This is a memoir by the woman who used to be my very favorite author, Anne Rice . In college and beyond, I read all her vampire and witch books and loved her narrative style and complex characters. But as I grew in my Christian faith, I found that I enjoyed her books less. I wasn't bothered by the characters - I don't feel threatened by fictional vampires and witches - but rather the dark perspective on life and some of the graphic descriptions of violent acts.
When I stumbled on this book at the library and saw the subtitle A Spiritual Confession, I was very intrigued. Turns out that Mrs. Rice grew up Catholic in New Orleans, but became atheist when she went to college. She finally came back to God in her 60's and has written this book as a result.
Most of the book is about her early experiences with religion and why she let it fall out of her life. My favorite sections were when she came back to her faith. I found that many of her opinions are the same as mine. And I didn't take over 30 years to get there! One of the main points that we agree on is the idea that churches don't always help share the love that Jesus sought to teach us. Too many vocal Christians are spewing hate at fellow Christians and at non-believers. That is so wrong!
So, overall, I liked the book since she agreed with me (isn't that the way it goes?) However, the flow of the whole book was a bit choppy and didn't always seem to have a point. I'm glad I persevered through to the end, because I really enjoyed the last two chapters and even ended up reading a passage in my Bible study. She had a wonderful visualization of listening to Jesus deliver the Sermon on the Mount (pg 243). Since that's what we're studying, it was a perfect bit to share!
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