TYPORAMA
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A young seminary graduate is sent to investigate strange goings-on at a church in the mountains of Tennessee in the summer of 1920, while in Nashville, Women's Suffrage comes to a final vote...
ABOUT less the horror than the grace:
“Less the Horror Than the Grace blends rich historical detail with an undercurrent of suspense and emotional depth. I was lost in these characters’ lives as they wrestle with faith, power, and identity in ways that will stay with me for awhile. An important book.” – Angela Yuriko Smith, Bram Stoker Award–winning author
It’s summer and the hollers of Tennessee are dripping with humidity and tension, the electricity in the air broken only by storms and, if you’re lucky, a travelling revival. The most famous features a lady preacher—who bestows the power on her listeners to handle the most venomous snakes without fear, investing them with a spiritual power they’ve never known.
Seminary graduate Theo Hood arrives in time to attend the funeral of the pastor he was supposed to observe—who was killed by a snake bite. Theo can’t help but notice a strange pall over the town. He finds an unexpected kinship with Minerva, the pastor, who seems to have unusual powers.
Theo fights to find out what’s really going on, is allowed into the fellowship of women and nearly dies for it, before finding an unexpected ally as the legislators ready to vote for women’s suffrage face what Theo knows to be a supernatural battle.
A feminist retelling of the Medusa myth set in a snake-handling church in Tennessee in the summer of 1920 as the women’s suffrage comes to a vote for the entire United States
"Yet it is less the horror than the grace...Which turns the gazer's spirit into stone."
—On the Medusa of Leonardo Da Vinci in the Florentine Gallery by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Robert Owens Scott was an Emmy-winning writer and editor. A graduate of Union Seminary in New York City, he worked at Trinity Church Wall Street as the editor-in-chief of Spirituality & Health Magazine, then as Director of Trinity Institute, which did deep dives into relevant issues of the day. When he first arrived in New York City, he studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and was the assistant to famous acting coach Sanford Meisner. Bob was the founding artistic director of The Working Theater and won awards for his teleplays and produced plays.
After moving to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, Bob became fascinated with the early culture of the Appalachians and how people interact as culture changes from the inside out. A feminist with a heart for people and a passion for folk horror, he explored those ideas in his last novel Less the Horror Than the Grace, the Medusa myth set in a snake handling church in 1920, as the vote for Women’s Suffrage came to the Tennessee statehouse.
Bob died unexpectedly in a scuba diving accident in Roatan, Honduras, in May, 2024.
LessTheHorrorThanTheGrace.com
Sharon Linnéa (editor) was Bob’s wife. She worked as a book editor in NYC, and as a staff writer and ghostwriter for three national magazines and websites before leaving to write full time.
She has published 22 books including biographies, thrillers and mysteries.
Her current series is The Bartender’s Guide to Murder. SharonLinnea.com
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