Wednesday, July 2, 2008

A Matter Of Wife & Death-Ginger Kolbaba & Christy Scannell

A Matter Of Wife & Death
Ginger Kolbaba & Christy Scannell
Howard, Jul 2008, $$12.99
ISBN: 9781416543886

The five pastors’ wives of Red River, Ohio meet every Tuesday at Lulu’s Café, forty miles from their churches in order to nosh and commiserate. They share their woes that they cannot tell anyone else even their husbands.

Mimi Plaisance left teaching to be a stay at home mother to her four preadolescent children, but the newborn Milo is driving her insane as he always cries. Mimi never sleeps except when driving as she feels like his personal 24/7 slave.

“Golden” Kitty Fleming remains a snob as her spouse pastors the largest congregation. She is the self anointed Queen of the Southwest Pastors’ Wives fellowship society, but fears being on top means others want to displace her.

Jennifer Shores is the church secretary where her husband Sam is the pastor, but she wants children and has none after a decade of marriage. She is even jealous of the single moms she councils at the crisis pregnancy center even though she knows their lives are hard.

Lisa Barton is a stay at home mom to her two teens. She has the DNA for being a pastor as her parents are the pastors of a nearby church. However, her daughter Callie is rebelling and causing problems for them at the church with her behavior.

Public relations guru Felicia Lopez-Morrison came with her husband and their now four year old child from Los Angeles two years ago. She worries that her firm will close the Cincinnati office where she works and that her son has reverted back to his terrible twos biting people.

Although rotating the story lines of five lead characters is a bit overwhelming (novellas seems more suited), each of the wives seem real and their woes genuine. Each has problems that they handle differently with Mimi’s proving quite a stunner. Fans will enjoy dining and gossiping at Lulu’s café with the pastoral quintet (see Desperate Pastors' Wives).

Harriet Klausner

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