A beautifully, well written book with a well paced story. The characters come alive and the story never becomes boring. My only quibble is the movements between past and present can feel a bit clumsy at times. But that is a minor problem in an otherwise well done effort. Recommended. ( )

"I can't tell you what it means," I would tell my students. "I can only tell you what it means to me." David Grosz' new novel Providence is one of those books that spoke clearly and deeply to me. Ostensibly the story of the relationship between two families, covering a period of some thirty years, to me the book became a profound meditation on loneliness. There are four main characters, each of whom lives a private life, connecting with others only at a surface level. Gabriel Staub, the young narrator, and I have little in common, but his situation spoke to me. Living in the Manhattan apartment he grew up in and inherited from his parents, Gabriel reveals very little about his livelihood. He is a free lance writer, and if he has friends, they play a minor role in his narrative. I haven't lived in a metropolis since I left Berkeley in 1974, and I haven't lived in a city since 2012. If I were to tell my own story, the people I used to consider "friends" would play a minor role--especially over the past twelve years. My own isolation focused the story Gabriel tells, and I jumped in with both feet. I felt myself in this story, and kept thinking that Grosz was writing to me, for me. Your mileage may vary, but I can highly recommend this book and would love to hear your own reactions. ( )

[ARC review]

Beautiful, confident writing, lyrical, with an engaging story to unfold, like a rich tapestry. A joy to read; abounding with appropo ‘bon mots’ such as “But our lives were misaligned . . .” and “. . . in uncertain situations people express who they are.”

This book transported me into its refined but edgy world, through the first–person narrative of Gabriel Staub. He was eleven when a cruelty was perpetuated on his teenaged sister Becca, which gave him, as he stated in a later look–back “. . . a premonition of the sadness that would steal over me at the oddest moments, blanketing everything, as unseen dew wets a field in the cover of night.”

The complex repercussions of that cruelty are deftly traced through ensuing decades. The characters you care about grow; others evolve or reveal. This being the mark of an author who not only writes well, but is a good storyteller too.

The plotting is very well crafted. Although the story shifts backwards and forward in time, the reveals always felt fitting.

A difficulty with stories like this one is that they can go flat at the end. This one didn’t. The ending did not disappoint. It was just right and in keeping with the rest — subtle and satisfying.

The dialog was spot on.

Reminiscent of Jan Karon’s writing, except more subtle and nuanced.

Stunningly good. I look forward to reading this author’s future work. ( )