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Humanity's Grace
Salty air, low lying clouds, and crooning of seagulls near the towering Astoria Column and the flowing Columbia River set the scene for Humanity's Grace, a collection of linked short stories. Frank, Anne, Monica, and Sarah all reappear from the pages of Montgomery's novel, Beyond the Ripples. New An elderly mother and her son, a police office and spouse, a childhood friend, a counselor, a bystander appear, are all uniquely connected to a murder in downtown Astoria, Oregon.
Frank's untimely death creates a spectrum of consequences for his loved ones, acquaintances, and strangers. The ensuing murder accusation throws a trio of characters into darkness, as they reassess earlier beliefs, past decisions and actions. Other characters are impacted in unique and unexpected ways. A police officer is haunted by his past. A young woman awakens from a vivid dream of a friend from before. A mother wonders what she did wrong. A son aches for others to be kind. A daughter questions her father's past, while her mother remembers parts of the man she had forgotten. A stranger ponders the significance of a message she's received.
The characters in Humanity's Grace intertwine as they laugh, scream, and cry, do good or create evil. Most of all, they meander through sorrow and sadness, joy and regret, as they remind the reader of the startling and collective beauty of life's connections. Some may identify this book as a "novel in stories."
Frank's untimely death creates a spectrum of consequences for his loved ones, acquaintances, and strangers. The ensuing murder accusation throws a trio of characters into darkness, as they reassess earlier beliefs, past decisions and actions. Other characters are impacted in unique and unexpected ways. A police officer is haunted by his past. A young woman awakens from a vivid dream of a friend from before. A mother wonders what she did wrong. A son aches for others to be kind. A daughter questions her father's past, while her mother remembers parts of the man she had forgotten. A stranger ponders the significance of a message she's received.
The characters in Humanity's Grace intertwine as they laugh, scream, and cry, do good or create evil. Most of all, they meander through sorrow and sadness, joy and regret, as they remind the reader of the startling and collective beauty of life's connections. Some may identify this book as a "novel in stories."
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2022
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Dede Montgomery
6 books63 followersDede Montgomery is a 6th generation Oregonian, published author, blogger and retired Safety and Health Professional. She is a thoughtful and introspective author whose work blends personal narrative, historical reflection, and social awareness. Dede often writes with a deep connection to place, particularly the Pacific Northwest. Her storytelling is rooted in a sense of identity, family legacy, and the broader human experience.
Dede writes multiple genres including literary fiction, memoir and non-fiction. Her books include her October 2025 A MAP OF HER OWN, a dual timeline work of contemporary/historical fiction. Other books include FROM FIRST BREATH TO LAST: A STORY ABOUT LOVE, WOMANHOOD, AND AGING (memoir, 2024); HUMANITY'S GRACE ("novel in stories", 2022); THEN, NOW, AND IN-BETWEEN: PLACE, MEMORIES AND LOSS IN OREGON (non-fiction, 2020); BEYOND THE RIPPLES (literary fiction, 2019); and MY MUSIC MAN (memoir, 2017).
She is also a prolific blogger. Learn more at https://dedemontgomery.com.
Dede writes multiple genres including literary fiction, memoir and non-fiction. Her books include her October 2025 A MAP OF HER OWN, a dual timeline work of contemporary/historical fiction. Other books include FROM FIRST BREATH TO LAST: A STORY ABOUT LOVE, WOMANHOOD, AND AGING (memoir, 2024); HUMANITY'S GRACE ("novel in stories", 2022); THEN, NOW, AND IN-BETWEEN: PLACE, MEMORIES AND LOSS IN OREGON (non-fiction, 2020); BEYOND THE RIPPLES (literary fiction, 2019); and MY MUSIC MAN (memoir, 2017).
She is also a prolific blogger. Learn more at https://dedemontgomery.com.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 19, 2022
Humanity’s Grace is a recipe for a great read. Combine well-developed characters (some repeating from Beyond the Ripples, an earlier book from the author), a murder mystery, a coastal town in Oregon, family disagreements, emotional ruptures among friends, and more. Pour all this into 15 short stories shared in 117 pages, and you have Dede Montgomery’s newest book.
