When they meet in the 1930s, Doris and Tup's love is immediate. They marry quickly and Doris commits to the only life Tup ever wanted: working the Senter family farm, where his parents and grandparents and great-grandparents are buried under the old pines. Their lives follow the calming rhythms of the land--chores in the cow barn, haying the fields, tending their gardens--and in this they find immeasurable joy.

Soon their first child, Sonny, is born and Doris and Tup understand they are blessed. More children arrive--precocious, large-hearted Dodie and quiet, devoted Beston--but Doris and Tup take nothing for granted. They are grateful every day for the grace of their deep bonds to each other, to their family, and to their bountiful land. As they hold fast to this contentment, Doris is uneasy, and confesses, "We can't ever know what will come."

When an unimaginable tragedy turns the family of five into a family of four, everything the Senters held faith in is shattered. The family is consumed by a dark shadow of grief and guilt. Slowly, the surviving Senters must find their way to forgiveness--of themselves and of each other. (David R. Godine)

Meredith Hall is the author of the memoir Without a Map, which was instantly recognized as a classic of the genre and became a New York Times bestseller. It was named a best book of the year by Kirkus and BookSense, and was an Elle magazine Reader’s Pick of the Year. Hall was a recipient of the 2004 Gift of Freedom Award from A Room of Her Own Foundation. Her work has appeared in Five Points, The Gettysburg Review, The Kenyon Review, The Southern Review, The New York Times, and many other publications. Hall divides her time between Maine and California.

Lily Brooks Dalton is the author of the novel, Good Morning, Midnight (Random House, 2016), has been translated into over a dozen languages, with a forthcoming film adaptation starring and directed by George Clooney (Netflix, 2020). Her memoir, Motorcycles I’ve Loved (Riverhead, 2014), was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award. Shorter works have appeared in publications such as Harper’s, The New York Times, Motorcyclist Magazine, and elsewhere. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

Meredith Hall and Lily Brooks-Dalton discuss "Beneficence"