Laura Hayden's America the Beautiful ~ Reviewed

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

By Laura Hayden

Published by: Tyndale House Publishers

ISBN#978-1-4143-1939-1

Pages 284

Back Cover:

The First Woman President?

Emily Benton wants to be the first woman president of the United States of America. She has the pedigree, the talent, and the will to succeed as a candidate. And she’ll stop at nothing – absolutely nothing – to achieve her goal.

It’s Kate Rosen’s job to make Emily’s dream a reality. Besides being Emilly’s best friend, her chief of staff, and her campaign manager, Kate’s most important role is as Emily’s conscience. Both women entered politics to change the world, but Kate never anticipated how politics would change them. Now she’s faced with the ultimate clash between her beliefs and Emily’s drive to become president.

Lives are at stake, and Kate Rosen is a woman torn between her duty to God, her duty to country, and her duty to friendship. The fate of the nation, and perhaps the world, rests on what she does next…

REVIEW:

I loved this quote from the book “GOLDEN RULE OF POLITICS “Do unto others as they would do unto you, but do it FIRST.” Isn’t that the truth. Ha! The author states that “If Christians don’t venture out into the world and work to lift it above its troubles, what good are we???” I felt the urgency of this message as I read each page.

Laura Hayden spins a heartfelt tale of a president in the making as she describes Emily Benton’s race to the white house. The political race takes so many twists and turns. I was on the edge of my seat reading every word. I felt like I was watching the best teams in the Super Bowl battle it out for the grand prize. Who was going to win?? It was anyone’s guess. At a Super Bowl game I don’t want to leave the TV for fear I would miss the excitement. I didn’t want to put the book down because things changed all the time. Just when I thought a team was winning the other side would make an unexpected move!! It was intriguing.

Laura Hayden definitely made me think that America is experiencing this very issue as Hillary Clinton tries her best to seek to be the First Woman President. I felt as if I were in the middle of a virtual reality tour on the campaign trail , inside power meetings and tucked away behind closed doors. Had it not been for the Clintons first and now second time running for this high office and all its drama; I wouldn’t have believed the events in this book were possible.

Emily Benton is a strong, beautiful, brilliant, calculating woman driven to win the most powerful position in the land almost any way she can. Kate; Emily’s campaign manager, conscious; best friend, Christian who lives her faith in front of this presidential hopeful who doesn’t share her deep convictions but respects and desires to do the right thing in the end; or does she?

I was not only cheering for Emily Benton to be elected because the author made me “feel” thru Kates’ eyes; but I too felt that Emily was the BEST person for the job; it had nothing to do with her gender. As the details unfolded in the this exciting story of the political process. I saw how democracy is an amazing thing. I felt like I was watching this very operation in action and cherished its function even more as I read ”America the Beautiful” and saw the good; the bad; and the ugly.

I sympathized with Kate’s agony as her faith was put to the test daily, sometimes minute by minute. Could she continue being a Christian with all this bombardment to her faith, and the way she lived her life? Running for that kind of office is tough and grueling. The closer everyone got to the actual power of the White House things began to change and the stakes became higher. Kate was learning (and so was I) that there always was legal, moral, and ethical consequences to every action we take.

Reviewed by: Nora St Laurent Book Club Servant Leader