genre: memoir, women's stories
When Rhoda's husband leaves her, all the balls she'd been struggling to keep in the air come crashing down. Between the betrayal, the heartbreak and an additional tragedy, she needs a place to put the pieces back together. So, she turns to her Mennonite family for relief and she goes home. Her parents welcome her and, in this memoir of how faith (or lack of) and culture and history are all rolled together to make us who we are, Rhoda is able to begin to heal.
This book both made me laugh out loud, more than once, and made me cringe with it's datedness. It was published in 2009 so while I cannot forgive the use of the "R" word, I can acknowledge that I'm glad that word would never make it past an editor now. What I enjoyed is how raw and real Rhoda is. She's self-deprecatory and clearly loves and is mortified by her family and culture. I genuinely loved learning more about the Mennonite faith, traditions and food. The portrayal of her mother is particularly endearing and hilarious. Sometimes she uses super big and obscure words that felt a bit off putting - like, I know you're an academic, you don't need to shove it in my face - but overall, I actually really liked this. 3.5 stars for the humor, the vulnerability and the descriptions of Mennonite lunchbox fare.
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