Genre: Chicklit
Publisher: Waterbrook Press
Publication Date: June 2005
Reviewed by Kaci Hill
Betsy Blessed is an associate pastor fighting for acceptance. It’s a tough challenge, too. She’s been hurt before and shy about getting hurt again—understandably, and she’s lost the confidence she once had. As if that weren’t enough, she’s abruptly launched into the role of senior pastor—which both thrills and overwhelms her. But now the main battle is brewing, swelling, closing in on her, and she may well drown if she doesn’t get her heading.
Heavens to Betsy has everything from light, sassy humor to the lightly jaded “church humor” that any kid raised in church knows. Pattillo starts out with something you don’t see often in Christian fiction—a female pastor, then tosses in some of the famous church politics (complete with the traditional crowd), a thief, and a fellow pastor Betsy just happens to have an eye for.
Of course, the little twist at the end is . . . Well, I don’t dare write about that here lest I give something away. I read this and Dreaming in Black and White back to back, which proved to be an amazing experience, a bit of a reprieve from all the heavier books I’d been reading. Honestly, I hadn’t just laughed in a long while. The dialogue is well-executed the whole way through, and even if humor isn’t your thing, the ending is enough to appease even the skeptics in the crowd.
Admittedly, chicklit is not my usual preference. But, as you see from the Walker review and this one, there’s always an exception. Heavens to Betsy had me in stitches. I laughed so hard that my grandmother wanted to know what in the world I was cackling about. I felt it was too hilarious to keep to myself and read sections to her—which sparked thoughtful conversation about presumptions and universal tensions within the church.
Can Betsy reclaim her confidence while reconciling her clerical robe with high heels and the right shade of lipstick? This is a fun-loving look at a single girl’s life on the other side of the altar.
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