The Grave Of God's Daughter

Set in a 1940s Pennsylvania mining town, Block's haunting debut novel is the comingofage tale of a 12yearold girl who, in desperation for her mother's approval, sets out to replace her most prized possession and unknowingly uncovers her family's darkest secret. The year is 1942, and rooted in the lonely outreaches of the Allegheny Mountains lies the town of Hyde Bend. Its heart is a steel mill, its bones, the tight community of Polish immigrants who inhabit it, and its blood, their fierce Catholic faith. But hidden in its soul is a dangerous secret surrounding the death of a revered priest. When a young girl accidentally unearths traces of the truth, a woman is murdered and Hyde Bend erupts in fear and fingerpointing. The girl soon finds herself forced to unravel the nowintertwined mysteries and discovers her own family at the centre, then she must confront her feelings about all that she holds sacred if she wants to save her family and herself.