A Today show "Read with Jenna" Book Club Selection
Charles, Lily, James, and Nan meet in 1963. Charles is destined to become a professor of history at Harvard, until an unorthodox lecture about faith leads him to ministry. How then, can he fall in love with Lily after she tells him with certainty that she will never believe in God? Yet, how can he not? James has spent much of his youth angry at his alcoholic father. Nan grew up the devout daughter of a minister. James's escape from his desperate circumstances leads him to Nan, and her gentle, constant faith changes the course of his life. The Dearly Beloved follows these two couples through decades of love and friendship, jealousy and understanding, and forgiveness and commitment.