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Didn’t Like It “Jennifer needs faith, Felicia needs fulfillment, Lisa needs love, and Mimi needs peace. The stress and pressure of being pastors' wives has driven these four women, all from different denominational and family backgrounds, to form a supportive fellowship where they can freely vent their...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“A fun read, I liked it so much that I am planning on reading the sequels.”
Anita O wrote this review Friday, August 21 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“I appreciated this book for the fact that it portrays what a pastor's wife could be like. How we as "lay people" tend to judge them, and put their husbands on pedestals. How they often are lonely and really need close confidants that aren't going to spread rumors or gossip about them.
mnhmslmom wrote this review Monday, September 1 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
The book itself kept me intrigued, yet it was somewhat predictable. ”“Jennifer needs faith, Felicia needs fulfillment, Lisa needs love, and Mimi needs peace. The stress and pressure of being pastors' wives has driven these four women, all from different denominational and family backgrounds, to form a supportive fellowship where they can freely vent their frustrations and encourage one another. Every other week they "escape" to LuLu's Café, forty miles from their hometown, to secretly share their stories and seek a brief respite from living in the ministry "fishbowl."
Ruth wrote this review Wednesday, August 13 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I'm a bit torn about how to approach this review as I'm single and not a pastor's wife (or even a pastor's kid, for that matter), so the question of how I can relate to the characters in this novel arises. However I think a good story that focuses on women's identity issues and struggles will ideally allow women from all walks of life to identify with the protagonists in some form or fashion (Sharon Hink's The Secret Life of Becky Miller is an excellent example of a "mom lit" book that succeeds in making the heroine a true "everywoman").
DPW is a light, fast-paced lit novel that attempts to be everything to everyone, and in doing so overreaches just a bit. Each of the four pastors' wives profiled are basically one-issue women, which leaves them feeling a bit flat, like cardboard cut-out characters. Being "types" allows the authors provide a nice "peek" into Jennifer, Mimi, Lisa, and Felicia's lives, but I was left wanting more in-depth story and character development. I think DPW could have been more effective if it involved perhaps only two women instead of four. With four main characters, the scope of the novel was too broad for me leaving the character development was rather shallow (due to each woman being overwhelmingly identified by her "one" big issue). Also, more "showing" instead of "telling" would help tighten the novel's prose -- i.e., instead of summarizing a character's prayer or conversation ("telling"), let the readers actually see or hear the action as it occurs ("showing").
What DPW does right is its representation of the crucial role friendships play in the lives of women. The short chapters, which alternate back-and-forth between each woman's point-of-view, make this a fast-paced, quick read. Kolbaba and Scannell have succeeded in identifying a niche market, pastors' wives, that I haven't really seen explored in Christian fiction (thus far, anyway). DPW is a fairly engaging, though occasionally predictable, novel that gives a glossy account of average women attempting to balance faith, family, work, and others' expectations while remaining sane. The raw material's there, and one hopes that with a bit more polish future novels chronicling the lives of Jennifer, Felicia, Lisa, and Mimi will give readers an even more in-depth, well-rounded, and fulfilling look at the "secret" lives of pastors' wives.”
“My kudos to the writers for choosing to be honest and not white wash the lives of pastor's wives. ”
Barbara2007 wrote this review Tuesday, June 3 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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