Splitting Harriet

3.5 to 4 stars (rating shown may differ depending on whether site allows half star ratings).

This is a charming story, but I don't quite "get" the title other than it was chosen to fit with the pattern of other titles in the series. Harri (short for Harriet) does have somewhat of a "split" in her life between her old rebel self and her current responsible self--but I'd hardly deem that splitting. Likewise the push and pull between traditional and contemporary forms of church service which can cause a church split doesn't seem to happen with regard to Harri in this book, though I do sympathize with her on being resistant to change (though we're not always concerned about the same things). Perhaps the title was supposed to be a play on the show more saying "splitting hairs", but even so, it didn't quite gel for me.

At 16, preacher's kid Harri experiences a church issue that splits the church her father pastors. Some people that she had thought were friends attacked her family. When Harri's father refuses to give up the church he feels called to, Harri starts acting out in the hopes that her parents will see how hurt she is and how much what is going on is affecting the whole family. Unfortunately, the rebellion backfires on her and she ends up going quite wild until she's found in a bar by two church members who rescue her from a bad situation there and take her "home".

Harri worries that any actions she enjoyed in her rebellious life might send her swaying back into it. She takes a part-time women's ministry position and a part-time waitressing job (where she plans to buy the business once she's saved up enough money). She lives in a trailer park the church owns which is supposed to be mainly for seniors (and apparently one set aside for guest speakers etc.). Unfortunately, this proclivity of thinking of those older than her as "safe" means that most of her programs seem more geared toward the older women in the congregation. Programs that don't seem to be helping the church to "grow".

Meanwhile, Harri's father decided to retired. He brought in a successor and worked with that man for a while, but now has decided to do missionary work to allow his successor to make changes without interference.

It seems some changes were being contemplated already--a gradual phase-out of the organ in favor of a worship band (with drums and guitars); a move to a more contemporary service/style of worship. Changes that upset some of the seniors; changes that upset Harri. For whatever reason, the new pastor decides to bring in a consultant to help grow the church.

Having gone through the decline of a number of churches in my lifetime, I sympathize with the church that is experiencing it. It seems this church has a number of things going for it--the community around it is growing so they do have people willing to come check out their church, they seem to have caught the decline early enough to be able to reverse it. In my life, all the churches that were in decline either closed or merged with another church. Nothing they tried seemed to turn around the decline.

I do like that this church was committed to keeping the Gospel message true and not diluting it or dulling it down or changing it to what people want to hear (think prosperity gospel--which is NOT what the Bible teaches). I do like that the church did try to keep its older members in mind too--warning them that changes were coming, phasing in the changes. But I also like that once they made a decision, they didn't let the naysayers sway them back.

I didn't like that so many of the changes just seemed to be sprung on the church leadership. It was hard to remember that there was a "growth committee" (that we didn't see meet-possibly because Harri wasn't a member of it) and a "church leaderhip" meeting (that we did see, because Harri as the Women's Ministry leader is part of church leadership). So the changes the vision committee voted on seemed sort of "sprung" on the church leadership without any previous discussion. (Either that or Harri was closing her ears to things she didn't want to hear.)

I've also experienced the resistance to change--both in myself and in others. I do agree that at times having one traditional service and one contemporary service does tend to separate the congregation into those that attend each one--kind of like having two different churches within the same building. I see value in both types of worship music. I like the messages that the old hymns impart, but I also like the more upbeat style of contemporary. Sometimes there is a way to take the older message and update the tune--which is one way to blend the two. Other times there can be a mix of older hymns and newer worship songs with a similar theme uniting the two.

I like that Harri tried to keep herself away from things that she felt might tempt her back to an ungodly life. I do think she went a bit overboard on it at times--not trusting herself or God that she's changed or that God can keep her on the path that He wants her on.

I do think it was a good idea for Maddox to push Harriet to open up the women's ministry in a way to bring in more age groups. The movie idea contrasting a classic with a remake sounded fun (if long) and the door prize idea probably did help to bring women in for the first time. I also liked the idea of opening the quilting group up to other crafts (they chose scrapbooking--one I dearly love).

I admired Gloria's sticking to her agreement with Harri rather than taking the higher amount that the church offered. I also liked that someone (not sure who) orchestrated a trade in properties so that the seniors wouldn't have to worry about their homes being taken away by the church again--at least not in the near future once Harri released Gloria from their verbal agreement. I didn't like that Harri viewed it all as a sacrifice on her own part--a sacrifice for the good of others. I get the disappointment of a dream going off track, but the word sacrifice seemed a bit too harsh for me in this context. show less

Does screwing up once mean you’re a screw up forever? Harriet grew up a preacher’s kid. She was innocent, naïve, and protected from the conniving aspects of human nature until a change in her father’s church led to a near split of the congregation. The conflict in the congregation opened Harriet’s eyes to the reality that kindness does not always reign supreme. In response, she escaped the shelter of her upbringing and went hellcat rebellious as a teen.

