Tompkins’ experience in the legal system (she was a mediator and judicial officer) exposed her to great tragedy, and this background informs her empathetic exploration of her characters’ lives. She writes about mental health and faith, particularly Isaac’s Quaker beliefs, without sentimentalizing or damning her characters’ experiences. In the novel, faith is simply part of life, a reality that is rarely so sensitively portrayed in fiction.

... a poignant and suspenseful debut novel about the tensions of love, anger, courage, forgiveness and everything in between. Set in a coastal Washington town rocked by a shocking tragedy, JoAnne Tompkins’ first book is an unforgettable story of life after loss ... a propulsive read that explores the after-effects of tragedy. There is much to be said for Tompkins’ weaving of anger and grief, love and forgiveness, but it is Evangeline and Isaac who make the novel unforgettable ... Tompkins is incredibly skilled at taking huge, universal themes and packing them into tight, intimate scenes, never once losing the strength or gut punch of the emotions behind them ... As utterly moving and poignant as the book is, I found some of Tompkins' choices a bit jarring. While Isaac’s chapters are written in first-person, Evangeline’s are in third, and the transition between the two could be distracting. There were also some subplots, like the plight of Isaac’s coworker, that felt extraneous to the main storyline. With so much potential and tension in the relationships between Isaac, Evangeline and Lorrie, anything that took the spotlight away from them felt vestigial ... an impressive debut by an author who is clearly here to stay.

While various locations are well-described, none of them really matter. Whether the interactions between the characters occur on a moon-lit sailboat, at an austere Quaker meeting hall, or in a noisy high school cafeteria, the setting is often irrelevant. The action takes place inside the heads and hearts of the narrative characters and the people with whom they interact. The narration technique itself is unique ... Ms. Tompkins is clearly a student of human nature. She captures tiny gestures and nuances of behavior that are telling, yet commonly pass unnoticed ... Sometimes reading more like psychological or philosophical musings on how people perceive themselves rather than like an actual novel, Ms. Tompkins delves into the interior lives of her characters ... The characters in this book willfully fabricate reality, wrap themselves in gauzy curtains, in an attempt to avoid the unpleasantness of their existence ... Although bleak, this novel of individual reflection and anguish ultimately resurrects the prospect of hope.

Tompkins has written a stirring and excellent story of loss, silence, forgiveness, Quakerism, and faith. Each of her characters are fully realized, and though their actions may at times disappoint readers, their motivations are understandable. Book discussion groups, as well as fans of Annie Dillard, Ann Patchett, and Marilynne Robinson, will love this debut novel about humankind’s connections to one another and to the divine.

All of this abundant material is deftly handled by Tompkins, who employs three different and very individual voices to tell her challenging tale: Isaac’s and Jonah’s stories are told in first person, while Evangeline’s is revealed at a remove in third person. The tone? It’s almost relentlessly morose and melancholy, but that’s not bad; in fact, the novel is very good but emotionally difficult to read. As for the characters: they are examined in microscopic detail, readers coming to know them almost better than they know themselves. Expect some tears before the story ends, but also admire the art that the author brings to this exceptional literary thriller.

... intense ... Chapters from Jonah’s point of view can be wrenching, especially when he reflects on good versus evil and his experiences in Quaker meetings, but at other times they fall flat and feel overstuffed with exposition. Tompkins’s strong point is in deepening the emotional complexities of each character’s actions with well-placed backstory, as with Lorrie’s and Peter’s involvement in the stories of Jonah and Evangeline. While anger, loss, and grief dominate the characters’ lives, forgiveness and connection ease the pain. At its best, this illuminates the limits of faith when facing the darker corners of human behavior.

Making an appealing debut, Tompkins spins a tender tale of wounded souls anguished by loss and grief, yearning for love and forgiveness ... Like Anne Tyler and Marilynne Robinson, who explore similar territories of the heart, Tompkins sensitively portrays her characters’ pain, isolation, and hard path to redemption ... A graceful debut.