Rating: 
Summary: Quirky & Not For Everyone~
Review: As a huge fan of A Girl Named Zippy, I was somewhat disappointed in The Solace of Leaving Early. What I loved about Zippy is that it was such an easy read, written in simple language, but yet observant & well written. I found The Solace of Leaving Early to be an entirely different writing style, that at times was tough to read. Kimmel is a very talented writer, and she did create two very quirky characters who the novel centers around; Langston Braverman & Amos, the local pastor. Both Langston & Amos, unknowingly are facing many of the same struggles, but yet, can't seem to stand each other. Kimmel takes us down a path of realization as these two characters struggle with the circumstances they unwillingly find themselves in. Issues of guilt, finding your calling, and unconditional love are explored. Do not read The Solace of Leaving Early expecting another Zippy as they are two totally different types of writing. Even though I didn't love Solace, it's still clear that Kimmel is a talented writer, and I look forward to more of her works.
Rating: 
Summary: A really beautiful little book
Review: First of all, I could just hug Haven Kimmel for not falling into the trap that so many of today's authors fall into, which is in thinking that if 50,000 words are good, then 500,000,000 will be EVEN BETTER. It was a great pleasure to read such a tightly woven story and gave me the impression that Kimmel has really WORKED on her craft as a writer -- she has the discipline to keep her writing spare and lean.
The characters were lovely. Okay, I got a bit weary of Amos' constant pedantic mental plodding through books of theological thought that are obscure to anyone who hasn't spent time in a seminary, and there were times when I wished I could yank Langston out of the pages by her wrist, give her a smack in the head and then shove her back into the story, but Kimmel's resolution of the quirks of the two characters was worth these annoyances. At first, I thought Kimmel was just being show-offy of (and boresome about) her own time spent in seminary and graduate school, but as the characters opened up, I perceived there was a reason. Langston's mother was a jewel and the two little girls were haunting.
Considering the subject matter (a brutal murder), this was a surprisingly witty book that made me laugh out loud several times at Kimmel's deft turn of a phrase. The ending was superb.
I loved it. I recommend it highly. Kimmel is a gifted writer.
(P.S. I had those little cream cheese mints at my own wedding and they aren't THAT bad.)
Rating:
Summary: True solace
Review: Forget love. Forget anger. Forget fear. The most powerful -- and mysterious -- human emotion is grief. It's also perhaps the most difficult emotion for a writer to explore. But in this remarkably assured and affecting debut novel, Haven Kimmel looks at grief with with deft assuredness, depth and compassion. Returning to a small town setting similar to her stunning 2001 memoir "A Girl Named Zippy," she weaves the compelling stories of self-absorbed Langston Braverman, guilt-burdened minister Amos, Langston's strong-willed mother and two visions-gripped girls, thrown together by a brutal tragedy. It's not a romance -- though there are romantic elements. It's not a melodrama -- every situation, every character response, rings true. Kimmel exceeds the gift for language and storytelling that already made "Zippy" such an entertaining and meaty read. And with both an eye for detail and honest feeling for her characters, she joins both the emerging elite of young American writers (Franzen, Chabon) and the company of such iconic southern/middle American writers as Ellen Gilchrist and Flannery O'Connor.
Rating:
Summary: true solace
Review: Forget love. Forget anger. Forget fear. The most powerful human emotion is grief. It's also the most mysterious, and yet the most concrete. Haven Kimmel, following her stellar memoir "A Girl Named Zippy," explores grief from four different experiences via the primary characters of this remarkable debut novel. Like Zippy, it's set in a tiny Indiana town, where Langston Braverman has returned upon abandoning her doctoral studies, only to find her deep self-absorption challenged by her mother, self-doubting minister Amos and two recently orphaned girls gripped by religious ecstasy. As all of them are thrown together by tragedy, each deals with his or her grief in distinctly different ways which Kimmel reveals in incredible depth and nuance as she weaves their increasingly entwined lives. It is not a romance -- though there are certainly romantic elements. It is not a melodrama -- at least not in any contrived way, in that every note of the story rings true to the people and situations. What "Solace" is is a confident and immensely readable work from a young writer with a true gift for language, feeling for her characters and the mysticism of everyday life. With this, Kimmel joins the ranks of today's top writers (Franzen, Chabon) as well such distinctly southern/middle American voices as Ellen Gilchrist and Flannery O'Connor.
