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27th out of 101 books
—
45 voters
The Sunday Wife
by
Cassandra King (Goodreads Author)
Married for 20 years to the Reverend Benjamin Lynch, a handsome, ambitious minister of the prestigious Methodist church, Dean Lynch has never quite adjusted her temperament to the demands of the role of a "Sunday wife." When her husband is assigned to a larger church, Dean becomes fast friends with Augusta Holderfield, a woman with a secret past whose good looks and extrav...more
Paperback, 537 pages
Published
January 1st 2005
by Hyperion
(first published January 1st 1900)
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I recieved this book as an advanced copy when I worked as a Bookseller and I just got around to reading it. It was not very engaging of a book and really just to damn fatalistic for me. I would never have purchased this book, and only picked it up b/c I am trying to thin out my library. If you like "chick-flick" movies, you might want to give this a try. It has the capacity of making some people cry and swoon, but it was just sorta 'eh' for me.
It felt a little long and drawn out, but I loved the story within. It was predictable in some ways, but ... life is predictable in many ways, isn't it?
This isn't a "beach" read because it takes too long to get into it. And it's not an emotional read - I rarely felt anything more than curiosity about the next turn it would take.
I am not particularly fond of chicken-shit women like Dean, especially when they cow down to overbearing husbands. Since hers is a Reverend - and therefore revered by man...more
This isn't a "beach" read because it takes too long to get into it. And it's not an emotional read - I rarely felt anything more than curiosity about the next turn it would take.
I am not particularly fond of chicken-shit women like Dean, especially when they cow down to overbearing husbands. Since hers is a Reverend - and therefore revered by man...more
I read this book for two reasons: 1) I was looking at another book in the library, and Henry, who was in his stroller, pulled this off the shelf and handed it to me; 2) When I took it from him, my instinct was to put it back on the shelf, but then I remembered that King is Pat Conroy's wife.
Pat Conroy, she ain't.
Don't get me wrong; this book is OK. But don't read it expecting the lyric prose and emotionally currency of Conroy. Wife tells the story of Dean Lynch, a Methodist minister's repressed...more
Pat Conroy, she ain't.
Don't get me wrong; this book is OK. But don't read it expecting the lyric prose and emotionally currency of Conroy. Wife tells the story of Dean Lynch, a Methodist minister's repressed...more
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Jul 04, 2007
Maybama02 Carroll
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Church-going females of all ages!
Shelves:
booksforthebeach
I found this when I was a junior in high school in my moms beach bag, read it, and LOVED it. So did all of her friends, all older than me by at least 25 years.
It is about a preacher's wife with a unique style of her own. She has a more liberal lifestyle than the people in her community, congregation, and even her husband expect her to lead.
The best part is that it is set in South Walton County beach area. Some scenes take places in Greyton Beach and Seaside. My great-grandmother was from Panam...more
It is about a preacher's wife with a unique style of her own. She has a more liberal lifestyle than the people in her community, congregation, and even her husband expect her to lead.
The best part is that it is set in South Walton County beach area. Some scenes take places in Greyton Beach and Seaside. My great-grandmother was from Panam...more
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Essentially a story about a woman who struggles with her identity as a preacher's wife, and the choices she makes as she attempts to rebel from her life/husband. I thought that this would be an interesting book, however I soon became tired of the main character's passive behavior. To be rather blunt, it is a typical oppressed woman struggling to overcome abusive/negligent husband- (typical lifetime movie) I had a hard time believing that these characters were actually real, and situations in the...more
Pretty good for a fist novel...I didn't know she was Pat Conroy's wife until I was halfway through and read the back cover.
Dean is a Methodist minister's wife and lives in Florida. The husband is condescending and always puts her down because of her background (she's a foster child). When they move to a new appointment, Dean hopes things will get better. They do when she meets and becomes friends with Augusta. The only trouble is that Augusta is a bit on the wild side which isn't great for a mi...more
Dean is a Methodist minister's wife and lives in Florida. The husband is condescending and always puts her down because of her background (she's a foster child). When they move to a new appointment, Dean hopes things will get better. They do when she meets and becomes friends with Augusta. The only trouble is that Augusta is a bit on the wild side which isn't great for a mi...more
My maiden dip into the writings of a local author, and wife of Pat Conroy. It is of that genre that seems to be occupied by writers like Dorthea Benton Frank and Sue Monk Kidd-- not chick lit, but definitely probably more appealing to females than males. (mr czuk would call it chick lit though, for sure.) Nice attention to details, though some of the characters a little too broad to be believable. I mean, how come so many of these books have women with bestest buddies who are talented, handsome,...more
After reading King's book, The Same Sweet Girls, I wanted more from her. The Sunday Wife was quite different from the gentle, tender read that introduced me to Cassandra King. The tension in the story line was apparent from the very first page and as I read, I kept waiting for "the next shoe to drop".
