Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The Skeleton In My Closet Wears a Wedding Dress

The Skeleton in my Closet Wears a Wedding Dress
By Sally Johnson
Covenant Communications, 2014. 252 pages. Romance.

Sophia Davis is beautiful, young, intelligent. She's also divorced, her husband leaving her out of the blue after 4 months of marriage, and going back to a singles ward on BYU campus and getting involved in the dating scene is the last thing she wants to do. With her heart bruised and battered, will she be able to heal and trust herself - and men - again?

I will admit up front that this book was going to have to work hard to win me over. I found the title abysmal (but I object to most titles that could make a complete sentence) and the cover was almost offensively pink. The editing was terrible. For some unfathomable reason, the author chose to make her characters cook in terrycloth aprons. Even more unfathomable was that this fact has stuck firmly in my mind for the course of the entire book. I would like to have a discussion with the author about what terrycloth is and why it is unsuitable apron material, but great for bathrobes.

So this book had an uphill battle with me. And, yet, in spite of all of my preconceived and mid-reading biases, I actually found this book quite enchanting. The plot tackles a difficult issue - divorce - head on, focusing a lot on Sophia's depression and sense of loss, especially in a community that focuses so much on marriage. Her healing is the focus of the plot, not her return to the dating community, giving it a theme that most readers will be able to relate to in one way or another. A surprisingly engaging read - once you can get past your hangups.

JH

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