Awaiting Grace

Sheila Jericault does not know she is awaiting Grace, but God does, and it is God who narrates the tale of this particular mortal. With a mixture of amusement and irritation, God sees that Sheila has turned away from the mysteries of life and love, thoughtlessly sacrificing her soul. She busies herself with fast, fleeting satisfactions, and works for the victory of a political candidate with very little to recommend him. But a sudden brush with death throws everything into question. Sheila's life is saved, but she knows she must change. She vows to "do good," without being exactly sure what that requires until opportunity presents itself in the form of Kiri, a beautiful Sri Lankan girl living as an indentured slave in a Connecticut mansion. Sheila rescues Kiri, congratulates herself on a home run her first time at bat, and quickly learns that no good deed goes unpunished. Now she has an illegal alien on her hands, a grateful new friend who appreciates her new American life with an alarming gusto that can only lead to trouble. Sheila's efforts to extricate herself from her own best intentions soon involve a single father reeling from his own near-death experience, his teenage son finding love for the first time, and the handsome surgeon who saved Sheila's life. Sheila is confused. Sheila is struggling. But at least, and at last, her soul is alive.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.