Dean Lynch has struggled to rid herself of her "white trash" background, taking the heritage of her folk music from the mountains and her ability to play her grandmother's dulcimer to make somethin...more
Dean Lynch has struggled to rid herself of her "white trash" background, taking the heritage of her folk music from the mountains and her ability to play her grandmother's dulcimer to make somethin...more
I've been in the mood for straight fiction for a while. After two tries, both of which, I discarded as uninteresting, I pulled this one off the shelf and proceeded to devour it. Cassandra King is a quintessentially Southern writer.
In fact, she is married to Pat Conroy, author of such famous books as The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, Beach Music, South of Broad and, my personal favorite, Prince of Tides. (also a wonderful movie!) A couple of years ago I read The Same Sweet Girls and wa...more
In fact, she is married to Pat Conroy, author of such famous books as The Lords of Discipline, The Great Santini, Beach Music, South of Broad and, my personal favorite, Prince of Tides. (also a wonderful movie!) A couple of years ago I read The Same Sweet Girls and wa...more
Cassandra King is Pat Conroy's wife. He writes a new book every 10 to 13 years while she turns out one or more books a year. Since Pat is my favorite authoer, I was curious to read one of her books. When I attended his book signing, a woman told me this was King's best work. I have read one and a half of her other books and this one was the best, but this isn't saying much.
Most of the story is told through Dean's eyes. As the title implies she is married to a minister. They have been married for...more
Most of the story is told through Dean's eyes. As the title implies she is married to a minister. They have been married for...more
Dean Lynch is stuck in a marriage she is miserable in, doesn't want, but is too afraid to leave. When she meets a new friend, a former parishioner to her husband's church, she begins shirking her duties to the congregation - duties she never wanted to begin with. Before long, she's in the middle of
two
of the largest, most heinous scandals the town has ever seen - & she's the preacher's wife! These scandals lead to more & Dean is soon miserably/happily lost in it all.
When a car accident...more
When a car accident...more
Just picked this book up one day while browsing the book store. Did not realize it was written by Pat Conroy's wife and I did not read the back section first. So I had no pre-conceived ideas. I thought the book was entertaining, funny at times and also revealed the relationship between two women so different yet so similar in some respects. It is a good easy read for summer.
Just finished reading this book. It was good, though a little long. It was funny, sad, and poignant all at the same time. Once again, I didn't like the way "church people" were portrayed. I have maet people like this, but most of the people I know at different churches are the exact opposite. I was surprised and sad at the way it ended, but it was a good read.
This book tells the tale of a friendship between two mis-matched women and the decinigration of their marriages. Although that sounds really depressing, it isn't. The main character, Dean, is the wife of a minister who wants to "move up" the minister ladder of success and wants a perfect minister's wife. Unfortunately for him, he has Dean, a woman who tries to sublimate her feelings, but really has a mind of her own and a strong dislike for the falsely pious. Dean and husband are moved into a ne...more
This book and author ticked me off. It's apparant King hates the church and all that it stands for and for that, I almost couldn't finish the book. I only did because I really wanted to know what ended up happening to the ministers wife. I really don't recommend this book to anyone.
This is the second book that my local book club has taken on. I wanted to like it more than I did. I sympathized with the main character Dean as she struggled with her disappointing past family life and her totally different though equally disappointing present marriage to Pastor Ben Lynch. He personally made my skin crawl. A professed man of God, he was concerned solely with appearances and ambition. The way that he disregarded his wife's wants, feelings and needs made me despise him. But, on t...more
The novel is set in the South I know, and I'm pretty sure I've met these characters over the years. I always knew Methodists were the thinkers. I absolutely loved this book, though I was hesitant to patronize Stephen King's wife.
