I hate that question, and as a writer I am asked it all the time. The answer seems to change with time, with perspective, with lots of things. But I suppose one good way to know how to answer such a question is to see how I feel when an author has a new book coming out. When I think about it that way, my answer is clear.

Kent Haruf is not famous. He is fairly well known in the States, though far from a household name. But he is barely known here in Britain at all. But man oh man…..I didn’t realise how much I was missing him until I saw that he was about to publish a new book. I believe he’s written four novels, but the two I know best and love the most are Plainsong and Eventide. Both are set in a mythical Colorado town called Holt. Both concern the quiet lives of local residents, farmers, shopkeepers, men and women of religion, others who have strayed. I loved both of those and talked about them whenever I could, which wasn’t often. But Eventide was published in 2004, and that’s a lot of waiting. Despite the years and the hundred or so books I’ve read in the meantime — not to mention the ones I’ve written myself — the citizens of Holt have stayed with me. Even a passing thought will make my heart stir.

You can imagine, then, how thrilled I was to find that Benediction was now complete and due for publication. This bit of info has been one of the best things to come out of Twitter for me, to be honest. I saw a tweet about it, retweeted it full of excitement, and the next thing I knew I was sent an advanced copy to read. This is the week of its publication in the UK and I’ve waited until now to write about it. I’m sorry to have kept you all waiting because this is truly a masterpiece and a masterclass, and I don’t throw those terms around lightly.

The promotional blurb says:
  One long last summer for Dad Lewis in his beloved town, Holt Colorado. As old friends pass in and out of his front door, two new arrivals — a young motherless girl and the Reverend Rob Lyle — try to find their feet in their new home. Meanwhile, Dad’s wife and daughter work to make his final days happy ones, knowing all is tainted by the heart-break of an absent son.

Yes, this is a novel where very little happens. There are no wars, no gunfights, no sex scenes, no murders or robberies or explosions, physical or emotional. But there is a quiet summer afternoon swimming in the water tower. There is the hesitant farewell visit by old employees of Dad’s store. There are church services, temporarily lost children, disappointed faces. There are women and men, all equally well-drawn, all equally created with sensitivity, wisdom and humour. This is a novel of real lives truly lived in a fictional America which is more real in the consciousness of Americans than the one that really does exist. I think of Haruf’s novels as portrayals of the tranquil majesty of regular lives. There is such truth in his voice, such beauty in his words that I find myself getting quite emotional just thinking about it.

Benediction completes a trilogy which is, I believe, one of the great creations of contemporary American fiction. I don’t think there’s much more I can say about it than that.