Let me start this review off by saying that Leif Enger’s first novel, Peace Like a River, is probably in the top three of my favorite books written in the past 10 years.  That given, I really had my hopes up for So Brave, Young and Handsome. 

Did it live up to my expectations?  Yes and no.  Let’s start with the “no.”  Peace Like a River is an exceptionally spiritual book and faith is really at the center of the story.  In fact, so much so that I thought that was Enger’s “thing” and therefore expected the same thing in this book. 

So Brave, Young and Handsome isn’t a spiritual book in the same way that Peace Like a River is.  However, while Enger’s first book was about faith, his second is about redemption.  The gist of the story is that an old outlaw journeys to see his former wife, whom he practically abandoned 40 or so years before, to apologize.  And, he takes a writer afflicted with writer’s block with him (I can only wonder–there was quite a deal of time between these two books.  Could Monte, the writer, be Enger’s autobiographical character). 

I’ve given both books to my Studmuffin to read.  However, I would recommend starting with this book.  It is a quiet book–more so than Peace Like a River and, due to that, I think that it can be easily overshadowed by its predecessor.  Taken on its own credit, however, So Brave, Young and Handsome is a work of art.  As I said, it’s a quiet book and it requires a patient reader, so I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone.  However, if you are the sort of person who loves character and tends to savor books rather than power through them, pick this one up.