A Mosaic of Grace

Pastor Tim Lundstrom has two weeks to decide.

Soon he will preside over his daughter Gracie's wedding--a blessing he has long prayed for--but as the day approaches, he finds himself dreading its arrival.

Tim harbors a shameful secret: he has lost his faith. Revealing himself risks losing Gracie, his adored and only child; his baffling autistic grandson, Luke; his devout and kind-hearted wife; and the community he has nurtured at his small Texas church. But the price of silence is steep. Performing the ceremony as a nonbeliever will taint Gracie's wedding and bind him forever to the secret that isolates him from those he loves.

Also burdened by the truth is Josephine Wallis, an accomplished physician who has yet to confess her secret to her longtime boyfriend. Compounding her worries is the looming deadline of the wedding--will her intellectually disabled younger sister be ready to live on her own when Gracie and Luke move out of the apartment the three now share?

A poignant exploration of the boundaries of trust and the repercussions of secrets, A Mosaic of Grace captivates with its skillful weaving of the lives of the Lundstrom and Wallis families as they wrestle with uncertainty and stumble towards acceptance.

''In this gem of a debut novel, Nina Navisky accomplishes something very rare; she enlightens, educates, and entertains all at the same time. The fluidity of her prose, the crispness of her dialogue, and the scrupulousness of her detail and research all combine to transport her readers to a world they may not have known when they turned to page one but with which they are acutely familiar by the time they reach the words 'The End.' Too many times when I finish reading a novel I ask myself if the time was well spent. No such question occurred to me when I put down A Mosaic of Grace.--Henry Stern, writer/producer of television series and movies

An interview with the author:

Q: Disability, in the form of autism, epilepsy, and intellectual disability, figures prominently in the novel. Why did you choose to focus on this subject?

A: First, let me say that this is not a novel about the testing of faith due to disability. In writing, the adage is ''write what you know,'' and disability has played a large role in my professional and personal life. The character of Luke is a snapshot of my older son at age nine. The first line of the novel--''What name this one is it?''--is a direct quote.

Q: Why tackle a subject as emotionally charged as religion?

I find it fascinating that discussing religion is considered taboo. I suppose it's because our belief systems are so intricately tied with our identities--so for some, considering another group's worldview can feel like a challenge to their own. But religion claims to answer man's biggest questions, so why wouldn't we want to examine various perspectives and see what can be learned? Christianity is the religion used in the book, but the same story could be told in the context of any religion. The premise is the same: What is at stake when you are part of a devout community and your beliefs differ from those that you love?

Q: Most of the characters in both of the book's families carry secrets. Do you think that's an accurate depiction of family life, or did you dramatize for the sake of the novel?

A: Well, secrets are compelling and dramatic by nature, aren't they? What's interesting to me is the fact that there's no way of knowing what's accurate, because we can't read others' minds. Secrets come in all shapes and sizes, and we all choose how much information to share with the people that come into our lives. Where are these lines drawn, and why? What are the consequences of such decisions? These are pivotal questions in literary fiction, and the story lies within our answers to them.