Review: Essie in Progress by Marjorie Presten

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old…or for somewhere in between!

 You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

and the book:

Essie in Progress

Kregel Publications (April 1, 2009)

***Special thanks to Marjorie Presten for sending me a review copy.***

Marjorie Presten is a native Georgian who has her own fair share of experience juggling career and motherhood. She lives outside of Atlanta with her husband, Tom, and their three children.

Listen to a radio interview about the book HERE.

Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Kregel Publications (April 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 082543565X
ISBN-13: 978-0825435652

Ellison “Essie” Wells is a full-time working mom with two young children, and another on the way. Her life is hectic and busy, and she’s pulled in so many different directions. It doesn’t help that her mother, Pearl, makes her feel guilty for continuing to work.  Her husband, Jack, is going through a mid-life crisis.  He spends the family’s savings to buy an expensive and completely impractical sports car, and trades Essie’s beloved SUV in for a Hummer!  And we can’t leave out Hamilton “Ham”, Jack’s estranged father.  Since Jack’s mom passed away from cancer, their relationship has been extremely rocky.  Ham has re-evaluated his life and wants to play a more integral role in his son’s life.

Reading the summary, one might think that this novel is another one of those “mommy-lit” books, full of fluff. Essie in Progressdefinitely doesn’t fall into that category.  Each of the characters are on a desperate mission to find out their purpose in life, and to know for certain if the path they are following is one that God would approve of.  It is a tale of a family’s struggle for growth and change. It is full of humor, wit, sadness and grief.  Each of the characters are flawed in their own way, and it made it easier for me to sympathize with the struggle they were going through.  As a full-time working mom with two boys, I can completely feel for what Essie is experiencing.  It is extremely easy for me to feel guilty for working, for not spending enough time with my growing boys.  In a sense, it’s a stigma that society sometimes puts on women.  But there are so many issues being dealt with in addition to this “Mommy-guilt.” The book deals with father-son issues, and feelings of self-worth.  Essie in Progress is a light, yet powerful look at evaluating what truly is meaningful in life.