A 2019 Foreword Reviews INDIES Winner, Bronze, Religious (Adult Fiction)A 2019 Foreword Reviews INDIES Finalist in two categories: General (Adult Fiction) and Religious (Adult Fiction).Blessed; is an appealing, thought-provoking novel that interrogates religious obligation and altruism. FOREWORD CLARION REVIEWS 5 OUT OF 5 RATING[Blessed] tells the story of an unorthodox preacher s effect on a small Southern town...A thoughtful religious novel [that] asks many probing questions, using a light blend of mystery, tragedy, and reflection.-Kirkus ReviewsSherry Robinson weaves this wonderful tale simply, with a calmness of tone and straightforwardness that lets the characters speak for themselves. She does this to great effect. Blessed is a beautifully-written story told by a tremendously talented writer.--Frank Reddy, author of Eyes on the Island and award-winning journalistGrayson Armstrong s vision for a dying church has everyone in small-town Mercy, Kentucky, talking. The truth is everyone has been talking about Grayson ever since this dark-haired twenty-eight-year-old preacher with shoulder-length hair and an ill-fitting suit drove into town twelve years before in his silver convertible with his pretty wife and two rambunctious boys. It s his untimely death, though, that has everyone trying to understand who they thought he was.This vivid, poignant, and heart-breaking story is told by multiple characters whose paths intersect with Grayson: a homeless Vietnam veteran haunted by demons of war; the local diner s young waitress grappling with her family s dark history; aggrieved and supportive congregants and townspeople confronting change and the power of love and hate; and Grayson s wife and his coming-of-age gay son, struggling to understand their own feelings about Grayson.During a time when communities and countries are split apart, Robinson s calming prose and timely story encourages us to put aside our fears, hate, and biases and to open our hearts and challenge our perceptions. Blessed is ultimately a story of hope and of the power of forgiveness.