STORY SUMMARY
The Nolan family live in a small town in North Texas. Luke, the patriarch of the family has led the Hope Church congregation for more than 10 years. It's a "megachurch" and more on the legalistic side of Evangelical. His wife Ruthie, and his two daughters, Abigail and Caroline, have been by his side as they all model a life of what appears to be righteousness.
Luke was made famous by a sermon on purity that went viral overnight. In fact, Abigail, the oldest daughter, helped write this sermon when she was only a sophomore in high school. She is now a college graduate and engaged to be married to an upstanding Christian guy named Matthew who is from Midland, Texas.
Luke is the typical southern Evangelical pastor: handsome, charismatic speaker, tall, with a booming voice.
His younger daughter, Caroline, just out of high school, has begun to notice some "cracks" in this comfortable life. She is convinced her sister is about to marry the wrong man. And Caroline has slipped into sin with a boy she's known her whole life and who happens to be the son of one of the women in leadership at the church. Caroline is beginning to wonder why God would care about her virginity anyways!
Five weeks before Abigail's wedding, in the middle of the summer, it comes to light that Luke and a single mom from the congregation have been having an affair! LUke has been lying to his family and all of the elders and the entire Nolan family is now diving into a tailspin.
Caroline grabs this opportunity to flee town with her sister and go off to the ranch they inherited from Nannie, their now deceased grandmother and the mother of their mom. Nannie's ranch is on the outskirts of town and it will be quieter there. They are now removed from the embarassing drama of their parents and the gossip of the town and church.
The sisters need to decide which familial bonds are worth protecting.
MY THOUGHTS
First of all, it is sad how many churches, particularly southern evangelical churches, fall into legalism. This church is described as a nondenominational one, but it reeks of Southern Baptist theology.
The character development is spot on! I loved both girls and felt so sorry for them as this plot unfolded. At one point there is a huge twist of betrayal on their father's part, and it really shows just how far a leader will go to present himself as repentant when in actuality he is not.
The women in this church/family are supposed to forgive and everything is about "appearances" and even though it's the pastor/dad/husband who commits the sin, he does not reap the consequences of that sin. All of the girls took Purity Pledges but what about boys? If girls are supposed to remain pure, aren't boys too?? This book reeks of patriarchy and is definitely not based on what Biblical principles actually say. Luke's character and those of the other leaders in this church take Scripture literally in some cases and twist Scripture in other cases. Very typical of certain churches! And one with which I have a real problem with.
The main themes in this book are power, betrayal, adultery, "coming of age", self identity, patriarchy, Christian values, twisting of Scripture, disillusionment/faith issues, and family.
The novel is believable and I think that's partly because the author herself acknowledges that she was raised in a Texas Evangelical church.
This is a good read and eye opening to hear the thoughts and faith struggles that Caroline especially has.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.
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