Searching for Sunday: Loving, Leaving, and Finding the Church by Rachel Held Evans, and Out of Sorts: Making Peace With An Evolving Faith, by Sarah Bessey, are two great books to read one after another, as I did, because of their overlapping subject matter yet different treatment. Each one explores the author's journey from a relatively simplistic belief system, through disillusionment and doubt, to a more authentic faith that puts Jesus at the centre yet still allows room for questions and uncertainty. These books are both excellent. I can't really do justice to them in such a brief review, but here's my attempt:Evans's book is structured according to seven sacraments; each section contains several chapters that address both her own ongoing love-hate relationship with the evangelical church and other themes and stories about the church at large, past and present. Her style is a beautiful combination of poetic description, thoughtful storytelling (with lots of humour, often at her own expense), and honest questions about the church and her place in it. As I read, I felt like I was watching her weave a tapestry. But rather than hiding all the knots and mistakes on the back, Evans brings the knots to the front, struggles with them, and leaves them there to be acknowledged as part of the whole picture of the church.
Bessey's book unpacks her own faith journey, showing how she has wrestled with topics like the person of Jesus, the Bible, the work of the Spirit, community, the Kingdom of God, and more. Bessey's writing style is that of a wise, safe friend. It's like she's sitting cross-legged on the floor with you, unpacking boxes, sorting through old possessions and traditions, and sharing her own story of the joys and disillusionments of faith -- and sometimes grasping your hands to exhort you ("God does not want to use you: God wants to be with you because he loves you") or pray over you.
Contrary to some online reviews which seem to have been written by people who didn't actually read the books, these books are absolutely NOT about "How I abandoned orthodox Christian teachings and created a whole new belief system that meets my needs." These are strong, faithful, articulate Christian women whose voices are well worth listening to.
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Because I love Morton's work, I couldn't wait to devour this book -- and it was good, although I have to say I didn't like it as much as her previous two, The Distant Hours and The Secret Keeper. With the latter in particular, I became completely immersed in the story's atmosphere and found its final plot twist shocking yet believable and satisfying. With The Lake House, though, the "Sadie" plot line (detective gets suspended because of her mishandling of a sensitive case, goes away to sort things out, and stumbles upon a long-forgotten mystery) felt like a cliche; I kept wishing the book would stick to the past narrative rather than returning to the present-day one. Still, Morton again demonstrates her talent for weaving together different plot threads, building suspense, and showing how small incidents have ripple effects across generations. I wouldn't call it her best work, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who likes big, well-written novels that combine romance, history, and mystery.
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Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed. This book is based on Strayed's "Dear Sugar" advice column, which she wrote anonymously in an online literary magazine for several years. (Strayed is the author of the bestselling memoir Wild, which is about her walk on the Pacific Crest Trail and which was made into a movie in 2014.) The questions "Sugar" receives range from "Should I leave my husband?" to "What do you think about God?" to "Must I invite my father to my wedding?" to "Why am I so jealous?" etc. Strayed doesn't just dispense advice from a lofty mountaintop: she shares honest, often painful stories from her own past, challenges her questioners to face the truth and live out of it, and encourages them (with expressions like "sweet pea" as well as more, uh, colourful language) to dig deep and be their best selves. This is a really interesting, entertaining, insightful book.
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Have you read these, and if so, what did you think? And are you reading anything good so far in 2016? I'd love to hear your comments.
I think Searching for Sunday and Out of Sorts are perfect companion books! And I enjoyed The Lake House as well, although The Distant Hours is my favorite of Morton's books so far!
ReplyDeleteHi Sheri, thanks for stopping by. Yes, The Distant Hours is wonderful, isn't it?
DeleteHow have I not heard of The Distant Hours?!?! The cover on The Lake House convinced me that it will be the first Morton I read! It's on my list for this summer. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope you like it. I wish Morton didn't have so few books -- but then, they are so large and complex it must take her a long time to write them. We just have to wait so long for a new one!
DeleteYour thoughts on The Lake House were exactly what I was trying to say in my review. You said it much better. :)
ReplyDeleteYour comparison of Evans' work to a tapestry was so beautifully put. Based on her twitter feed, I'm not particularly inclined to read her work, but I appreciate your commentary and thoughtful review of her book.
I knew you weren't fond of The Lake House, Dawn! It was a little bit of a letdown for me -- but Morton has found a style and structure that works for her and MOST of the time it works for me, too. I can't recall: did you read The Secret Keeper? So good: I felt like I was sitting with the characters, waiting for the bombs to fall on London.
DeleteI would really encourage you to read Rachel Held Evans. She can come across as a little acerbic on Twitter but her books reveal her to be a very earnest and honest person. Although her first book was Evolving in Monkey Town (aka Faith Unraveled), I'd recommend starting with A Year of Biblical Womanhood. It is so moving and SOOO funny. I kept reading hilarious passages to my husband and then just said "You might as well read it yourself." He did, and really liked it.
I liked The Lake House a lot, but there were so many plot lines! There were a few were a few plot lines that I would have liked to have read more about, but then the already long book would have been excessive.
ReplyDeleteI thought that, too. So many characters with interesting back stories.
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