Ordinary Grace, by William Kent Krueger

 

Characters

Nathan and Ruth Drum Frank – narrator Ariel Jake   Grandfather and Liz (second wife)   Gus – served with Nathan during the war   Brandt Family: Emil – Ruth’s former fiancé, blinded in war, musician, Ariel’s teacher Lise – sister, deaf Axel and Julia - Emil and Lise’s brother and wife Karl – son, Ariel’s boyfriend   Police: Doyle Blake Gregor – county sheriff   Danny O’Keefe – friend of Frank’s Warren Redstone – great uncle, Indian sitting with “Skipper’s” body when Frank found them, had Bobby Cole’s glasses and Ariel’s locket   Morris Engdahl – bully   Mrs.  Klement – alto in choir, came to Nathan for marital counseling Peter – son, Frank’s age Travis – husband, abusive   Avis and Edna Sweeney – neighbors, Frank spied on Edna’s laundry on line, came to Nathan for marital counseling   Bobby Cole – first death “Skipper” – itinerant, second death

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from the paperback edition.

1.       Was it realistic to expect Ruth to make the transition from her expectation of being the wife of a successful lawyer to being a minister’s wife?

2.       Given that Nathan was a minister, God and faith were featured prominently in the book. Do you agree with that statement?   How would this book be received by readers of different faiths or no faith?   Does it matter?

3.       Frank thought that Jake “often took the measure of a situation and of people much more accurately than others might have” (page 200).  Why was that?

4.       Why did Jake’s stuttering go away after he said an “ordinary grace” at Ariel’s funeral luncheon?

5.       Why do you think Lise and Jake had such a special relationship and could communicate with each other?

6.       Was Frank responsible for helping to solve things or did he cause more trouble by always ease dropping and spying on people?  For example, he did not tell the police about Redstone and thus helped him escape.  Was that the right thing to do?

7.       Was Frank and/or Doyle partially responsible for Karl’s death because they shared private information between Karl and Nathan?

8.       Was Officer Doyle one of the few evil characters in the book?  Consider that he told others about the confidential conversation between Nathan and Karl and also blew up the frog with the firecracker in front of Frank.

9.       What did you think about Gus?  Did you like his character?  How important was his friendship to Nathan?  Were you surprised he played such an important part in the story?

10.   As you read, what were your thoughts and suspicions about Ruth, Emil and Ariel?  How was Nathan able to be so accepting of Ruth going to stay with Emil after Ariel’s death?

11.   Who did you think was the father of Ariel’s baby?  Were you surprised it was Emil?  Why do you think he let that happen when he was the adult?

12.   The four deaths were described in the Prologue, “Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.” (page 1) but in a different order than they happened.  Were you surprised who died in the book?

13.   The story was written from Frank’s perspective, 40 years later.  Regarding Engdahl, Frank thought, “Now, forty years later, I realize that what I saw was a kid not all that much older than me…blind and lost…I probably should have felt for him something other than I did which was hatred” (page 10).  Would it have been possible for Frank to see Engdahl differently at his young age? 

14.   On page 306, Frank said what he has learned from studying history is that there is, “no such thing as a true event…accounts of what happened depend upon the perspectives from which the event is viewed.”  How do you think some of the other characters would have told this story?

15.   Did you like the way the story ended?