, in our age of plenty, the financial
treadmill keeps moving faster and faster for America's increasingly
educated—and increasingly insecure—middle class, you owe
it to yourself to read this book. It's all here: the big trends, the
compelling portraits, the ideas for personal and political change,
and the call to arms we so desperately need." —Jacob S.
Hacker, author of The Great Risk Shift: The Assault on American
Jobs, Families, Health Care and Retirement and How You Can Fight Back
"Red bird is an emblem of passion in a frozen world, and a sign
of Oliver's own resurgence of love and hope after the profound grief
of her last collection, Thirst … As piercingly observant
as ever in this substantial and forthright collection, Oliver is rhapsodic.
But she is also wry, caustic, and elegiac in critiquing our habit of
violence, 'the debris of progress,' and the cruel fate of rivers, polar
bears, and all the wild places and animals we've endangered, and from
which we still have so much to learn." —Donna Seaman, Booklist
Beacon Press is a department of the Unitarian Universalist Association
