The story of two men who are pastors at a church together for 40 years and their wives. The book focuses on their early years as they are in college and divinity school, meeting their wives, and then the first approximately 10 years they are together at the church in the 60s and early 70s. The rest of their history is seen in a prologue and epilogue. This is not a preachy book but instead shows the exploration of faith by the four main characters and the two men and their calling. Many reviews describe it as uplifting and it is but not in an obvious way. The four characters experience many hard, challenging times and there were parts where I cried which I have not done in a book in a long time.
I have no idea or memory of adding this book to my audio TBR, but there it was. I think I started it just so I could quit and delete it as it didn't even sound like something I wanted to read. I LOVED IT! Excellent narrators, great story about 4 very different people being thrown together when the 2 men take on a shared ministry in NYC in the 60's. The best part was reading about autism in the earliest days of it's diagnosis before any treatment or acceptance.
I read the audio version.
I read the audio version.
This is an amazing novel, definitely one of the best I've read in 2019 and likely to earn a place on my very short list of favorite lifetime books. My faith and involvement in my faith community are incredibly important to me so I found this story of two Presbyterian pastors and their families to be extraordinarily meaningful. However, I've also read glowing reviews from people for whom religion is not part of their lives.
The first half of the novel traces the childhoods, college years, and courtships of the four main characters while the second half explores the years when the pastors jointly served a church in 1960s New York City. I enjoyed each section for different reasons; the writing is powerful throughout.
The first half of the novel traces the childhoods, college years, and courtships of the four main characters while the second half explores the years when the pastors jointly served a church in 1960s New York City. I enjoyed each section for different reasons; the writing is powerful throughout.