Montgomery once again grabs her readers with vivid descriptions, command of the language, and an uncanny ability to bring characters to life. An interconnectedness exists between some of the characters. But not all those with connections are aware of the others. However, the death of one individual brings most of them together during the investigation of this terrific whodunit.
The writer’s intriguing fascination with interconnectedness in these stories and her ability to show that interconnectedness among her characters left me with an amazing sense of what the pandemic has created in our world and especially our personal communities. Coming together is such an important life force that often due to technology, emails and text messages, and face-to-face communications online, we lose sight of our friendships and connections in real-time.
Montgomery's stories have shown me that the effectiveness of seeing and being with friends is an important component of our lives. And she goes beyond that and shows that meeting new people and getting to know them is a bonus for us all.
The element of interconnectedness is a balm to one’s soul when someone you haven’t seen in years suddenly comes knocking on the doors of your soul, and once again you have that other soul in your life again. You’ll find this in Humanity’s Grace.
Montgomery once again grabs her readers with vivid descriptions, command of the language, and an uncanny ability to bring characters to life. An interconnectedness exists between some of the characters. But not all those with connections are aware of the others. However, the death of one individual brings most of them together during the investigation of this terrific whodunit.
The writer’s intriguing fascination with interconnectedness in these stories and her ability to show that interconnectedness among her characters left me with an amazing sense of what the pandemic has created in our world and especially our personal communities. Coming together is such an important life force that often due to technology, emails and text messages, and face-to-face communications online, we lose sight of our friendships and connections in real-time.
Montgomery's stories have shown me that the effectiveness of seeing and being with friends is an important component of our lives. And she goes beyond that and shows that meeting new people and getting to know them is a bonus for us all.
The element of interconnectedness is a balm to one’s soul when someone you haven’t seen in years suddenly comes knocking on the doors of your soul, and once again you have that other soul in your life again. You’ll find this in Humanity’s Grace.
January 11, 2022
Short stories, linked by a murder, set on the Oregon coast. I’m in!
Humanity's Grace, the new book by Dede Montgomery, author of Beyond the Ripples, is out now in ebook and paperback. Humanity's Grace revisits several of the characters in Beyond the Ripples but is a rich tale in its own right.
An untimely death in downtown Astoria, Oregon is the center point for this collection of 15 linked short stories that reads like a novel. Montgomery uses the murder to bring out the connections – present and past – between the inspecting officer, suspects, townspeople, and other characters. The stories are filled with “real people” moments, good and bad, scenes that remind us of our shared humanity by showing us how we should act or how not to act.
Each story explores the small details – an encounter at the beach, a long ago attempted crime, family arguments, past friends – out of which we weave our lives and our communities. Read together, these 15 stories pack a big emotional punch.
Humanity's Grace, the new book by Dede Montgomery, author of Beyond the Ripples, is out now in ebook and paperback. Humanity's Grace revisits several of the characters in Beyond the Ripples but is a rich tale in its own right.
An untimely death in downtown Astoria, Oregon is the center point for this collection of 15 linked short stories that reads like a novel. Montgomery uses the murder to bring out the connections – present and past – between the inspecting officer, suspects, townspeople, and other characters. The stories are filled with “real people” moments, good and bad, scenes that remind us of our shared humanity by showing us how we should act or how not to act.
Each story explores the small details – an encounter at the beach, a long ago attempted crime, family arguments, past friends – out of which we weave our lives and our communities. Read together, these 15 stories pack a big emotional punch.
January 20, 2022
Humanity’s Grace is a collection of slice-of-life vignettes that eloquently demonstrate the interconnection between us all. Montgomery authentically shows the joys and sorrows of life exactly as they are. She shares the poignant perspectives and emotions from each individual touched by a single event, demonstrating how fleeting life is and how significant our choices are on every person we touch. Pure genius.
January 31, 2022
Humanity's Grace is an arresting abstract painting of words. It's no less than creative brilliance the way Dede Montgomery blends this murder mystery with all manner of human frailty and triumph. This collection of linked short stories reads much like a novel with its in-depth exposure of each character's inner struggle and heroic realization (and there are more than enough characters to keep the reader interested). Humanity's Grace also reads like a genre fiction as the reader is compelled throughout the book to wonder whodonit.
