As Straight’s work invariably does, Sacrament challenges the prevailing notion that the overlooked Californians she centers in her work and in her life are less worthy, less interesting, less human than their wealthier, whiter, more visible urban counterparts ... Broadens the reader’s understanding of community beyond flesh-and-blood friends, family and neighbors. The love and care that flow within her community of characters draws the reader into their bright, tight circle, making the characters’ loved ones and troubles feel like the reader’s own.
Straight transcends the mundanity of covid novels that have concerned themselves with upper-class social distancers. Straight writes vividly ... She avoids the saccharine tone of some appreciations ... The greatest feat of Sacrament is how it moves beyond the perpetual here and now of the pandemic. Straight delves into the characters’ long roots, how they carry their past wounds into the present, and how the desperation and isolation of life during covid affect their relationships and their visions of the future. Sacrament is a deeply humane novel about the tenderness and heartache of caring for strangers.
