Redbery Books

The sudden death of a parent can cause a child to reach out, or withdraw. This is the story of how two boys become fatherless at the same age—on the same day—and yet emerge from these tragedies so very differently.

Where was God on the morning of October 15th as two 13-year-olds knelt beside their dead fathers?

Fall to Grace opens unforgettably when Joseph, an Ojibwe farm boy, stands at the car wreck that killed his father. Sixty miles away, Cory, a city kid on a fishing trip, survives a boating accident that takes his father’s life. Now two boys the same age have lost their fathers on the same day.

The story bends and twists through eight years, revealing the true impact of this tragic coincidence. For the hard-luck young priest who brings the boys together, it takes beating alcoholism and re-examining his calling to discover true love and grace. For the reclusive widow trapped between emptiness and forbidden love, grace proves to be elusive. And for the boys who grow to become best friends and star teammates in college, the very existence of grace is something they couldn’t have disagreed on more.

Fall to Grace is picturesque, spiritual, and reflective—while never forgetting its first obligation: to be a flat-out page-turner. The story takes you to the far edges of loss where love can do surprising things for those willing to reach again. And it reminds us, none too gently, that only angels fall from grace. The rest of us fall toward it.
Teenagers, twenty-somethings, parents, and grandparents have very much enjoyed this novel. Be it the adventure, the heartbreak, the spirituality, the romance, the sports, or the “you can’t do that!” response to plot turns, Fall to Grace is inclusive.

Essays by Sam Cook, Justin Isherwood, Howard Paap and John Bates. Color photographs throughout.