The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Wall, Cara. The Dearly Beloved. Simon & Schuster, August 13, 2019. Kindle.

The novel, The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall, presents a picture of faith in action as four very different people develop deep bonds of friendship through their struggles and trials. Lily Barrett is an atheist, and her husband Charles is a a minister. Nan is the stereotypical minister’s wife while her husband, James, ministers with a call to action that makes his congregation uncomfortable. Together, the four face complaints from the congregation, differences in personality, barrenness, and the birth of a mentally disabled child. They emerge changed in their levels of faith and their devotion to one another.

The Dearly Beloved is told with an emphasis on four main characters: Lily, Charles, Nan, and James. Lily stopped believing in God when her parents were killed in a car crash when she was 15 years of age. She planned a life for herself in which she would structure her days with lectures and research as a professor. Charles believed a career as a professor awaited him as well until a visiting lecturer asked students to consider that God really did exist. Charles felt no peace after that experience until he decided to preach, a career choice his father despised. Even though Lily told Charles that she did not believe in God, he pursued her anyway. Lily agreed to marry Charles though she feared she could not love him and knew she would never believe in God.

As the daughter of a Southern minister, Nan enjoyed an idyllic life of privilege. James was the son of a man who returned from war angry and addicted to alcohol. James was considering signing up for military service to escape his home life when a benevolent uncle sent him money to go to college. James met Nan at a music recital. He believed that she was too good for him even though she argued she was not. James had been taught by his father that men did not believe in or worship God. So, James was hesitant about joining the ministry. James admitted to Nan’s father that while he was not sure about his faith in God, he did believe in the ministry. Nan’s father gave James his blessing to marry Nan. They lived in London while James went to divinity school.

While in London, Nan suffered a miscarriage, the first tragedy she had ever faced. She struggled to be happy with what she had been given and not question why God had taken her baby. Meanwhile, Charles was working as associate pastor at a small church on the island of Nantucket. Lily finally admitted to Charles she was going crazy being away from the academic community and not having her own job. She worried he would always be called to remote areas to preach. Charles promised her from that point forward he would not consider a call unless it was in a place where Lily could be fulfilled as well.

James and Charles were hired to team preach at Third Presbyterian Church in New York. Even though James and Charles were opposites, they soon learned how to balance the other’s personality and preaching style. Nan and Lily, however, were at an impasse. Nan was lonely and wanted friends, Lily made it clear she was not going to be Nan’s friend. When Nan approached Lily to ask her to help their husbands, who were struggling to reach the congregation, Lily agreed.

Nan was still grieving when she suffered a second miscarriage. Her pain was multiplied when Lily, who did not want children, got pregnant with twins. As Nan struggled to accept her childless life, Lily and Charles were tested when one of their twins, Will, was diagnosed with autism. Charles turned his back on God while Lily gained a deeper understanding of Charles’ faith in God because she was forced to have faith that Will loved her and was happy. Nan felt ashamed of herself for all the times she had wished something bad would happen to Lily. As she helped Lily with the twins when they were infants, she began to understand how deeply broken Lily had been by her parents’ deaths. At the same time, Lily began to understand why it was important to have friends.

Through the course of the novel, James had been looking for a way to bring his congregation together to support a cause. After James toured a home for children with autism, he decided to start a day school for autistic children. The congregation donated funds to get the school started. Lily, meanwhile, had confronted Charles about his behavior toward God. She sensed he was punishing himself because he had doubted God’s ability to help Will. Since they were learning to help Will, with the assistance of a live-in teacher, Charles realized that turning his back on God was the wrong thing to do. Lily’s pep talk along with the church’s gift of love helped Charles to return to himself.

One of the last scenes in the novel is of Charles baptizing Lola, the daughter that Nan and James finally have. The group at the christening is small because Nan and James wanted Will to be able to attend. Charles refers to the group as his “dearly beloved” (332) indicating how much he had learned to love them through their struggles together.