The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush

by Susan Gregg Gilmore

Young Leonard Bush buries his lost leg and saves his whole East Tennessee town in this winsome and miracle-making novel.

When twelve-year-old Leonard Bush loses his leg in a freak accident, he decides to give his leg a proper burial in the hilltop cemetery of his East Tennessee town. This event somehow sets off a chain of miraculous and catastrophic events—upending the lives of Leonard’s rigidly God-fearing mother, June; his deeply conflicted father, Emmett; and his best friend, Azalea, and her mother, Rose, who is also the town prostitute. While the local Baptist minister passes judgment on events and promises dire consequences, the people of this small community on the banks of Big Sugar move together toward awakening.

Susan Gilmore’s love of storytelling flows naturally from her Tennessee roots. She’s the daughter of a revival preacher’s son, brought up on the land and streams that populate this novel that is, as Appalachian novelist Lee Smith says, a “homespun Pilgrim’s Progress.”

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 26, 2025

About the author

Susan Gregg Gilmore's fourth novel, The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush (Blair), will be released August 25.

Although her artist mother bought Gilmore her first easel and box of paints when she was five, it was her father's love of family storytelling that captured her attention.

Gilmore knew at an early age that she wanted to write but was first drawn to journalism not fiction. While at the University of Virginia, she wrote for the student paper, The Cavalier Daily.

Later, while raising her three daughters, she joined the staff of The Chattanooga News Free Press as a features writer and columnist. After relocating to Southern California, she regularly freelanced for The Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor.

Her first novel, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, was a USA TODAY and AMAZON bestseller and is rooted in summer vacations spent with her paternal grandmother and grandfather, a revival-bred preacher, who after church on Sundays, always took his granddaughters to the Dairy Queen.

Gilmore currently lives in Chattanooga with her husband, Dan.

Reviews

[Angela M]

Quirky, sad, and dark at times, but this is an uplifting story filled with heart. There are characters with all kinds of faith - faith in God for some, faith in those we love, faith in strangers, but most of all about faith in yourself when life is against you. It’s about loss and death, about closure , how to deal with the grief and anger. If you are twelve year old Leonard Bush, it’s about burying and holding a funeral for your amputated leg to help you move on. His desire opens up a can of worms in this small town in Tennessee as all the troubles of people in the town emerge. They want to move on like they believe Leonard has and bury their personal demons - hotel room keys of an adulterous man, a sling shot of a young boy who hurt his sister with it, a plea to God from a young girl to help her through some tough things too much to bear for twelve year old, a lighter one with a woman wanting to bury a Harlequin romance novel because it made her flirt with a man in front of his wife, and more.

Leonard is a kind boy and a character to remember, bearing his own difficulties who just wants to help people, as he worries about the sad circumstances of his friend Azalea and his parents troubled marriage . A good story reflecting on the ways we make ourselves whole again while bearing grief that breaks us by forgiving ourselves and others.

I received a copy of this book from Blair through Edelweiss.

[Chris]

This was my first time reading Susan Gregg Gilmore and it definitely won’t be my last.

[Kate]

If Susan Gregg Gilmore writes a book, I read it. Leonard lives in rural Tennessee and has lost his lower leg to an infection. Just 12 years old, he may be wiser than some of the adults, but his gut tells him, he needs to have a funeral for his leg. Soon other folks are asking for help burying items that have caused them distress or led them to sin. Leonard's parents are having a hard time, blaming themselves for Leonard's misfortune, but his mamma believes it is all part of God's divine plan as well as her personal punishment. While reading, you can see the small town with all its characters and I became deeply invested in their outcomes, I cannot wait to see the author again in May!

[Beth]

I enjoyed this Giveaway book. It's very well written with interesting characters.

[Cammy Lowe]

12 year old Leonard loses his k
Lag and decides to give it a burial. This sets off a chain of event is his small southern town involving him, dad, Azaela, his best friend, and her mother,Rose.

[Dominic Gutz]

I came to The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush as someone who rarely gravitates toward Southern fiction. Within a few chapters, though, any sense of genre fell away. I stopped thinking of it as “Southern fiction” and simply surrendered to an exquisitely told story.

This is the kind of novel you set down only because you must—because it’s late, or a virtual meeting beckons—and even then, your mind lingers in its pages, already calculating when you can return. I measure a great book by how deeply I care about its characters, and Gilmore’s cast drew me in so completely that I found myself reacting to them with genuine emotion.

Gilmore’s choice to structure the book in character-focused chapters is especially effective. At one point, I dreaded the chapters centered on a particular character I initially loathed—though, in truth, I eagerly read them anyway. By the end, that same character had undergone such credible growth, and been rendered with such nuance and depth, that I not only appreciated him but also admired Gilmore’s skill in transforming my perception so completely.

Leonard’s chapters, in particular, are a pleasure. It’s almost impossible not to develop a natural affection for him and for the arc of his journey. His story feels intimate and authentic, the sort of narrative that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.

The Curious Calling of Leonard Bush is, quite simply, a wonderful novel absorbing, emotionally resonant, and beautifully crafted. It did more than hold my attention; it made me newly appreciative of Southern fiction itself.

