GRACE AND GRAIN

GRACE AND GRAIN

Grace and Grain gathers three quiet, tensile stories about men and women who remake their lives with their hands. In A Renovation of Grace , an architect and a social worker end up building a life measured in patience. In A Steady Hand , a man with a strong moral compass and a short record finds a cabin, a crew, and the steadiness to set things right. In Breath , a Green Beret turned lawyer faces a traumatic event, and then works towards being of use once again. These are stories of tools on the table, promises kept, grief carried without drama, and the slow courage of beginning again. Shapiro writes in a clear line and a low register, letting small mercies and earned decisions do the talking. The result is fiction that smells of work and weather, built with patience and purpose. Workbench stories: spare, exact, and warm to the touch.