This Fine Life by Eva Marie Everson
Product Details
Pub. Date: May 2010
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Format: Paperback, 352pp
Sales Rank: 176,399
ISBN-13: 9780800732745
ISBN: 080073274X
Edition Description: Original

It is the summer of 1959 and Mariette Puttnam has just graduated from boarding school. When she returns to her privileged life at home, she isn’t sure where life will take her. More schooling? A job? Marriage? Nothing feels right. How could she know that the answer is waiting for her within the narrow stairwell of her father’s apparel factory, exactly between the third and fourth floors?

In this unique and tender story of an unlikely romance, popular author Eva Marie Everson takes readers on a journey through the heart of a young woman bound for the unknown. Readers will experience the joys of new love, the perseverance of true friendship, and the gift of forgiveness that comes from a truly fine life.

This book surprised me. I thought it started off a bit slow, but, after a little while, I got into the characters and their lives. Mariette has lived a privileged life and after she returns from boarding school as a recent high-school graduate of a presitigous Catholic academy, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Her parents argue about her future, and she’s unsure about going to college, getting married, etc. She finds her future spouse in the stairwell of her father’s company. Thayne is a mail-clerk and it’s love at first sight for these two. They only share a couple of dates and her parents strong objections before they do the unthinkable.

The story focuses on their lives as they get married young and Thayne follows his dream of becoming a pastor and going to seminary. He feels called to do this, but, Mariette has a hard time understanding what a “calling” really is. How do you have a close relationship with God? She never prays alone, and thinks that God is somebody who is far away, and that we can only speak to him in church on Sunday.

When the couple arrives at the small town of Logan’s Creek for Thayne’s first pastorship, their lives change forever. Most of the town’s women hate Mariette. Also, Logan’s Creek has a dirty, haunting secret that proves traumatizing to one of the residents. Once this secret is exposed, the town is greatly affected.

This story was mesmerizing and you will want to read on to find out what happens between this young couple. Also, there are things that happen that are so totally unexpected, a lot of twists and turns that keep the story interesting. The story was also unique because of the time that it took place. Seldom do you see books out there that take place during the sixties.

I found this book to be a much better read than this one that I read by the same author about a year ago. Although Things Left Unspoken was a fairly good story, I felt this one was much better, more riveting, and it also kept me up late at night reading.

~Cecelia Dowdy~