[Linda]

This one certainly jerked my emotions around. At the start of the book, I didn't care for June's behavior or comments. Azalea seemed very lovable and sympathetic. Both were NOT the same by the end of the book.
There's enough going on in this book that I think it would make a good one for a book discussion.
Susan Gregg Gilmore puts her heart into the books she writes...and it shows. I can't wait to see her at the next Booktopia.

[Barb]

Loved this story! Great characters and enough suspense to keep me reading all day, started and finished it today. Recommended.

[Suze]

A book that just wraps you up so completely in a different world you can smell the bleach and the hay.

[Suzan Jackson]

This was a beautifully-written, moving novel set in a small town in Tennessee in 1961. Leonard, the title character, is just twelve years old when he has his leg amputated due to an infection. The novel opens with a funeral for Leonard's leg. It was his idea to bury his leg in the family cemetery, with a full service, to help him "move on," as the doctor had recommended. But no one is able to move on. Leonard's mom, June, gets angrier and angrier, as the loss of Leonard's leg brings forward the loss of her mother when she was a child. Leonard's dad, Emmett, is trying to run his dairy farm, but he finds that this new loss reminds him of the loss of his little sister when he was very young. Leonard's best friend (and crush), Azalea, is dealing with her own issues, taking care of her baby brother, as her mother, the town prostitute, retreats more and more into herself. Townspeople--first kids but then adults, too--come to Leonard with their secrets and guilty consciences and ask him to bury some sort of emblem of their pain, alongside his leg in his family's cemetery. This is a story about grief and the different ways that people hold onto it. Ultimately, it is a story about healing. I loved it, and so did my mom; she proclaimed it the best book she's read in ages! I talk more about the novel in this video, starting at 2:40: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9pZ6...

[Jane]

Read on Kindle.
Forgot to add to Goodreads so going from poor memory. Got the rec from Southern Fest of Books.
The young boy loses his leg from an infection he got while fishing. He buries it in the cemetery with family, friends and church people. People start coming to him to bury things (sins and secrets). His mom believes in omens and bad luck. His dad is carrying the burden of thinking he caused his little sister’s death years ago. Things get worse then better between them. He has s young girl friend whose mom is the town whore. Sad story. His mom ends up taking care of the girl’s mom as she dies and they take her and the baby brother into their home at the end.

[Linda]

Susan always writes stories with deep meanings

I enjoyed spending time with Leonard and his family. I was surprised June did as much as she did for Rose. I expected her to be judgmental like the preacher and his wife. I’m glad she proved there ate lovely people in the world. Leonard was the focus of the story and I don’t think it would have been as good if he had a perfect body. His disfigurement showed others that love matters, not the minutiae we get caught up in daily.

[Deb]

Oh what a beautiful story! Leonard Bush lost his leg and he decides to bury it, give it a funeral. Once his leg was buried he felt he could resume his life. When his friends and neighbors learn of his transformation they ask him to bury their items to set them free. It's a story about letting go of the things that prohibit you from living your life to the fullest. This truly touched my soul.

[Dot]

This was a lovely story, well-written with wonderful, believable characters - all with real-life problems, pains, and sometimes regrets. Thoroughly enjoyable. I will look for other books by Susan Gregg Gilmore in the future.

[Helen]

I enjoyed this little gem of a book that begins with a funeral for a 12! Year old boys amputated leg. After that his town sees him as “special” and his calling begins. This has a lovely cast of characters and their storylines are mostly fulfilled. It’s a very nice, quick read.

[Nan Williams]

As a mother of 3 very active sons with a penchant for having accidents/getting hurt, the first 40 pages were really hard for me. After that, the story was simply wonderful. I loved it and will look forward to reading more by this author.

[Malone]

Love the characters in this

[Laura Junell]

unexpected but a story of grief and joy

Simply a story of faith and strength to overcome the struggles of life & tragedy by forgiveness and love Amen

[E]

What a sweet story about how some good can come from loss.

[Laurel]

A beautiful story, so true to the area and era.

[Sally]

I love this authors books. There is no “formula “ and each story is unique. So good.

[Margarete Lory]

Really more 3 1/2, sweet story

[Joyce]

This is a lovely story of humanity at its best and its worst.

[Molly Switzer]

This is such a beautifully written, poignant, thought provoking story. My whole book club loved it!

[Rose]

The story begins with Leonard having a funeral for his leg that had to be amputated because of infection. People begin to believe that he can perform miracles.

[Cindy]

Good story about family loss and love

[Sharon Page]

I am still processing this book. I didn’t really like it until halfway through. I do appreciate the story…and the characters struggles. I’d like to know what happened to Little Henry Reed !

[Najib Cambris]

"...a man wasn’t defined by his bodily shape or physical power but by the strength of love in his heart..."

[Lori]

Quite simply, a beautiful story

And as I often say to my daughter about such art, life affirming. In the best of ways

[Rachel Lesler]

A sweet, wholesome story about all the ways we try to bury our pain — literally and figuratively— and the quiet grace of letting go.

It’s always a pleasure to read Southern authors, and even better when they’re local. Thanks to the author for sharing an arc with me.