Hannah Coulter By Wendall Berry

The gentleness I knew in him seemed to be calling out, and it was gentleness in me that answered. That gentleness, calling and answering, giving and taking, brought us together. It brought us into the room of love. It made our place clear around us.

A good book, to me, is like a prized friend coming to stay for a visit. When the book is really great, the visit always seems much too short, as I finish in such a hurry. This book is a friend that I grieve to see leave. Though the entire book felt like a farewell, I hated to see it go. My only solace is the people I can now recommend this book to that love to read. I can revisit my friend through conversations about Hannah. I will miss her gentle, quiet, contemplative nature in my day. I would like to be more like her. This may be wrong to say, but I love that a man wrote this female character so well. I remember reading A Yellow Raft on Blue Water by Michael Dorris and constantly checking the title to see if a man truly wrote those amazing female characters.

Jason came to bed last night and found me weeping. He said, "you have really loved that book." In that moment, I was sad for him that he didn't read fiction. There was no way to explain such a tender book. Tom, this is the book I see you writing. In many ways this book reminded me of you. I highly recommend it, and then I suggest you get started. You have a story to tell old friend!