Reviewer: Lori Graham
Title: Heavens to Betsy
Author: Beth Pattillo
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
ISBN: 1-4000-7044-9
Release Date: June 2005
Genre/Sub-genre: Inspirational Romantic Comedy
Year/Setting: Contemporary, United States
Overall rating: 4.75
Sexual content rating: Subtle
Beth's Website: www.bethpattillo.com
Betsy Blessing is a woman who is trying very hard to figure out her place in life. She had decided to go to Divinity School for her postgraduate work and found she was having a hard time being taken seriously. She would have liked to believe it was because of her name. After all a reverend with the last name of Blessing, that is funny right? However, in heart, she knew it was more because of her gender.
Betsy hasn’t had the best of luck with the churches she has picked. Well, to be fair the churches picked her and maybe that is part of the problem. Betsy hasn’t wanted to stand up for herself because she wants to do a good job and doesn’t want to rock the boat.
She also wants what everyone else seems to have – a love life and partner. Most men though tend to shy away when she tells them what she does for a living. Imagine her surprise when she discovers feelings for her best friend, David, also a pastor. Not only is he her best friend but he is one of only two real friends she has. She also has seen every couple who marry which has both members involved in ministry end in divorce. Does she risk losing a friendship she holds dear by speaking of the feelings she has? Does she risk her interim senior pastor position by standing up for herself and the church as some strange things start happening at the church? Does she ever get over letting the one other friend she has, LaRhonda, talk her into a complete makeover – on TV no less?
Beth Pattillo has touched on a subject many of the women of this country struggle with – how to find a life balance. Heavens to Betsy weaves a story about the heart of a woman. You will get to know a woman who wants so badly to break out of her shell and be all she can be; a woman who just needs to find the courage within herself to speak up. Granted this story takes place within a church career but it is written in a way that any career woman can find events to relate to and place herself within.
As Betsy begins to find courage, she takes small steps to show the people around her she is capable. I don’t think there is a woman out there who isn’t going to be able to relate to Betsy. The questions that Beth puts in her mind are ones that make her human and someone we can relate to. Did she choose the right career? The decision to stay with the current career or move to the next one starts out so easy, becomes more difficult to decide and then in the end she makes the right decision without even realizing it. So many of the decisions she will make are ones we can all place ourselves in and understand, even down to deciding the right way to wear makeup.
I found Heavens to Betsy to be a humorous, fun work to read. I am awfully glad that my husband was out of town when I was reading it because it actually made me laugh out loud (which is a very tough thing to do).
Lori
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