Slow Work

by Tim Farrington

Eli Tremaine has had one great regret in his life. When she walks into his shop one day looking for a grave stone for her daughter, their long buried but unresolved past asserts itself amidst her grief and failing marriage. Eli, a stone mason, is sure of only one thing, a fundamental truth he has learned working You can spend days or weeks whittling a block down toward the essence of what you want from it and lose it all at the crucial moment by giving in to the temptation of the quick and easy stroke. The way to work with stone is the counterintuitive path of most resistance, the patient grinding at the stone's most unyielding core. It is the slowest way to work, but it is the only way to keep the truth in the stone and not leave it on the floor of the shop. In this wonderfully contemplative novel, the author of The Monk Downstairs (a New York Times Notable Book), Tim Farrington, once again uses his formidable powers of prose and his keen knowledge of the human condition to fashion this story of how we fall and get up again. Using the slow work of carving tombstones as a metaphor, he tells the story of two people who have loved each other for most of their lives, but the weight of grief and regret may be too much to overcome the weight of their shared past—and their heartfelt, electric present. Coming soon in audiobook! Tim Farrington of the author of The Monk Downstairs trilogy (The Monk Downstairs, The Monk Upstairs, and The Lazarus Kid); the novels Lizzie's War, The California Book of the Dead, and Blues for Hannah, and the nonfiction book A Hell of Some Meditations on Depression and the Dark Night of the Soul. His short stories and essays have appeared in The Sun, Image, Zyzzyva, and San Francisco Magazine.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 27, 2018

Reviews

[Crissi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly beautiful book. Tim Farrington’s greatest gift is his way with words, how he can describe things with such aching beauty. I love reading his books because they make me want to curl up in the words. This book is no different. It’s a story of loss, but is sprinkled with humor, joy, grief, and tears. Farrington took a truly difficult scenario and gave it honor from start to finish. I loved this book.

[Sandra Hutchison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave up waiting for the Kindle edition and don't regret it. This is a lovely, lyrical, wry novel about the kind of holy "slow work" done by those who help us cope with the emotionally fraught border between life and death. The hero is continuing his grandfather's art of gravestone masonry. While I am no fan of geology myself, stone and the art of working it is brought very beautifully to life here. (I couldn't help thinking it also worked metaphorically if applied to writing). The grand question is whether stone mason Eli will do what is expedient and profitable and, ultimately, may get him a second chance with the love of his life, or stick to what he considers beautiful and true and eternal. As a reader, I was satisfied with his choice. SLOW WORK is a Christian novel that shares little in common with the pieties that dominate that genre today. Highly recommended for those interested in the contemplative life, or in watching a sympathetic character wrestle with his own morality, needs, desires, pain, and understanding in the face of truly enormous temptation.
I should probably disclose that I consider Tim Farrington a friend and a fellow writer who has been more than generous to me. That doesn't mean I'll review a book I find significantly frustrating. In this case I have no hesitation in recommending this book to literary readers, especially those with a spiritual bent.

[Sarah Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Latest from Tim Farrington.

SLOW WORK lovely, compassionate book about quiet, ordinary lives; how they fall apart and then come back together again, against the greatest odds, and with the most unlikely grace. It's a fantastic book, just released, not available in e-book format yet, but so engaging you won't want to put it down after you get it in your hands.
https://www.amazon.com/Slow-Work-Tim-...

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite books of all time. Sometimes Farrington's sentences bring me to my knees with their beauty.

That said, this was one of the WORST Kindle versions I've ever seen. Sometimes ten sentences break in the middle into a new paragraph on one page. I've made handsome Kindle books, and I'm going to try to offer to do that for this book.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about being a decent human being.

[Deedra · Rating 4 out of 5]

audible:Excellent book.Moody,lovely,well told. Edison McDaniels was a fine narrator.I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.'