Lori S. (Dreamwords) reviewed on 5/14/2007 + 50 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 7

I love John Eldredge's books, so I was extremely excited to get this book for women. I stood in line for quite a while to get one of the first copies available. I was disappointed in the book, in a huge way.

Instead of embracing all types of femininity, the book pushes one toward the single type preferred by the authors: a strong woman who is nothing like "Martha" (both Martha Stewart and the Martha in the Bible who was working in the kitchen while her sister, Mary, was relaxing at Jesus' feet).

Passages like this one bother me: "For a woman to unveil her beauty means she is offering her heart. Not primarily her works or her usefulness (think Martha in the kitchen). Offering her presence. At family gatherings, my (Staci's) mother hid in the kitchen. She cooked and baked and prepared and served and cleaned and for the life of us, we couldn't get her out of there. We wanted her to share her life with us, not just her efforts. She wouldn't come. And we were less because of it."

Perhaps the mother was showing love in the way she was most talented. Why couldn't anyone join her in the kitchen and offer HER their presence?

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