Ryan McIlvain's impressive debut novel, Elders, focuses on two young Mormons on their required missions in a small town in southeast Brazil. When we meet Seth McLeod, he's been knocking on doors for 18 months, hoping to find someone who will invite him in and listen to his conversion pitch. He's getting tired of it all, even to the point of doubting his faith. His new partner, Passos, with a "face like a tapering ear of corn," a recent convert from Catholicism, is passionate and dedicated. Unfortunately, they're competing with a big soccer tournament, so few will answer their doors--except for Josefina and Leandro. They're Catholics, but they give the Elders time to talk, and invite them back. Both young men are excited to have potential "converts."
McIlvain's prose is quiet and precise, the language seemingly held in check to mirror Seth's repressed feelings and emotions. The words skim above a contemplative surface, while below everything in his being is ready to be let loose, set free. McIlvain reaches back to Seth's years in the U.S. to tell us about his girlfriend, Jen, who rejects his sexual advances and then tells Seth's dad, a Mormon bishop. We also learn more about Passos's past and his desire to find a religious salvation in the Mormon Church his Catholic faith was unable to provide. McIlvain grew up in the Mormon Church but resigned his membership when he was in his 20s; Elders provides a thoughtful, unsettling perspective on this hidden world. --Tom Lavoie, former publisher