Another Trish, this time a classy gal pal I know online, with an incredible gift for memoir and retelling with humor and grace (and a lovely touch of sarcasm) the story of her journey to love, faith, and hope.
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not: A Memoir of Finding Faith, Hope, and Happily Ever After is one of those books that feels like a great girlfriend chatting with you. It’s like I knew Trish already and thus, really wanted to follow her through each experience she relates. I felt like giving her a hug each time her heart was broken, and I knew what she meant when each time she thought she had the answers, she soon found out she did not.
Publisher’s Weekly writes,
Ryan’s winsome memoir and writing debut traces her desperate search for a man—specifically a husband—and for a spirituality that works for her. En route, her heart is broken in every possible way: her college fiancé cheats on her; her first husband abuses her; and she dates a succession of alternately nice and creepy noncommittal guys. She attempts to talk herself out of her desire for marriage, hoping that crystals, feng shui and astrology will provide the guidance she needs to sort out the mess of her life. When she ends up unemployed and broke in Boston, she channel surfs across a Joyce Meyer program one afternoon and is shocked to hear that the Bible promises good things. She visits an evangelical church, joins a small group and ever so tentatively explores the idea of Jesus, eventually giving him her broken life and asking him to fix it. God promises her a husband and delivers (with a tinge of prosperity gospel that will appeal to Meyer fans), but not without cost. In spite of her desperation and a string of horrible choices, Ryan is eminently likable and vulnerable, and her sharp writing will appeal to faithful and irreverent readers alike.
What I think
I loved it. Raced through it as fast as I could. I loved Trish’s openness about her longings, her doubts, and finally finding her True North. I was really able to relate to her through the thick and thin of the journey. (I also hope she’s working on another memoir.) This is one of those books I could not put down. I didn’t, actually, and read late into the night, as quietly as I could, so as not to awake my husband (I didn’t). Highly recommended.
Comments on this entry are closed.