Book Review: Splitting Harriet

As I mentioned yesterday, this week I'm participating in a blog tour for Splitting Harriet by Tamara Leigh. The copy from the book does a great job of summing up the essentials of the plot, so I'll just copy that here for you:

"Preacher’s kid and prodigal Harriet Bisset returned to her church and her family in Franklin, Tennessee, seven years ago. Once the proud owner of two tattoos and a nose ring, Harri is now addicted to Jelly Bellys in lieu of hangovers and Bible verses in lieu of foul language.

The good news is that she has everything under control: a part-time position as director of women’s ministry, a church family that adores her, a rent-free home in a senior mobile home park, and the possibility of owning the café where she waitresses. Nothing could tempt Harri to return to her old ways. Nothing but a 1298 cc, liquid-cooled, sixteen-valve, in-line four-cylinder motorcycle—and the church consultant riding it.

Reformed rebel Maddox McCray’s arrival at First Grace spells C-H-A-N-G-E for the dying church. And it just might mean change for Harri when Maddox sets out to convince her that even Christians are allowed to have fun."

This is a very fun book. It's well written and the characters feel alive - like people you might run into at your own church or living in your neighborhood. I really liked the balance that was shown between needed reformation in Harriet's life and the fact that being a Christian doesn't mean you stop life. It also shines a light on the guilt that Harriet feels for her rebellious years and the fact that she clings to that guilt, refusing to truly accept forgiveness, damages some relationships and hinders others.

The only negative I had was that while the changes in the church to "modernize" it and stop the distressing drop off of attendance/stagnation is integral to the plot (Maddox wouldn't be there without it) - it teeters on the line of saying that churches that are more traditional or conservative are so out of date as to be useless. There is an undercurrent that unless drums are thumping and hands a-swayin' and people dancing in the aisle then God is not present at the church and those who stood in the way of progress and fought to show the value of traditional things were getting in the way of God's will being done. I don't think that was necessarily the intention of the author, but it was definitely there. Maybe it was there in a more pronounced manner for me since it's something our church is going through and I am an admitted throwback who just doesn't see the to applaud and whoop through the service (in fact, in my mind, it utterly shatters any possibility for reverence and worship.)

Despite that, I still enjoyed this book and actually finished it in one day because I didn't want to put it down.

4.5 Stars out of 5

I have one extra copy - so if you'd like it, leave a comment with your email address (or drop me an email) and I'll pop it in the mail. First come, first served!