Shortlisted for the Folio Prize One long last summer for Dad Lewis in his beloved town Holt Colorado As old friends pass in & out to voice their farewells & good wishes Dad's wife & daughter work to make his final days as comfortable as possible knowing all is tainted by the heart-break of an absent son Next door a little girl with a troubled past moves in with her grandmother & down town another new arrival the Reverend Rob Lyle attempts to mend strained relationships of his own Utterly beautiful & devastating yet affirming Kent Haruf's Benediction explores the pain the compassion & the humanity of ordinary people