In fifteen chapters, 117 pages, Humanity's Grace is an accent light on the lives of interconnected people who may or may not know each other yet whose paths cross in ways perhaps only the reader sees, perhaps the characters see, but all is exposed delicately, humanely, graciously. Each character is wholly interesting and fully human. Montgomery's writing is so precise, engaging, and compelling as to render each page a masterpiece.
Humanity's Grace is a book of linked short stories, it's a literary novel, it's a murder mystery. Humanity's Grace is an abstract painting of words which may defy definition.
In fifteen chapters, 117 pages, Humanity's Grace is an accent light on the lives of interconnected people who may or may not know each other yet whose paths cross in ways perhaps only the reader sees, perhaps the characters see, but all is exposed delicately, humanely, graciously. Each character is wholly interesting and fully human. Montgomery's writing is so precise, engaging, and compelling as to render each page a masterpiece.
Humanity's Grace is a book of linked short stories, it's a literary novel, it's a murder mystery. Humanity's Grace is an abstract painting of words which may defy definition.
January 21, 2023
"Humanity's Grace," Dede Montgomery's book of interconnected short stories is nothing short of wonderful. I really enjoyed these stories set in Oregon where silence is an integral part of the story. It's almost like I could hear, feel, smell and taste the silence in these slice-of-life stories and I really reveled in the quiet of the pages. Each story is a triumph on its own, but there is a beauty in seeing their connection with others. It's about life and people really and what goes on inside their heads as well as in their lives. I loved that the characters are not heroes or villains, not perfect or imperfect, but humans with positive attributes and flaws, like most of us. And Montgomery has rendered them in their full humanity with great compassion, befitting the title of the book "Humanity's Grace."
This collection of stories has a wonderful surreal quality to them and I found that most pronounced in the first story "The Moment After." For example, Montgomery writes: "Voices from elsewhere seeped into the room, and the beeping of radios trickled through the wall. He wished for light, not flashing lights, but yellow beams to lift the dimness of this room rather than the stark single bulb overhead. The room's dampness smelled like dirty socks, and the buzzing in his ears from exposure to loud noises competed with the muffled sounds for attention from his brain."
Montgomery's writing is evocative though never sentimental. and it's quietly moving. I found myself particularly moved by the story "People Never Change" where a chance encounter with an old lady causes an epiphany in much-younger Tabitha's life. Overall, I highly recommend this book.
This collection of stories has a wonderful surreal quality to them and I found that most pronounced in the first story "The Moment After." For example, Montgomery writes: "Voices from elsewhere seeped into the room, and the beeping of radios trickled through the wall. He wished for light, not flashing lights, but yellow beams to lift the dimness of this room rather than the stark single bulb overhead. The room's dampness smelled like dirty socks, and the buzzing in his ears from exposure to loud noises competed with the muffled sounds for attention from his brain."
Montgomery's writing is evocative though never sentimental. and it's quietly moving. I found myself particularly moved by the story "People Never Change" where a chance encounter with an old lady causes an epiphany in much-younger Tabitha's life. Overall, I highly recommend this book.
July 11, 2022
Can we change our lives, or does fate will us to do what we do? It’s an ancient question, and yet we’re still looking for answers. In Humanity’s Grace, fate works in mysterious ways – a stranger putting her hand on your wrist, a Ferris ride, an old woman and a child on a beach – all moments that might have been missed but now carry meaning. Montgomery’s writing is evocative, vivid, and sure, each chapter a world in itself. Highly recommended.
July 24, 2022
Very strange book . . . .I wanted to like it but . . . . it does not make sense and is not well-written . . . . sorry
December 31, 2024
Beautiful prose and compelling story.
I'm a sucker for some good linked stories!
Love the Oregon setting.
I'm a sucker for some good linked stories!
Love the Oregon setting.
Read
April 26, 2022A good concept for a linked connection, but I had difficulty feeling a sense of connection with this one. I'd like to revisit it again after some time, though.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews