Letter from Point Clear: A Novel

A brother and sister return to their Southern hometown to rescue their younger sister from her marriage to an evangelical preacher—only to find their expectations turned completely upside down

The Owen children long ago left their gracious family home in Point Clear, Alabama, in favor of points north. But when their father takes ill, the youngest, Bonnie, who has spent a decade in Manhattan as an unsuccessful actress, returns to care for him. Soon after his death—unbeknownst to her siblings—she falls in love with and marries a handsome evangelical preacher, and together the couple takes up residence in the stately Owen mansion.

When they receive Bonnie's letter announcing her marriage, Ellen and Morris head for Alabama, believing they must extricate their troublesome sister from her latest mistake. To their surprise, they find that Bonnie's charismatic young husband, Pastor, has already saved her from her self-destructive ways, and Bonnie is now nearly three months pregnant. But Bonnie has only recently informed Pastor that Morris is gay, and Pastor quickly undertakes a campaign to "save" him as well . . .

With grace, warmth, and humor, Dennis McFarland reveals the common ground shared by these flawed yet captivating characters—setting them all, and the reader with them, on an unlikely course toward redemption.

© 2025 Henry Holt and Co. (Ebook): 9781429917407

Release date

Ebook: 21 May 2025