When 86-year-old Hennie Comfort pauses in reading a letter from
her daughter urging Hennie to come live with her in Iowa, and gazes
out the window of her solid log house, she sees a young woman
covered in snow and staring at Hennie's "Prayers for Sale" sign.
Hennie greets the stranger, who offers to pay for a prayer. Of
course, Hennie offers the prayer --- a heart-tugging appeal related
to a baby --- for free.

This incident marks the beginning of an evolving friendship
between Hennie and Nit Spindle. Nit is a 17-year-old newlywed who
has moved with her husband Dick to the mining town of Middle Swan,
Colorado. It's 1936, and Dick is relieved to have any job, even if
it's the terribly hard and dangerous work on the gold mining
dredge. His job is difficult enough, but he works with a known
troublemaker who hates the newcomer and is determined to cause him
grief. Hennie worries that tragedy is inevitable for the young
couple.

Hennie remembers how lonely she felt when she moved to Middle
Swan 70 years before. She hopes to help Nit feel at home more
quickly, even as she girds herself for her inevitable leave-taking
to join her daughter's household. She hates leaving her home in
Middle Swan, but realizes reluctantly that it’s probably time
to be with family.

On Hennie's first visit to Nit's humble cabin, the young girl
confides her sorrow over the death of her newborn, whose grave she
left far behind in Kentucky. Hennie understands Nit's feelings all
too well, even as she comforts her new friend. In fact, Hennie does
something she never does because remembering is too painful: she
tells Nit about her own child's death when she was a young
mother.

As Hennie and Nit's friendship develops, the two partake in
berry-picking, picnics and hikes in the Colorado mountains. They
also exhibit a mutual passionate love for patchwork by stitching
together as they tell their stories. Hennie has a lifetime of them.
She tells tales of life in the mining town, including colorful
characters such as prostitutes and miners who strike it rich. But
most of all, she shares the chapters of her own life, a kind of
patchwork quilt comprised of episodes that are sometimes horrifying
and other times wonderful. Some of these stories are romantic, many
are hilarious or heartbreaking --- but every one of them is utterly
engrossing.

In Hennie's personal stories, one tale in particular is
especially significant. It is woven subtly within the novel to the
very end, resulting ultimately in a glorious tapestry of redemption
that only a masterful storyteller could pull off (actually, two
masterful storytellers --- Hennie Comfort and Sandra Dallas).

While readers experience Hennie's life in 1936 as she makes a
new friend and prepares to leave her old life, we also are privy to
her past. And yet, Hennie's future also beckons, along with a
mysterious and important piece of unfinished business that pulls us
headlong through the book until the unpredictable and wholly
satisfying conclusion. PRAYERS FOR SALE is the finest example of an
excellent read, with its understated delivery and life-affirming
theme.