Years later, Harriet is sober and employed part-time as a waitress and part-time as the director of women’s ministry at First Grace church in Franklin, Tennessee. The reformed Harriet is obsessed with keeping her life pure and organized. She’s twenty seven years old, yet her show more social circle is limited to the dinner by five, in bed by eight retiree crowd at the church-owned trailer park where she lives. All is June Cleaver tidy for Harriet until a new tattooed resident, Maddox, rolls in on his motorcycle and disrupts her manicured world. Maddox’s presence pushes Harriet to wrestle with the issues that brought her to her knees as a teen.

Along the path of Harriet’s personal transformation is the infamous love triangle plot feature. I won’t rant again on this overused feature, but will admit that Leigh deserves kudos on how she portrayed Harriet’s love triangle. Absent were the typical angsty good guy versus bad guy decisions to be made; decisions that make otherwise brave heroines seem bipolar at best and more often portray them as flighty and undeserving of love (alright, a tiny rant). Instead, Leigh employs the love triangle to help Harriet discover the goodness within her.

Forgiveness is the central theme of Splitting Harriet. The liberating power of forgiveness is a common leitmotif in literature. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Requiem by Lauren Oliver also analyze how holding onto the past and not forgiving oneself or others can prevent a person from loving completely. Leigh takes the theme further by adding that forgiveness is repeatable, not a one and done activity. When Maddox becomes frustrated with Harriet’s inability to realize that forgiveness is infinite, he exclaims “You have to allow that you’re going to stumble like the rest of us…”. As a person who stumbles often, his line is my favorite in the story.

The novel is scripture heavy. If you’re not a regular reader of Christian lit (I’m not), this may be a hurdle for you. It was for me. I groaned when I read the first chapter. It wasn’t the writing, which is respectable, but the content. I was raised Christian and believe in the tenets of Christianity, but not the evangelism of it. Beating anyone with fists or scripture has never proved effective in changing people’s beliefs.

Regardless of the blatant theological lectures, Leigh’s beach-reading story bolstered my conviction that the purpose of religion is to teach us to love, to love ourselves and each other.

-Reviewed by Lena Cox, blogger at pagecravings.com show less

I really enjoyed this book, it had a very believable story line and realistic characters. Harriet's character really appealed to me as a reader, most of us have all had our moments where we felt the need to rebel and find our path in life,I liked that she turned her life around and wanted to help other women.Very insightful moments about the inner workings of the church and the politics involved. Harriet was an all or nothing type of person and i loved her spirit from the very beginning to the end.Great read!!

Harriet is a fun main character with her funny quirks, her Jelly Belly candy addiction, and her obsession over her favorite TV show. Her personality and fears are so real, and over the course of the story, you can really see her grow. Harriet is trying to make up for her sins to the church she abandoned by taking care of the elderly within it. However, Maddox McCray, the new church consultant, roars into town on a Harley Davidson and gets her bad girl blood boiling with both his edgy style and the changes he wants to make to her church.

This is the first that I have read by Tamara, and I plan to read more books by her, my next one on my list by her will be 'Perfecting Kate'. I really enjoyed the humor and reality of this book and I give show more it five stars.

I received a free copy of this book for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, for my honest unbiased opinion. show less

Harriet is a fun main character with her funny quirks, her Jelly Belly candy addiction, and her obsession over her favorite TV show. Her personality and fears are so real, and over the course of the story, you can really see her grow. Harriet is trying to make up for her sins to the church she abandoned by taking care of the elderly within it. However, Maddox McCray, the new church consultant, roars into town on a Harley Davidson and gets her bad girl blood boiling with both his edgy style and the changes he wants to make to her church.

This is the first that I have read by Tamara, and I plan to read more books by her, my next one on my list by her will be 'Perfecting Kate'. I really enjoyed the humor and reality of this book and I give show more it five stars.

I received a free copy of this book for review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group, for my honest unbiased opinion. show less

very very christian - i somehow missed that when i picked it up... oops
fun story though if you don't mind the excessive biblical quotations.

I didn't get to finish this one, before the library claimed it again. I only read one chapter, but I enjoyed that chapter and believe it would be a cute read if I could get my hands on a copy of it. I suppose it is in such demand from the library and that was why they took it back so early. Oh well. One day, but for now it's on my TBR.