Little Faith, page 22
Acts 2:17
Author’s Note
ON MARCH 23, 2008, MADELINE KARA NEUMANN DIED IN Weston, Wisconsin, from complications of undiagnosed juvenile diabetes. The eleven-year-old had complained to her parents for days of exhaustion, and when she slipped into something like a coma, rather than take her to a hospital or call an ambulance, her family prayed for her recovery.
It is thought that hundreds, perhaps thousands of children die each year in America because of preventable health problems, even as their parents and guardians pray for their recoveries rather than utilize medicine or science.
The author would like to acknowledge the clergypeople who have helped in the writing of this book: Pastor Peter Bredlau, Pastor Kurt Jacobsen, and in particular, Pastor Bill Swan.
Acknowledgments
THANKS TO: TIM BRUDNICKI, MARCUS BURKE, ALEX AND CYNTHIA Butler, Jim Carter, Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, Mark Connor, the Chippewa Valley Book Festival, Julian Emerson, Brady and Jeanne Foust, Jason Gerace, Peter Geye, Nick Gulig, Kaitlen and Reidar Gullicksrud, Bill Hogseth, BJ Hollars, Tracy Hruska, Betsy and Sheridan Johnson, Mildred Larson, Sara and Chris Meeks, Nick Meyer and Volume One, Van Morrison, Nik Novak, Ben Percy, Drew Perry, L.E. Phillips Public Library, Brett Rawson, Jeff Rochon, Aaron Rodgers, RZA, SHIFT Cyclery & Coffee Bar, Charmaine and Josh Swan, Mike Tiboris, Hilary and Mike Walters, Steve Winwood.
Infinite gratitude to: Rob McQuilkin—consigliere and maestro, both. Everyone at Massie & McQuilkin. Megan Lynch. Sonya Cheuse. Daniel Halpern. Emma Dries. Miriam Parker. All my foreign publishers, editors, and translators. All the independent bookstores, booksellers, libraries, and librarians who have supported my career. This book would not have been possible without the support of Bette Butler and Jim and Lynn Gullicksrud. The author would also like to acknowledge the family of Dave Flam, in particular Jill and Derek Pulvermacher, Kevin Flam, and Betty and Jerry Harper.
Love, love, love to: Henry and Nora and of course, Regina—Queen of the North.
About the Author
NICKOLAS BUTLER was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison as well as the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and the author of the novel The Hearts of Men, the internationally bestselling and prizewinning novel Shotgun Lovesongs, and the acclaimed short-story collection Beneath the Bonfire. He lives in Wisconsin with his wife and their two children.
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Also by Nickolas Butler
The Hearts of Men
Beneath the Bonfire: Stories
Shotgun Lovesongs
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
LITTLE FAITH. Copyright © 2019 by Nickolas Butler. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
FIRST EDITION
Cover design by Sara Wood
Cover photographs © Matt Anderson Photography/ Getty Images (country road), © Willard/iStock/Getty Images Plus (sky), © Kakteen/Shutterstock (wood texture)
Title page image by patpitchaya/shutterstock.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Butler, Nickolas, author.
Title: Little faith : a novel / Nickolas Butler.
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers, [2019]
Identifiers: LCCN 2018022059 (print) | LCCN 2018023322 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062469731 (ebook) | ISBN 9780062469717 | ISBN 9780062469724
Subjects: LCSH: Families—Fiction. | Change (Psychology)—Fiction. | Maturation (Psychology)—Fiction. | Wisconsin—Fiction. | Domestic fiction. | Psychological fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Literary. | FICTION / Coming of Age. | FICTION / Family Life. | LCGFT: Domestic fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3602.U876 (ebook) | LCC PS3602.U876 L58 2019 (print) | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018022059
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Digital Edition MARCH 2019 ISBN: 978-0-06-246973-1
Version 11262018
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-246971-7
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Nickolas Butler, Little Faith
