My two most recent books were both for book clubs, and both featured strong female protagonists who were also leaders in their church.

The first was Evensong by Gail Godwin, the second book I chose for my church’s reading group. I had never read anything by Godwin, but this one had been sitting on my shelf for awhile, and while it’s actually a sequel to her earlier novel, Father Melancholy’s Daughter, I was under the somewhat erroneous impression that it wasn’t necessary to read the first novel beforehand. The book tells the story of Margaret Bonner, the married female rector of an Episcopal church in a small town in the mountains of North Carolina. Taking place in the last few weeks of 1999, Margaret is forced to deal with the arrival of three strangers in her life: an evangelical woman attempting to coerce Margaret to participate in a religious march, an elderly monk with a secret to reveal, and a wayward youth in desperate need of both discipline and love. Amid all this, she must attend to her priestly duties and try to salvage her marriage and reconnect with her emotionally distant husband.

First, a couple quotes that particularly spoke to my own religious views:

The concept of God is way too big for me to get my mind around, but, despite that, maybe even because of it, the relationship keeps growing and changing. Sometimes it grows so slowly it seems it’s stopped. Or gone into reverse. Then when I least expect it, it takes a big leap forward. (p. 127)

The beauty of pragmatism for me is that it allows one to find truth in many places. So science and Christianity, or Hinduism and Christianity, can be true simultaneously. I think God is at work in everything, but Christianity is the best way for me to understand that work. I am committed it to it because it provides me with a sense of hope and relief: whatever I do, God is willing to forgive and start over and let myself be forgiven. Further, besides offering forgiveness and new life, Christianity is based on ethics which correspond to my notion of appropriate living and action. (p. 241)

The story itself was a bit on the slow side. It took almost 100 pages before I really started getting interested in the story, and reading it became less of a struggle. Even still, it failed to really sustain my interest, and overall, I probably wouldn’t have chosen it for the reading group had I read it beforehand. That said, Godwin’s writing is superior to a lot of contemporary fiction, particularly novels with a religious bent, so I’d definitely read more of her works.

The next was Pope Joan by Donna Woolfolk Cross, a historical fiction novel based on the myth that in the 9th century, a woman was elected pope. It’s a pretty straightforward historical novel, high on period detail and low on character development. The author’s research and slant of the novel reminded me of The Da Vinci Code and the Mary Magdalene conspiracy theories, in that they’re intriguing and I wouldn’t say I was convinced one way or the other, but really, there’s no way to prove their authenticity either way. You’ll find books written to support both sides of the argument, both carefully selecting the evidence that supports their position. And, in my opinion, I don’t see the problem if either were true – neither one changes the validity of the Christian faith. At the book club, I learned that a film based on Cross’s novel is currently underway, so it will be interesting to see if the Roman Catholic church responds to it with the outcry of denial that Brown’s novel precipitated, and if the movie causes a resurgence of the conspiracy theorists and copycat books.

Anyway, the novel itself was entertaining enough, but I had two chief complaints. First was that the backstory formed the vast majority of the novel – 50 pages away from the end and I was still waiting for Joan to be named Pope. Then, more action occurred in the last few pages than in the entire rest of the book. Secondly, and in my mind, more annoying, was the romance between Joan and a warrior prince, Gerold. Their romance isn’t believable and approaches Harlequin-esque territory whenever they encounter one another. That’s a common failing with historical fiction – too often, they delve into historical romance, and while Pope Joan is more thought-provoking and nowhere near being dubbed a bodice ripper, it’s still annoying to encounter, particularly when it’s just really not that well done. But, with all that being said, it was an entertaining story and I’d recommend it.