As a lifelong Catholic raised by lifelong Catholics, pastors’ families are something I have little familiarity with. Latin-rite Catholic priests with families are very few and far between. (But, yes, they do exist!) My inexperience did not diminish my enjoyment of these novels. Whether part of a pastor’s family or not, we all understand expectations, superficiality, and hypocrisy learned in myriad ways both inside of church and out.
It’s interesting to see how the themes and observations in these three books overlap despite three very different and distinct author voices. Continue reading