Named a Notable African-American Title by Publishers Weekly
"In this vivid, suspenseful, funny, and compassionate novel of epiphanies, tragedies, and transformations, May drills down to our bedrock assumptions about ourselves, our values, and our communities. As sturdy as a Chicago bungalow and bursting with life, Mayβs debut is perfect for book clubs."
--Booklist (starred review)
"Mayβs expansive first novel reveals the complicated emotional economy that holds together a neighborhood in crisisβ¦Mayβs vivid descriptions of the rhythms of life in the suburbβ¦reveal vibrant lives in ordinary houses."
--Publishers Weekly
"May slowly builds suspense as he persuasively unfolds the narrative in this work that reads like an Agatha Christie mystery. The characters, even those whose names are never mentioned, are versatile and relatable, and Mayβs descriptions embody a tapestry of words."
--Library Journal
"A perceptive and entrancing meditation on friendship and family, love and forgiveness."
--Kirkus Reviews
"The depth and the magnetism and the humor of Eric Charles Mayβs truly unforgettable characters makes this a neighborhood well worth visiting."
--New York Journal of Books
"Bedrock Faith is an entertaining and heartfelt novel, and it provides an important look at a side of Chicago that is under-represented in today's literary fiction."
--Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
"Eric Charles May is a gem of a writer."
--I've Read This
"A wonderful urban novel full of vitality and pathos and grit. I dug the ever-living hell out of it."
--Dennis Lehane, author of Live By Night
"In Bedrock Faith , Eric Charles May has created a world inhabited by unforgettable, believable charactersβthe fervid Stew Pot Reeves, the patient Mrs. Motleyβwho will linger in your heart long after you've finished their story. A bittersweet, timeless book."
--Valerie Wilson Wesley, author of Dying in the Dark
"An impressive debut with unforgettable characters and an epic story line by an author who has appeared on the literary landscape fully formed."
--Colin Channer, author of The Girl with the Golden Shoes
After fourteen years in prison, Gerald "Stew Pot" Reeves, age thirty-one, returns home to live with his mom in Parkland, a black middle-class neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. A frightening delinquent before being sent away, his return sends Parkland residents into a religiously infused tailspin, which only increases when Stew Pot announces that he experienced a religious awakening in prison.
**