Rating:
Summary: You owe yourself this read
Review: Haven Kimmel grabs you by the scruff of the neck and pulls you to the last page in one sitting in The Solace of Leaving Early. The main characters, so bruised by life that you ache for them, seach for redemption in theology and find it only when they are forced to rescue two small girls who see the Virgin Mary in the bark of a tree. Kimmel doesn't write; she sings.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite little book
Review: Haven Kimmel has a way of making prose feel like poetry. I rarely read a book twice, and I've read this one three times over the past 18 months. I've sent it to friends and to family and passed around copies to coworkers. Each time I start thinking about what so completely engaged me with the book, I go back to read it again. Ultimately, I think I love The Solace of Leaving Early because it leaves me feeling hopeful that after all the pain that comes with being human, it's still worth it to come along for the wobbly ride on this overpopulated planet. How to describe it? It features a cast of quirky characters in small-town Indiana and tells a tragic, often funny, story about how their lives weave together in love, compassion, and hope after horrific loss. I immediately found the self-doubting minister, Amos Townsend, endearing. (Picture a pious Hugh Grant.) He's the quintessential poster child for existential angst. Langston Braverman's character will probably annoy you at first, but hang in there--she eventually will win you over. A self-absorbed graduate student, Langston bags her Ph.D. program in the wake of a disastrous love affair with one of her professors. At home, licking her wounds and hiding out with her faithful dog, Germane, she finds herself drawn into the lives of Amos and two orphaned sisters. The little girls, Immaculata and Epiphany, turn to religious visions after watching their parents' violent deaths. Even so, you will laugh as often as you cry, because Haven Kimmel has a gift for funny and wry dialogue. The ending is...priceless! You don't want to miss this book.
Rating:
Summary: An exquisite little book
Review: Haven Kimmel has a way of making prose feel like poetry. I rarely read a book twice, and I've read this one three times over the past 18 months. I've sent it to friends and to family and passed around copies to coworkers. Each time I start thinking about what so completely engaged me with the book, I go back to read it again. Ultimately, I think I love The Solace of Leaving Early because it leaves me feeling hopeful that after all the pain that comes with being human, it's still worth it to come along for the wobbly ride on this overpopulated planet. How to describe it? It features a cast of quirky characters in small-town Indiana and tells a tragic, often funny, story about how their lives weave together in love, compassion, and hope after horrific loss. I immediately found the self-doubting minister, Amos Townsend, endearing. (Picture a pious Hugh Grant.) He's the quintessential poster child for existential angst. Langston Braverman's character will probably annoy you at first, but hang in there--she eventually will win you over. A self-absorbed graduate student, Langston bags her Ph.D. program in the wake of a disastrous love affair with one of her professors. At home, licking her wounds and hiding out with her faithful dog, Germane, she finds herself drawn into the lives of Amos and two orphaned sisters. The little girls, Immaculata and Epiphany, turn to religious visions after watching their parents' violent deaths. Even so, you will laugh as often as you cry, because Haven Kimmel has a gift for funny and wry dialogue. The ending is...priceless! You don't want to miss this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Truly a treasure
Review: I am a committed Haven Kimmel fan after reading this very well-written book by an obviously erudite, well-read author. Once I had read a few chapters, I was hooked on Langston, her family, and Amos' relationship(s). This is a novel to be savored because each paragraph holds unexpected nuggets. I found the literary references to be thought-provoking, the details of each person's life to be exquisitely crafted and the humor to be sharp. I felt as if I knew this small town in Indiana quite intimately by the time Langston met daily with Alice's daughters. I majored in English at Indiana University, so I also appreciated Langston's observations of the academics who reign in their own narrow world. I cannot wait to read "A Girl Named Zippy" and anything else written by this very talented author.
Rating:
Summary: The solace of finding a great book
Review: I am so glad I found this book and Haven Kimmel--what a writer. The prose is wonderful, the kind of writing where you go back over sentences to feel the beauty and the craft of a perfect phrase--over and over. I haven't read a book like this in so long, it had no cliches, no tiresome plot devices, just a funny, sad, sweet, well thought out story. Kimmel brings the characters together in a perfectly believeable way, it always rings true. Spend a few days (you don't want to give this book up too soon) with Langston, Amos, Germane, Alice's the sweet wounded daughters and all the major and minor characters that are written so clearly. Read it at least once!
Rating:
Summary: Moving and Brilliant
Review: I interrupted a much needed vacation to review this book for Newsday because it is so stunningly wise and fresh and funny and moving and smart -- a rare combination -- Haven Kimmel is a rare combination herself, a writer who is very smart, and knows a lot, but not arty or pretentious -- she has that astounding combination of fluid, simple language, perfect narrative pacing, and huge heart that Willa Cather had -- but she's much funnier than Cather. It's a joy, this book. This writer, for that matter. If you haven't read Zippy either, get them both and I envy you having them both before you.
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