The River is Waiting: A Novel By Wally Lamb
S&S/Marysue Rucci Books
Published June 10, 2025
The River is Waiting has it all: sin, atonement, forgiveness and the hope of redemption, with a protagonist in dire need of grace. Wally Lamb gives us the deeply flawed Corby, whose gut-wrenching mistakes devastate his family and nearly destroy him. As Corby struggles to redeem himself, he finds moments of hope with a prison librarian, cellmate, troubled teen and others, even as he is repeatedly traumatized. Lamb’s tenderness toward Corby invites us to root for him and, perhaps, to see more generously those experiencing incarceration and addiction.
Rebellion of Care: Poems and Essays
By David Gate
Convergent Books, 225 pages
Published July 15, 2025
Rebellion of Care overflows with gorgeous imagery: God as Mother … humanity as stardust … and friendship as the beloved community that just might save us. Gates brings it all together with lines like, “But if I can tear down a patriarchy/just by holding a flower/then that is the power of God/made perfect in weakness.”
Make Believe: Poems for Hoping Again
By Victoria Hutchins
Convergent Books, 121 pages
March 18, 2025
Make Believe invites us to “befriend eight-year-old you,” borrow their optimism, and make “a life worth believing in.” A lawyer turned poet, Hutchins writes to God as a friend and invites us to return to that time before we “bit the apple” and learned our bodies were sources of shame. Her words are holy pep talks that see us in our suffering and propel us beyond.
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