By Bill Hill, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch

Because we do stupid things, and feel that no one in the world has ever been that dumb, we are deeply grateful to anyone who shows us that we are not alone. When that person can also make us smile and laugh out loud, and wince at the truth, we feel a bond develop, and are ready to listen to her stories as long as she cares to talk.

Rhoda Janzen’s miserable story is of a life that fell apart. A successful teacher of English at Hope College, she lived in a lakeside home with a brilliant husband. In the space of a week she is smashed up in a car wreck and further crushed when her loyal husband of 15 years announces that he is leaving her for a guy he met on the internet.

What’s a sensible woman to do? She retreats.

She goes home to her Mennonite roots and family in California, and rediscovers nothing miraculous, no seventh secret, or third eye, but much that is reassuring, affectionate and hilarious. If you ever wanted a fond, clear-eyed view of Mennonite life beyond potlucks, public prayer and a reluctance to discuss sex, this is the book for you. She spends her time in neither self-pity nor self-laceration but is determined to figure out what went wrong. Luckily she comes from a family well endowed with the genes for forgiveness, humor and hard work for whatever it takes
.

Ah, but the secret is in the telling, and her stories are a delight. As a friend put it, “Big laughs & a lot of deep breaths. Loved it.”