Bill is a unfortunate lad. Made an orphan by plague and tricked into the practice of sin-eating, he is now an outcast. Sarah, fleeing from her village, discovers Bill and finds herself unable to pass him by. Sarah knows what it is to harbor the weight of sin and she is compelled to help Bill, perhaps as only she is capable of doing. Faced with the first act of human charity in many days, Bill agrees to travel with Sarah, unaware of who or what she is fleeing from, but hopeful that she possesses the ability to set him free.
I found this ARC at a Friends of the Library sale. It is a small, unassuming thing but it caught my eye. I put it in my basket thinking, if nothing else, it will serve a place in my BookMooch inventory. It has sat on my shelf for five months and I haven't given it a thought since then. But yesterday it called to me and I've been hard pressed to set it down.
This book is so full of beautifully descriptive and evocative phrases. Mr Beahrs is truly a wordsmith. I could visualize each scene so easily, there was no work, no effort to ground myself in this story. I was there. And these people! I was drawn to them all. More than just the titular sin-eater, each character was a fine study on how every act sets others in motion. How our sins weigh on us, how they drive us, bring us close, tear us apart. This is a fine tale - it will be one of my favorite books for this year. ( )