Early last year, a friend let me borrow her book A Moment of Weakness. With that story, I was introduced to Karen Kingsbury. What especially captured and impressed me was the way Kingsbury looks at today's issues in such a real, genuine way. She tackles things that many other Christian women seem to be afraid to discuss: things like abortion, politics, sex before marriage, and depression, and even when it seems to the characters that God is nowhere to be found, we see that He's working out both their bad and wise choices and turning them around for good. It's the same for us. We don't always see His plan or understand His ways, but He's there just the same, weaving our lives into a beautiful story... and Karen Kingsbury's stories reflect that truth. A Kingsbury Collection is a good starting point if you've never read Kingsbury before because you get 3 novels in one, especially b/c the price is very good for 3 new books. It's a thick book, though (almost 800 pages) and didn't make for the coziest book reading experience. I would encourage you to buy her books separately if that might bother you.
Here are the books included in A Kingsbury Collection:
Where Yesterday Lives
Ellen Barrett is a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist with an uncertain marriage, a forgotten faith, and haunting memories of her picturesque hometown and the love she left behind. The eldest of five siblings, she longs for the time, long ago, when they were a happy family. Now Ellen’s beloved father is dead, and she returns to her childhood home to make peace–with the people who still live there, with the losses and changes that time has wrought, and with the future God has set before her.
When Joy Came to Stay
Maggie Stovall is one of the golden people. She has it all together...at least on the surface. Ben Stovall is a godly husband and successful attorney. He has no idea of the darkness about to overtake his life. Amanda Joy is a child of society–abused, broken, thrown away. But her trust in God is still alive. When Joy Came to Stay is the heart-wrenching story of one woman’s descent into the shadows of depression, her husband’s search for understanding, and a precious child’s unwavering faith.
On Every Side
Faith Evans is an up-and-coming newscaster, a woman of honor and integrity who must take a stand against the one man she never imagined would be her enemy. A beloved, hundred-year-old statue of Jesus stands in a small-town park–but some say it’s a clear violation of separation of church and state that must come down. Jordan Riley is a powerful attorney fighting for human rights and against God, but still reckoning with bitter boyhood losses. Amid political intrigue, social injustice, and personal conflicts, will love be enough when the battle rages on every side?
Special thanks to the wonderful people at Multnomah for providing me with this book to review!
