North of Hope

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I haven't done much posting on any of my blogs, but I did manage to finish a good book during my commute. A couple of months ago, I posted about People of the Book and the Loyola Classics series I'd discovered there.

The first book I ordered was Jon Hassler's North of Hope, and I'm afraid it's derailed me. I planned to work my way through the Classics list, but that's going to have to wait until I've worked my way through Hassler's other novels.

I'm a lover of books and the written word in a way that transcends subject matter, and in this case it's just a bonus that Hassler's primary characters--or some of them--are Catholics making the hard decisions of life in the context of their faith. It's a novel as much about human nature and growth and the small steps that turn out to be huge crossroads as it is about faith, and I think that if you like books that reveal human truths in little ways on every page, you'll enjoy this one even if you're not Catholic.