Being married to a saint isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
Beth’s husband won’t be joining the family on vacation at the beach this year. He’s not even joining them in the house. Instead, Rick has holed up alone in the backyard shed. Nobody knows exactly what he’s up to. Maybe he’s immersing himself in prayer. Maybe he’s lost his mind. Maybe he’s even the modern-day prophet or the saint the neighborhood artist imagines him to be. But while “St. Rick” waits for an epiphany, Beth will have to figure out what to do with herself and their teenage sons, possibly for the rest of her life.
What happens next is both uproarious and bittersweet: a peace march turns violent, her son is caught with drugs, and she embarks on an ambitious road trip that turns into something nearly surreal. Will Beth rediscover the idealistic woman she used to be, once upon a time? Can her marriage survive Rick’s backyard vigil? Will anything ever be the same? And should it be?
The Christy-award winning author of Christianity Today’s Novel of the Year Quaker Summer, Lisa Samson has been hailed by Publishers Weekly as one of the “most powerful voices in Christian fiction.” She lives in Kentucky with her husband and three kids.
My Impressions:
Lisa Samson has long been one of my favorite authors. The Church Ladies and Songbird rank up there with some of my favorite books. But it has been awhile since I have ready anything by her. So I chose The Sky Beneath My Feet for my listening pleasure while walking. In the beginning I had mixed feelings. The book seemed to be going nowhere. I did like the ironic tone of main character, Beth. The story is told in first person and Beth’s insights were often laugh out loud funny. But just where was the story going?
The action takes place in the month of October. Beth’s husband, Rick, is on a mandatory sabbatical from their church, The Community. Faced with an uncertain future in his present ministry and a job offer from another church, Rick retreats to the shed to find God’s voice. This leaves Beth and their two sons feeling abandoned. Beth is at a crisis of her own. Her long held belief in her purpose is under scrutiny, and she is not sure just what direction her own life will take.
Filled with truly crazy characters, real life dilemmas and problems and a scathing look at the Christian life, The Sky Beneath My Feet, really takes off towards the end. Beth’s experiences and Rick’s exile begin to make sense. At the end the reader is left with a few questions about his/her own life — choices, purpose, and direction.
The narrator of this audiobook did a good job of depicting the emotions and personalities of the characters. And while it did take me a while to really get into this story, I am glad I stuck with it. The Sky Beneath My Feet is another winner by Lisa Samson.
Recommended.
Great for book clubs.
(I purchased this audiobook from Audible. All opinions are mine alone.)
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