BAKER VAUGHAN

Hotchkiss’ novel explores one man’s lifelong crisis of faith.

Baker Vaughan, 56, is at rock bottom; he’s “three sheets to the wind” and drunkenly stumbling into the home of an old lover to apologize. The narrative then jumps back to 1970s Virginia, where Baker grows up in a well-connected family with a wealthy uncle who insists he attend Yale rather than become a priest. Baker follows his spiritual calling anyway, falls deeply in love, and begins attending a seminary, only to lose both his wife and newborn son in childbirth, a tragedy that shatters his faith and sets him on a different track to a successful advertising career. The novel moves between decades, following Baker’s journey to Boise, Idaho, and back to religion after the humiliating collapse of his life in New York. In Boise, he rediscovers his original vocation while volunteering at Trinity Episcopal Church, where he embarks on a path back to ordination despite meeting resistance from church leadership. Along the way, he builds a new community and stumbles through awkward attempts at dating before meeting Libby, a woman whose steadiness becomes central to his renewed hope. Together, they navigate Baker’s long-delayed pursuit of the priesthood as institutional politics, unexpected setbacks, and renewed doubts test whether his calling can survive in such an imperfect world. Hotchkiss balances profound questions of faith with humor and richly observed characters. The novel moves nimbly between quirky figures including Finnish artists, gruff locals, and even a very inappropriate female parishioner while staying firmly anchored in Baker’s very real emotional journey. One mentor’s comment that his participation in a mock wedding amounts to “a crisis of faith dressed up as performance art” is one of many moments in which the author neatly captures a deeper theme in a succinct, memorable turn of phrase. Hotchkiss skillfully compresses years of emotional history into elegant, witty observations, making for an efficient story that never dwells too long on any one idea.

A smart, soulful novel that finds hope in faith’s many imperfections.