Friday, October 5, 2007

The Book of Jane by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Remember Marlo Thomas in "That Girl"? Or how about Mary Tyler Moore in her show, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"? Now, imagine that either woman is a believer in Jesus, with a personal relationship with Him.

And there you have "The Book of Jane" by Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt.

Kind of.

I mean, Jane has the perfect life. The perfect boyfriend, the perfect career, the perfect apartment, the perfect dog, the perfect circle of friends...and she gives God all the gratitude and glory for it.

Her life is so good, and the description of Manhattan is so wonderful...I wanna live in New York with Jane!

But, what if all Jane had that was perfect was all of a sudden gone...would she still give God the glory and gratitude for what she still had?

This modern woman's retelling of the story of Job is powerful and clever. I love it when authors write Biblical truths into their stories, and I love it more when they take the true stories of old and bring them to life today.

Anne and May do a masterful job of showing that we are all Job in some fashion. Our health goes, or our kids wander from God, or our job downsizes and we're left unemployed...something is always not what we want it to be, or what we think it should be.

When life doesn't prosper us, do we turn TO God, or turn On Him? Seek Him or slam Him? Praise Him...or walk away from Him?

So, what does Jane do? What happens to her faith when her perfect world comes crumbling down around her until she's left with virtually nothing? Are her friends true or fair weather? And what's up with the new guy, Coates Glassman? Is he friend, or foe?

Well, you'll just have to read it to find out, now, won't you?? LOL!! I love this writing duo and their "good girl lit". I've enjoyed Emily, Lily, and now have Jane as a new friend.

I give "The Book of Jane" five out of five bookmarks, with a tiny bunch of arugula, nicely washed, as a charm. And now you've GOT to read it, just to find out why! I encourage you to invest in all of the good girl lit books by this writing team, but if you can only pick one...pick "The Book of Jane".

You'll be glad you did!

Happy Reading!

Deena

1 comment:

Barbara H. said...

I've seen this book listed on a lot of fall reading lists, but I had no idea this is what it was about. Somehow I had thought it was a biography of Jane Austen. :-) It definitely sounds intriguing!

Barbara H. @ Stray Thoughts