Allison Pittman's For Time and Eternity ~ Reviewed

For Time and Eternity (Sister Wife)
Allison Pittman
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers (August 4, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1414335962

Description

All Camilla Deardon knows of the Mormons camping nearby is the songs she hears floating on the breeze. Then she meets one of them—a young man named Nathan Fox. Never did she imagine he would be so handsome, so charming, especially after Mama and Papa’s warnings to stay away. Though she knows she should obey her parents, Camilla can’t refuse her heart. But even Nathan’s promises cannot prepare her for what she will face in Utah.


Review:

I read Allison Pittman's novels with a bias. I expect her novels to make me think, and to transport me into a story that makes me completely unaware of my actual surroundings. She has ably met those expectations in For Time and Eternity.

The story begins in Iowa, my hometown, actually, which was kind of fun. But it was a very different Iowa, set during the Mormon exodus toward Utah. The story doesn't cover the journey and the hardships of the trail that one might expect. Instead it is the story of a young Christian girl, who, against her parents wishes, runs away with the young Mormon man whose eyes speak of promise and passion.

Pittman handles some controversial issues with grace. The history of the Mormon church is one that is tarnished, as is the history of Christianity, and let me just put it out there...all of humanity. Power, greed, lust, fervor, passion, pride; all things that seem to drive, divide and destroy even the best of intentions and situations. And beneath that not-so-subtle mix, is the underlying story of For Time and Eternity; man vs. God and the attempt to define Him, understand Him and become like Him.

In the midst of that epic struggle of man and God is the age old struggle of man and woman with a twist....a woman who is asked, expected and encouraged to share the husband she loves with all her heart, with another. Pittman delivers there as well. I read much of For Time and Eternity with my heart in my throat and tears in my eyes.

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer