Lucia Greenhouse

This is a fast, fascinating, and incredibly frustrating read, though I mean that in a good way. I went into this book knowing nothing about Christian Science, and emerged having learned a lot about its practical applications. If you are looking for a book about Christian Science theology (which I was most decidedly not), this is not the book for you. It is about one woman's experience growing up in the faith and her subsequent departure from it, so most of what you learn about Christian show more Science is presented through the eyes of someone who was forced into it and never truly embraced it.

I read this book in about a day; I couldn't put it down. The author lived a charmed life, save for her parents' increasingly bizarre obsession with Christian Science, a religion whose defining feature is rejection of modern medicine. When she was just out of college, her mother became sick, and the author and her siblings (who at that point had all more or less rejected Christian Science) felt compelled to keep her illness a secret from the extended family. This is the basic plot of the book. As a person who is not religious and whose family is deeply indebted to modern medicine, it is at times unbelievably frustrating. The author's decisions do not seem rational (to say nothing of her parents' decisions), but you have to try to view her situation through the eyes of a 20-something who mostly saw her parents as loving, if flawed, people.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in different religions, particularly fringe religions, and how they impact the lives of their adherents. show less

This is a fast, fascinating, and incredibly frustrating read, though I mean that in a good way. I went into this book knowing nothing about Christian Science, and emerged having learned a lot about its practical applications. If you are looking for a book about Christian Science theology (which I was most decidedly not), this is not the book for you. It is about one woman's experience growing up in the faith and her subsequent departure from it, so most of what you learn about Christian show more Science is presented through the eyes of someone who was forced into it and never truly embraced it.

I read this book in about a day; I couldn't put it down. The author lived a charmed life, save for her parents' increasingly bizarre obsession with Christian Science, a religion whose defining feature is rejection of modern medicine. When she was just out of college, her mother became sick, and the author and her siblings (who at that point had all more or less rejected Christian Science) felt compelled to keep her illness a secret from the extended family. This is the basic plot of the book. As a person who is not religious and whose family is deeply indebted to modern medicine, it is at times unbelievably frustrating. The author's decisions do not seem rational (to say nothing of her parents' decisions), but you have to try to view her situation through the eyes of a 20-something who mostly saw her parents as loving, if flawed, people.

I highly recommend this book if you are interested in different religions, particularly fringe religions, and how they impact the lives of their adherents. show less

Wow. This book is moving, engrossing and aggravating all at once. Let me say first that I am always astounded by people of unshakable faith, although I don't necessarily understand it, possibly because I don't share it. Christian Science falls in the category of stuff I just don't get. While there are CS who do dabble in modern medicine - glasses, crutches, etc. - Greenhouse's family is not one of these. Without giving anything away, I felt alternatively horrified and sympathetic for show more Greenhouse and her plight. How do you save someone who clearly doesn't want your help? And too, at the end, did her mother change her mind? The question remains ambiguous. show less

I received a proof copy of fathermothergod through a Goodreads giveaway. While Lucia's story is compelling and the book is very well written I struggled with the subtitle. Mrs. Greenhouse describes in her book a relationship with both her parents and her faith that was contemptuous from seemingly a very young age. I would say that this is more of a story about re-negotiating relationships with her parents than her faith. While her relationship with her parents is steadfast but complicated show more (and truthfully whose isn't) her connections to the Christian Science faith traditions are wish-washy. To say that this book educates or informs one of the inner-side of a mostly private but hardly cult-like denomination is a bit of a stretch. I was also annoyed at the the repeated apologies for what is without a doubt her individual perspective - of course it is! Stop apologizing and tell us the story.

Overall I really enjoyed the fathermothergod and have already passed the book on to a friend. I encourage future readers to expect less of the faith narrative. I got immense fulfillment from the story of a growing woman who is constantly examining, reconsidering, and reshaping the loving and dynamic relationship with her family and think many others will as well. show less