Elders

A glorious debut about two young Mormons on a mission in Brazil and their tense, peculiar friendship Elder McLeod--outspoken, brash, sarcastic, typically American--is nearing the end of his mission in Brazil. He's been reading his Book of Mormon, praying every morning, and knocking on doors, attempting to convert spiritually bereft Brazilians for nearly eighteen months now. He's just been paired with Elder Passos, as devout a Mormon as you can find. He converted a few years ago and has found salvation in the church after his mother's early death. Both men are tolerant but suspicious of each other's behavior; intimate, but wary. Surprisingly, they quickly come across a beautiful potential convert, Josefina, and her husband, Leandro. The chance to convert offers the young elders validation in their faith but will also test them in ways they didn't expect. As they compete for attention with the Latin Football Championships and the much-publicized run-up to the Iraq War, the elders must come to grips with their long-held beliefs, their innermost doubts, and the simmering tension in their own friendship.
ELDERS is a novel of unsparing beauty, written with humor, pathos, and deeply affecting lyricism, that announces Ryan McIlvain as a writer of enormous talent.