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Book Reviewed by:Told from Frank's perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him.
"That was it. That was all of it. A grace so ordinary there was no reason at all to remember it. Yet I have never across the forty years since it was spoken forgotten a single word."
New Bremen, Minnesota, 1961. The Twins were playing their debut season, ice-cold root beers were selling out at the soda counter of Halderson's Drugstore, and Hot Stuff comic books were a mainstay on every barbershop magazine rack. It was a time of innocence and hope for a country with a new, young president. But for thirteen-year-old Frank Drum it was a grim summer in which death visited frequently and assumed many forms. Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder.
Frank begins the season preoccupied with the concerns of any teenage boy, but when tragedy unexpectedly strikes his family - which includes his Methodist minister father; his passionate, artistic mother; Juilliard-bound older sister; and wise-beyond-his-years kid brother - he finds himself thrust into an adult world full of secrets, lies, adultery, and betrayal, suddenly called upon to demonstrate a maturity and gumption beyond his years.
Told from Frank's perspective forty years after that fateful summer, Ordinary Grace is a brilliantly moving account of a boy standing at the door of his young manhood, trying to understand a world that seems to be falling apart around him. It is an unforgettable novel about discovering the terrible price of wisdom and the enduring grace of God.
Prologue
All the dying that summer began with the death of a child, a boy
with golden hair and thick glasses, killed on the railroad tracks
outside New Bremen, Minnesota, sliced into pieces by a thousand
tons of steel speeding across the prairie toward South Dakota. His
name was Bobby Cole. He was a sweet-looking kid and by that I mean
he had eyes that seemed full of dreaming and he wore a half smile as if
he was just about to understand something you'd spent an hour trying to
explain. I should have known him better, been a better friend. He lived
not far from my house and we were the same age. But he was two years
behind me in school and might have been held back even more except
for the kindness of certain teachers. He was a small kid, a simple child,
no match at all for the diesel-fed drive of a Union Pacific locomotive.
It was a summer in which death, in visitation, assumed many forms.
Accident. Nature. Suicide. Murder. You ...
What would your Desert Island Reads be, and why? (In the context of the novel, this is a book that has meant something special to you at a particular time in your life.)
"Ordinary Grace" by William Kent Krueger. I've read it three times now–and I rarely read a book twice–but each time I read it I was in a different place in my life & it spoke to me differently each time. I love that book.
-Carol_Ann_Robb
What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (10/09/2025)
I am reading This Tender Land and finished Ordinary Grace last week. Enjoying William Kent Krueger for a bit!
-Donna_J
What audience would you recommend Broken Country to? Is there another book or author you’d recommend that you feel has a similar theme or style?
I would recommend it to Book Clubs. It has a few good themes to discuss, a few of them would lead to a great discussion. To me there is a slight similarity to author's like: Delia Owens: "Where the Crawdads Sing" and William Kent Krueger "Ordinary Grace".
-Lillian_T
Do you have a favorite quote from a book?
It's too long to share here but the sermon given by Karl Drum in William Kent Krueger's "Ordinary Grace" has resonated with me since the first time I read it. It's in Chapter 24, beginning on page 194 in the hardback edition. I go back to it whenever I need to be reminded that no matter how dark ...
-Carol_Ann_Robb
What are you reading this week? (7/2/2025)
After finishing "Wild Dark Shore" by Charlotte McConaghy, I picked up "Booth" by Karen Joy Fowler. William Kent Krueger's "Ordinary Grace" is waiting to be re-read next (all for our public library's summer reading program for adults).
-Carol_Ann_Robb
To what audience would you recommend The Girls of Good Fortune? Is there another book or author you feel has a similar theme or style?
The Girls of Good Fortune is another must-read volume for fans of historical fiction by the very talented Kristina McMorris, whose other books include The Ways We Hide , Sold on a Monday , The Edge of Lost, Bridge of Scarlet Leaves , and Letters from Home . I also recommend historical fiction by ...
-Janie-Hickok-Siess
What are you reading this week? (6/19/025)
...said I was reading Darker Than the Sky and was having difficulty getting into it, but would finish it. Hate to admit it, but I gave up. Just finished Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger and the title is so appropriate for this book. Despite being a mystery, there is such a quiet beauty to this book. Still listening to The 1619 Projec...
-Lana_Maskus
Which books will you take on vacation?
My husband and I won't be doing vacation this summer, but have a 12 hour round trip drive later this week for a funeral. I hope to get William Kent Krueger's Ordinary Grace read for my book club's meeting next week. Will also be taking along The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson. Whether I get them r...
-Lana_Maskus
All time favorite book club books?
...St. Martin's Press) 3.16% 7 Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese (2009, Knopf) 2.91% 8 Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (2022, Harper) 2.78% 9 Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (2013, Atria) 2.41% 10 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018, G.P. Putnam's Sons) 2.15%
-nick
What book or books are you reading this week? (01/09/2025)
...ler. The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair which was very different from what I expected, but quite interesting. The English Girl by Daniel Silva, Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, and The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl. Listened to an audio of Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer and was enthralled throughout. Worth...
-Linda_O_donnell
Book Suggestions - Ones I LOVED
When I did Readers Advisory while working at the public library, I always suggested "Ordinary Grace" & "River We Remember" by William Kent Krueger, "Boys in the Boat" by Daniel James Brown, "Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer, "Bookish Life of Nina Hill" by Abi Waxma...
-Carol_Ann_Robb
Edgar Awards
2014
Ordinary Grace is an entertaining mystery with some rather emotional content at its heart. In addition to an engaging plot, the book is thought-provoking and, at times, quite poignant. Those looking for a character-driven mystery with content that goes beyond the standard police procedural will find this one worth perusing, and book clubs in particular will find the novel provides many topics for discussion...continued
Full Review
(828 words)
(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Live by Night and The Given Day
A pitch-perfect, wonderfully evocative examination of violent loss. In Frank Drum's journey away from the shores of childhood - a journey from which he can never return - we recognize the heartbreaking price of adulthood and it's 'wisdoms.' I loved this book.Ordinary Grace is set in the Midwestern United States in 1961. Although it was a time of peace and prosperity for much of the country, many important events were taking place around the world that year:
43-year-old John F. Kennedy was sworn in as the 35th President of the United States, still the youngest person ever to hold the office.If you liked Ordinary Grace, try these:
by Liz Moore
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The author of the instant New York Times bestseller This Tender Land returns with a powerful prequel to his acclaimed Cork O'Connor series - a book about fathers and sons, long-simmering conflicts in a small Minnesota town, and the events that echo through youth and shape our lives forever.
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