ABSENCE: A SOUTHERN GOTHIC NOVEL

ABOUT ABSENCE:

Those who have read Kaye Park Hinckley's earlier novels will know that she is one of the most exciting and gifted writers of contemporary faith-inspired fiction. This latest offering does not disappoint. Absence will further establish Mrs. Hinckley's hard-earned reputation as a teller of gritty and gripping stories infused with subtle hints of the redemptive power of grace. --Joseph Pearce, the author of numerous literary works including Tolkien: Man and Myth

 

~ Hinckley does it again. Absence put me in mind of Faulkner as a generation-transcending saga set in the South. But unlike Faulkner, Hinckley does not leave the reader feeling burdened by the tragic consequences of the sins of the fathers visited upon their children. Instead, Hinckley enlightens, revealing the indissolubility of love and truth, and restoring love and life. A terrific read. -- Dena Hunt, author of award-winning novels, Treason and The Lion’s Heart

 

ABSENCE is a mystery, in the deepest sense of the word, about marriage, about fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, and brothers and sisters; all backed into corners and at odds with each other as they struggle with their human nature, and their dependence upon the Nature of Earth. JAMES GREENE, a seasoned peanut farmer, deals with two distinct natures: the Nature of Earth, and his own nature as a man. Coping with either one necessitates choices, some not always virtuous. When a flood, and then a drought, threaten to destroy his farm, James revisits a less than virtuous choice he made in the 1970’s when his beloved wife, Katy, produces a still-born daughter. Absence hinges on the decision James makes to keep Katy from grief, and its treacherous repercussions.

Free Article and Short Story for Readers

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PRAISE:

 

"Kaye Park Hinckley's novel, A Hunger in the Heart, is a story of hope, forgiveness, and redemption. It's a great read in the tradition of southern fiction."

Winston Groom, Author of Forrest Gump and Shiloh, 1862

 

 

"Kaye Park Hinckley is a writer with a sensitive ear and a keenly developed sympathy for her characters.  Her debut novel, A Hunger in the Heart, marks the beginning of a promising career in the  world of fiction. 

 

Mark Childress, author of Georgia Bottoms and Crazy in Alabama

 

 

"In the tradition of Flannery O’Connor, Robert Penn Warren, & Walker Percy, A Hunger in the Heart by Kaye Park Hinckley brings alive the south and the search for meaning and forgiveness."

 

Peter Mongeau, Publisher, Tuscany Press

 


 

Hinckley's characters are complicated. They've done horrible things, witnessed horrible things, been the victims of horrible things, yet they continue rising each morning and putting one foot in front of the other. They fulfill their obligations to each other while these horrible things gnaw at them from the inside out. Hinckley deftly presents the repulsiveness of her character's actions, while also revealing her characters' drive toward love. Fully developed plots and well-rounded characters.   --Lake Oconee Living
 

The short stories in Birds of a Feather are richly imagined tales full of finely drawn characters who demonstrate how people estranged from faith can bumble through life so distracted by worldly horrors and delights, so full of  themselves, that they don't even notice faint nudges of grace that stir in their souls or recognize subtle emanations of the holy that abound in the world around them.--The Catholic World Report