Kent Haruf

Ambitious, but never seeming so, Kent Haruf reveals a whole community as he interweaves the stories of a pregnant high school girl, a lonely teacher, a pair of boys abandoned by their mother, and a couple of crusty bachelor farmers. From simple elements, Haruf achieves a novel of wisdom and grace--a narrative that builds in strength and feeling until, as in a choral chant, the voices in the book surround, transport, and lift the reader off the ground....

A terminally ill cancer patient is attended throughout his final days by his wife and daughter while the trio contemplates their relationships with an estranged son, a situation that stirs up painful memories for a new next-door neighbor who has recently lost her mother.

In Where You Once Belonged, the bestselling and award-winning novelist of Eventide, Kent Haruf tells of a small-town hero who is dealt an enviable hand—and cheats with all of the cards.
Deftly plotted, defiantly honest, Where You Once Belonged sings the song of a wounded prairie community in a narrative with the earmarks of a modern American classic. In prose as lean and supple as a spring switch, Haruf describes...

A heartbroken husband has been abandoned by his wife with two boys to raise. His sympathetic colleague cares for her ailing father. A pregnant high school girl is thrown out of her house with nowhere to go. A couple of bachelors set in their ways face a life-altering challenge. Gradually drawn together through simple acts of kindness and humanity, their paths are indelibly interwoven. With courage and tenacity, they redefine their lives, ease each...