Reading Order
Benediction Reading Order
Benediction (2013) by Kent Haruf is the third and final novel in his Holt trilogy — the story of Dad Lewis, a hardware store owner in Holt, Colorado, who is dying of cancer. The novel follows Dad and his wife Mary in the final weeks of his life, their daughter Lorraine who has come back to be with them, their estranged son Frank who cannot bring himself to return, and the Holt community that surrounds them. Running alongside the Lewis story is the story of a newcomer to Holt: a preacher named Lyle who gives a too-honest sermon about loving one's enemies and becomes a pariah in his congregation. Benediction is thematically the most explicit of the Holt novels — it is directly about death, about what a life amounts to, about how a community sustains its members in their final days, and about the meaning of love and forgiveness between parents and children who have hurt each other. The title is a blessing, and the novel is both a farewell to Dad Lewis and Haruf's meditation on what it means to live and die in a specific community. It has the same spare, biblical prose style as the other Holt novels and the same combination of clear eyes and genuine warmth.
Where to start
Benediction — any Vintage paperback. Can be read independently, but is richer after Plainsong and Eventide, which establish the Holt world and its community. This is the final Holt trilogy novel (Our Souls at Night is a coda, not part of the trilogy proper).
Complete Benediction Book List
- 1Buy
Benediction
Kent Haruf·2013·The novel — Dad Lewis dying of cancer in Holt; his wife Mary, daughter Lorraine, estranged son Frank; the preacher Lyle's sermon; Haruf's most explicit meditation on mortality, forgiveness, and community; the completion of the Holt trilogy. - 2Buy
Plainsong
Kent Haruf·1999·The first Holt novel — the essential entry to the trilogy; Tom Guthrie, the McPheron brothers, Victoria Roubideaux; the novel that established Haruf's reputation and his Holt world. - 3Buy
Eventide
Kent Haruf·2004·The second Holt novel — the direct sequel to Plainsong; the McPherons and Victoria in the years after; the essential companion that completes the trilogy. - 4Buy
Our Souls at Night
Kent Haruf·2015·Haruf's final novel — Addie and Louis in Holt; the coda to his career and to the Holt world, written while dying; the fourth and last Holt novel. - 5Buy
Gilead
Marilynne Robinson·2004·Robinson's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel — the closest companion in American fiction; John Ames dying in Gilead, Iowa, writing to his young son, is the companion meditation on mortality, community, and the meaning of a life lived in a specific small American place. - 6Buy
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro·1989·Ishiguro's Booker Prize-winning novel — the companion in literary fiction about a life reviewed at its end; Stevens's retrospective account of what he did and didn't do is the British, more mournful version of Dad Lewis's dying. - 7Buy
Olive Kitteridge
Elizabeth Strout·2008·Strout's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel in stories — the Maine coastal companion; Olive Kitteridge's Crosby, Maine is the northeastern version of Holt, Colorado; both novels are community portraits in which mortality and loss are the organizing emotional pressure. - 8Buy
Crossing to Safety
Wallace Stegner·1987·Stegner's novel about two academic couples and their long friendship — the companion in American fiction about the long view of a life; the end of the long friendship and what it meant is the companion meditation to Dad Lewis's dying and what his life in Holt meant.
Benediction — Frequently Asked Questions
What is Benediction about?
Benediction follows Dad Lewis, the owner of a hardware store in Holt, Colorado, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The novel traces the final weeks of his life: his wife Mary's presence and care, his daughter Lorraine who returns to Holt to be with him, and his son Frank, from whom Dad is estranged and who cannot bring himself to return. Running alongside the Lewis story is the story of Reverend Lyle, a new preacher who delivers a sermon calling on his congregation to love their enemies (specifically citing the Iraq War) and who loses his congregation's support for telling them what he believes rather than what they want to hear.
What does the title Benediction mean?
A benediction is a blessing — the formal blessing given at the end of a church service, or more broadly any act of blessing. The title works on several levels in the novel: Haruf is giving a benediction to Dad Lewis, to the Holt world, and to the kind of life represented by small-community American fiction. The novel is also about forgiveness and the possibility of reconciliation between Dad and his estranged son Frank — and the benediction of being forgiven or forgiving is one of the novel's central concerns. The Reverend Lyle's story connects to the title through the question of what it means to bless rather than condemn.
Who is Frank Lewis and why is he estranged?
Frank Lewis is Dad and Mary's son, now middle-aged, who left Holt years ago and has become estranged from his father. Without revealing all the details: the estrangement is related to Frank's sexuality and Dad's reaction to it, which is one of the things Dad is reckoning with as he dies. The Frank storyline is handled with Haruf's characteristic restraint — he does not make it sensational or melodramatic, but he is clear about the damage that was done and about what Dad's dying means for the possibility of reconciliation. It is one of the most quietly moving aspects of the novel.
How does Benediction fit in the Holt trilogy?
Benediction is the third and final novel in the Holt trilogy, following Plainsong (1999) and Eventide (2004). It shares the Holt setting and some familiar faces from the earlier novels, but it follows primarily new characters — the Lewis family and Reverend Lyle — rather than continuing the stories of the McPheron brothers or Tom Guthrie. It is the most explicitly thematic of the trilogy, the novel in which Haruf is most directly addressing what his Holt world means and what it has been saying all along. Our Souls at Night (2015) is a fourth Holt novel and a coda to Haruf's career, but it is not usually considered part of the trilogy.
What should I read after Benediction?
After Benediction, Our Souls at Night (2015) is the coda to Haruf's career and should be read last if reading him in order. For American fiction in the same tradition of quiet, spare, place-rooted prose, Marilynne Robinson's Gilead is the most important companion. Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge is the Maine coastal version of Haruf's Holt portraits. Wallace Stegner's Crossing to Safety is the companion in American fiction about the long view of life and friendship.
Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.