A Special Providence

infobox Book |
name = A Special Providence
title_orig =
translator =
author = Richard Yates
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Novel
publisher = Knopf
release_date = 1969
media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0312420404
preceded_by = Eleven Kinds of Loneliness
followed_by = Disturbing the Peace

"A Special Providence" is a novel by American writer Richard Yates. First published in 1969, Yates' third book concerns the dual exploits of an awkward infantry soldier in World War II and his mother, a deluded sculptor living in New York City.

Plot summary

Robert Prentice is drafted after graduating high school and enters World War II during its final days. His hopes of glory are dashed by the fact that the fighting is almost all over. He proves to be an incompetent soldier and soon spends time in an infirmary with pneumonia. When he returns to his unit he continues to struggle but finally achieves a kind of acceptance.

This narrative is interspersed with scenes from his childhood viewed from the perspective of his mother, Alice Prentice. She spends Robert's childhood moving from place to place mainly within New York accruing increasingly larger debts as her sculpting earns less and less money. She increasingly slips into despair as the novel ends and Robert decides not to return home.