Ruthie
is a Catholic...well, sort of. She had married Jeremiah when he had
been working on Wall Street. The son of a wealthy investor, he was
making his way in his father's footsteps. Until he had the dream,
that is. The dream that ultimately led him to leave Wall Street for a
megachurch financial position. That meant Ruthie had a problem. She
didn't really have the faith of her Protestant husband. Could a
pastor's wife not be a believer?
Ginger
was a woman with a colorful past. She'd been quite a successful porn
star until one night at a party, as she was tending bar, she caught
the eye of a preacher's son. For Timothy, it was love, never mind her
past. And it became her past that day. But now, Timothy is so active
in his overseas ministry he is hardly ever home. Ginger daydreams of
being free of it all. Free of pretending to be the perfect wife and
mother.
And
Candace Green, wife of megachurch pastor Aaron Green. Aaron and
Candace had been at Greenleaf in Atlanta for twenty five years. It
had been just three years since the 28 million dollar campus opened.
Aaron with his multi-faith work and his million dollar salary. But
behind it all was Candace and her de facto role as chief operating
officer of the church. Her favorite phrase, “Let me take care of
it.”
But
all is not well at Greenleaf. Events happen that test each woman's
character and commitment to her husband. How will each of the women
find the strength to survive and flourish?
What
a good novel. I have been in church all my life and the fictional
church Lisa created is so real. The personality conflicts (church
board vs. pastor), the ministries, the personnel...all were presented
well and were right on.
There
are several issues dealt with in this novel: how to you keep your
husband happy, pastors who spend so much time at church they neglect
their family, the sustainability of a marriage when one is not a
Christian.
Just
a warning: there is a little bit of “language” in this book. It
is nothing vulgar and it is entirely appropriate to the situation.
Also, Timothy and Ginger jump in bed that first night he meets her
(just a mention of it). For those expecting your typical “Christian”
fiction, that might be a bit of a surprise.
I
am taking part in a blog tour of this book. You can read more reviews
here.
Lisa
Takeuchi Cullen was a foreign correspondent and staff writer for Time
magazine, covering social trends, news, arts, and business in the
United States and Asia. She now writes novels and develops television
pilots for production companies. She grew up in Kobe, Japan, and
lives in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. This is her
first novel. Find out more about her and why she wrote this book at
http://lisacullen.com/
.
Plume,
368 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for
the purpose of this review.
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