About the Book: The two main characters, Mary Lynn and Jackson are living the life they always dreamed of: a historic home in Charleston, social acceptance, money, talented children. It is everything a person could want, but for Mary Lynn, something is missing. She is increasingly drawn to the religion of her childhood. On Christmas she attends a church service and wishes her whole family could share in her awakening. On a Christmas trip to England, Jackson begins to read the Bible and an amazing thing happens. Jackson finds Christianity and it takes over his life. It's not the polite church on Sunday religion Mary Lynn has found. When Jackson experiences a conversion, he wants to live the Bible literally. This creates an enormous distance between them putting the survival of their marriage in doubt. Can they find their way back together? Read the book and see.
My thoughts: I have spent many wonderful hours in Charleston SC. It is one of my favorite places. Beth Webb did an excellent job drawing her readers into the setting and then left them hanging. This book is a slow read and there is a lot of pre-Charleston knowledge that really bogs down the story. The characters are introduced in their affluent life style, but there is no dimension to the characters. They are as flat as the page they are housed on. I found the treatment of being a Christian in this book almost circuslike, with Jackson’s overzealousness made to appear comical in nature. None of the characters were particularly interesting, or fully developed. I was actually glad when the story was over. I have read better and really cannot give this book a high rating unless you just love to read about Charleston and nothing more.
About the Author: Beth Webb Hart, a South Carolina native, is the best-sellingauthor of Grace at Low Tide, Adelaide Piper and The Wedding Machine. She has a B.A. in English Literature from Hollins University
and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College, Hart is the recipient of two national teaching awards from Scholastic, Inc. and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. She lives with her husband, composer Edward Hart, and their family in Charleston. Her fourth novel, Love, Charleston, came out in September 2010.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishing Co. as part of their Book Sneeze blogging review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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