The Presence of Absence

Named a "Reader's Choice" for 1998 by The Boston Globe

When she was twenty-seven, Doris Grumbach was visited by what she recognized as the presence of God. For a woman with no religious education or faith, the event was as unexpected as it was joyful. It was also never repeated. In The Presence of Absence, Grumbach recollects her quest to recover the sense of God's presence through formal worship, private devotion, and the study of literary accounts of epiphany. Her account is a moving and inspiring journey through "spiritual radiance," faith, and love.Bracingly candid and lyrically written. . . . Deserves to be as highly ranked as any work of spirituality since the writings of Thomas Merton. --Colman McCarthy, The Washington Post Book World

"A candid, personal journal full of blind alleys, stumbles, yearning, and inspiration." --The Boston Globe

"[Grumbach] writes so beautifully, her book is a gift to all, including those not considering a plunge into the cold water of silent singularity" -Brinkley Craft Goranson, The Virginian-Pilot

"Graceful and elegant prose." --Publishers WeeklyDoris Grumbach is author of Coming into the End Zone, Extra Innings, Fifty Days of Solitude, Life in a Day, and six novels. She has been literary editor of The New Republic, a nonfiction columnist for The New York Times Book Review, and a book reviewer for National Public Radio. She lives in Maine.