North of Hope » (New Edition)

"Hassler's brilliance has always been his ability to achieve the depth of real literature through such sure-handed, no-gimmicks, honest language that the result appears effortless."
THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
After more than twenty years in the priesthood, Father Frank Healy is going home. But what he finds at the battered Our Lady's Church are very few believers and Libby Girard, a woman from his past, whom he thought he'd never see again. But Libby's life is unraveling, and as she becomes dependent on him, the lives around them erupt in a tangle of drugs and despair, alcoholism and death. Ultimately, Frank's vocation is tested at its weakest place: his continuing love for Libby.

Publishers Weekly

Father Frank Healy returns to his hometown parish and encounters a former schoolmate: the beautiful, thrice-married Libby Girard. ``Although somewhat slow-going until the halfway mark, this increasingly evocative novel then picks up speed and acquires depth, spinning out an alcohol-soused tale of heartbreak, strained faith and sordid intrigue,'' said PW. (Nov.)