That He May Raise

Boudreaux opens and closes this collection of connected stories with the same character, Thomas, facing a personal trial. In the first story, "Cain's End," seventeen-year-old Thomas survives a challenge from a wild boar while hunting with his father Ben in the woods near their home in the American South. In the second section the story jumps forward to Ben's marriage to Lisa. They have been married for twenty years and, after many disappointments, Lisa is pregnant but Ben wants her to terminate the pregnancy. Lisa wants the baby, but she suspects that Ben is cheating on her with her best friend, Emily, who lives down the road causing a tragic situation. In the final story, "Apologia," Thomas, now an adult, faces a metaphysical challenge in a conversation about guilt and absolution with an anonymous parishioner. The stories contain many fertile themes%E2%80%94sin, loss, coming of age, forgiveness, and suffering, to name a few%E2%80%94but none is developed fully. Boudreaux offers a detailed account of life in the South, using emotionally and morally attuned characters to plumb the depths of complex social issues. (July)