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THis was at the top of my list until I read My Sister's Keeper. I really loved it and would recommend it to anyone. It takes place on the Gulf Coast. The author is married to Pat Conroy who wrote Prince of Tides and Beach Music.
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Aug 04, 2011
Deborah Bobo
added it
Being an up and coming minister’s wife is not an easy job. Living up to the expectations of the congregation and your husband can be stressful. Dean Lynch struggles with this as she tries to find out just who she is and what she wants from life. She becomes friends with Augusta Holderfield, a church member who has strayed from the fold. Her husband wants to use this friendship to bring the Holderfield’s back into the church, but Augusta could care less about what Ben Lynch wanted. Instead, she h...more
My favorite thing about this book was that even the best of friends didn't know everything about each other. I, too, was concerned about pigeon-holing the religious, but it was specific to certain people, not generalized.
I thought this book was about something it wasn't really about. I couldn't get into the story and the characters really had no point to me. I didn't even get 50 pages in before i just had to put it down.
A few reviewers thought the novel was a bit too long; I didn't want it to end. This is a story of Dean, a music major married to a methodist minister (who particularly ministers to those who can help him up the career track) who tries to adjust to yet another ministry in another parsonage in another town. This time, one of the townies, a free spirit named Augusta, takes her under her wing, and they become inseparable friends. Her friendship with Augusta and Augusta's family gives her the confide...more
This could be good - a story about an unlikely friendship between two women, and hopefully the story of how one woman finds herself. On the other hand, it could suck.
This book is written by Pat Conroy's wife, Cassandra King. It is about a young preacher's wife who breaks free of his patriarichal ways. It's a great read.
Read this in hard back summer of 03 wonderful refreshing story regarding a preachers wife. Some shocking details that one would not expect from the Sunday wife.
I'd put this book on my wish list a few years ago and my husband just surprised me with it this summer. When I began reading I kept saying that I would have loved it a couple years ago but it wasn't my style so much now. I was very sure it was going to be heartbreaking in a way that would hit close to home for me. It was. It also ended up grabbing me and pulling me in. I knew the characters, I cared for some, couldn't stand others. The story is really about love in many forms, deep and connected...more
I loved The Sunday Wife although it reminded me of the reason that I left the confines of the church even though there are some very good people in the churches there are just too many like are portrayed in this novel. I loved the story of Dean and how she handled her chauvinistic and boring husband and of her friend Augusta who was rebellious and taught Dean how to stand up for her rights. I just finished it so I won't give away any more of it except to say I think you will love it! I'm plannin...more
I took this along to the beach really looking forward to a Southern tale by Pat Conroy's wife. It turned into a liberal bashing of all stereotypical conservatism both in the church and elsewhere. It was predictable in its portrayal of the church as the bad guy that makes what are portrayed as unfeeling decisions based on political expediency instead of principal.
The book had potential, but picked trite stereotypes and situations to attempt to tell a "touching story" of a preacher's wife with a t...more
The book had potential, but picked trite stereotypes and situations to attempt to tell a "touching story" of a preacher's wife with a t...more
Mean spirited, career climbing Methodist Preacher Husband
Unbelievably naïve preacher’s wife as protagonist
Southern spunky friend with a terrible secret, with a too good to be true husband
Charismatic church hierarchy with a past affair with a child/ girl
A gypsy fortune tellerAll characters behaving like high school sophomores
Only the Church ladies eager to pounce on all suspicions of wrong doings rang true to me
I expected more from this book.
It could have been 150 pages shorter.
Unbelievably naïve preacher’s wife as protagonist
Southern spunky friend with a terrible secret, with a too good to be true husband
Charismatic church hierarchy with a past affair with a child/ girl
A gypsy fortune tellerAll characters behaving like high school sophomores
Only the Church ladies eager to pounce on all suspicions of wrong doings rang true to me
I expected more from this book.
It could have been 150 pages shorter.
Fabulously written novel yet so amazingly possible that it could be someone's autobiography. The story is an intricately woven masterpiece of a marriage between a preacher and his "good and faithful servant" wife. That is until they are reassigned to a new church and makes a friend that will change her life forever. The story of friendship, secrets, servitude and sad hearts make for quite the page turner. Unfortunately, it also causes us to see a little of these characters in ourselves.
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