I Can Hear the Mourning Dove

16-year-old Grace is trying to recover. Her father, with whom she was very close, is dead. She suffers from nightmares and hears her deceased father talking from the sky. After a suicide attempt, she's hospitalized under the care of her no-nonsense psychiatrist, where she tries to cope with her grief and deal with the stress of facing and accepting reality. After she's discharged, Grace still faces much hardship, but with the help of an unexpected friend, she eventually starts to cope. Most books might stop there, but Bennett forges on and he does not back away from the stark reality of violence. This is where the book picks up. Grace is faced with more despair after she's assaulted by a gang of individuals she calls "the surly people." show more Back in the hospital, she finds rapport with a male patient named Luke, who is (mis)labeled as a psychopath. Thankfully, Bennett's avoids the cliché of star-crossed lovers. It's not really a love story, but Grace and Luke find a kinship with each other; both are damaged and vulnerable, though in very different ways. After Luke breaks out of the hospital, Grace is faced with the decision she is not prepared for. Ultimately, she is able to conquer her immobilizing fear and makes a conscious choice to reach out and take a risk to help Luke when he needs her most. The ending is one of cautious hope.

Grace's fears and illness are sensitively portrayed, and Luke’s character is much more complex than a casual dismissal of a psychopathic diagnosis would suggest. I was obsessed with this book as a teen, as I shared many similarities with Grace. I still love it, three decades later. show less