Meet Your New Favorite Female Curmudgeon

 “The story of a hilariously prickly writer who finds inspiration in her imagination (or is it?), Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace is about finding the courage to carve your own path while you still have time. Tracey Buchanan is a welcome new voice in women’s fiction.”

“My new favorite female curmudgeon! Prickly as a pinecone, Mrs. Minerva Place would rather chat with the residents of Oak Grove Cemetery than her own nosy neighbors. Prepare to have your funny bone tickled and your heart melted as Minerva wrestles with the inescapable vulnerability of being alive.”

“Tracey Buchanan delivers an unforgettable and unlikely heroine in Mrs. Minerva Place. A crusty old church organist who feels more at home with the dead than the living, Minerva is perfectly content to keep herself safe behind her own walls. At least, she’s content until the day a child walks into her life and, entirely against her will, teaches her the meaning of love, forgiveness, and second chances.

With a vivid, unforgettable voice, Buchanan leads the reader on a journey that reminds us that no matter our past wounds or present mistakes, everyone is worthy of love.”

“With the sure hand of a skilled writer, Buchanan transports us to a world where ghosts from the past stalk a historian and living in the present is fraught with hardships. This author hits the sweet spot of humor and tragedy where anything, even love, is possible.”

“Cranky and clumsy Minerva Place has a problem: The whole town thinks she’s odd and maybe a bit crazy. And what with her habit of visiting the local cemetery and talking to dead people, she wonders if maybe they’re right. Still, if they’d just leave her alone, she’d be content. Then a young widower and his six-year-old son move to Paducah and turn her life upside down. This touching and deeply affecting novel brims with humanity and will leave you contemplating: What does it mean to be connected to others and what do we owe the people whose paths we cross?

This gentle-hearted and intimate glimpse into the soul of Minerva Place will stay with you long after you’ve read the last words. It’s a gem.”

“What a delight! Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace is a charming story about ghosts, grief, and guilt with an uninhibited six-year-old and a middle-aged, organ-playing misanthrope you can’t help but love."

“Channeling the town ghosts and corralling a lively child unleash an unexpected turn of events in the once-tidy life of Minerva Place.”

“Minerva Place is a relatable curmudgeon who prefers communing with the dead to dealing with the living—her secret preoccupation is writing the stories of those entombed in the local cemetery, giving voice to these otherwise lost souls. The arrival of the widower McAlpin and his son in small-town Paducah threatens to disrupt her ordered life. With acerbic humor, heart, and pathos, Buchanan limns the past and brings out the rich inner life of this unforgettable character.”

“Quirky Minerva Place will capture the hearts of readers much like the other eccentric characters who have endeared themselves to uplit fans and earned their place on our keeper shelves—Ove, Olive, Eleanor, and Britt Marie.”

“Every small town has an eccentric Minerva Place. In this intriguing plot, and through her excellent writing skills, Tracey Buchanan brings her alive with fascinating success."

“With lush prose and a unique voice, Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace introduces a memorable and delightfully cantankerous character in Minerva Place. This novel, filled with a colorful cast of multigenerational characters, explores themes of loss, friendship, and grace. Lovers of heartwarming and quirky small-town storylines will adore this book!”

“Refreshing. Charming. Clever. Shaped by dour, unloving parents, Minerva Place grows up to be judgmental and severe with herself and others. She believes she is unworthy of love so walls herself off from human interaction. Her surprising avocation, researching the residents of Oak Grove Cemetery then creating imaginary character sketches of them is truly original. With delicate empathy, revealing neither too much nor too little of their stories, the author fleshes out the ‘friends’ Minerva meets in the Oak Grove Cemetery. The pace of the book is lightly brisk. It does not bog down in the middle or go off on random tangents just to up the word-count. Her use of language is spare and beautiful. Anyone who is a sucker for a good turn of a phrase, as I am, will love this book.”

"A hint of magic and mystery propels this story of a grouchy, lonely woman named Minerva Place as she discovers important lessons about life, death, and forgiveness from an unlikely collection of acquaintances, both living and dead. Buchanan bases this uplifting debut novel on well-researched Kentucky history, celebrated tales from a local cemetery, and a wealth of imagination."

"Most neighborhoods have a Minerva Place--an emotionally reserved loner who keeps people at a distance. An avid researcher of Paducah's past, Minerva has a deep interest in the lives of people long dead, not so much those who are living, until the day a motherless neighbor boy worms his way into her orderly world--and her wounded heart. Fans of A Man Called Ove will love this satisfying, deftly woven story of hope, healing, and friendship across generations. Highly recommended."

A page-turning, beautifully written novel reminiscent of the fiction from Pulitzer-winning Anne Tyler.

The Corner of Mercy and Peace introduces us to heart-warming and unforgettable characters, including the wonderfully complex Minerva Place, who is poised to become one of the most memorable in modern fiction. Place is somewhat of a loner who prefers the company of the dead until one unruly little boy steals⸺and heals⸺her heart. Southern fiction at its finest."

"Simply put, Toward the Corner of Mercy and Peace is perfect."

"...(Minerva's) no-holds-barred observations and criticisms and character studies give the novel a fine sense of humor...An often humorous tale of a curmdugeon who writes the undead back into the world of the living."

"Buchanan debuts with the folksy story of a curmudgeonly woman in 1950s Paducah, Ky....Along with the brisk pacing and knotty protagonist, Buchanan adds plenty of homespun details (nasty weather visits Paducah “like a disagreeable aunt”). This slice of life is one to savor."