The Epic Undoing of Haley Ann Ewing

by Willow Feller

Facing a cataclysmic identity crisis, pregnant Haley is battling for her very life-- her life as an eco-chic, vegan Christian, that is. She hadn't counted on being thrust into a war zone when she agreed to leave her East Coast life and go with her husband, Rick, to the Montana outback for the summer. And she certainly hadn't counted on attending a ladies Bible study in a smoky, rancid saloon. Rather than run from it, though, Haley decides it is her God-given mission to subdue and educate the redneck forces that discount her superior vocabulary and sophisticated hairdo. With no help from Rick or his freaky Aunt Win, Haley dives headfirst into her mission only to find herself sucked irretrievably into a maelstrom of humiliating mishaps. With tensions mushrooming as fast as her belly, will Haley see that she is actually living out the reality of the scripture, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged"? And just how many car explosions and massive wardrobe malfunctions will it take for her to realize that is is her own judgements of others that are boomeranging back on her?

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2013

About the author

Willow Feller lives in the woods of North Idaho with her husband, Mike, and as of recently, none of the six rambunctious kids that they managed to raise and sequentially kick out of the nest. The nest-emptying has opened up more writing time for Willow, resulting in the publication of her first novel, "The Epic Undoing of Haley Ann Ewing" (Evergreen Press) as well as recent articles for the online magazine, Burnside Writers Collective.

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Together, Willow and Mike enjoy all the usual hyphenated Idaho stuff: trail-ambling, huckleberry-picking, firewood-cutting, and grizzly-sparring. They especially delight in time spent with their adorable granddaughters. Willow does not enjoy onion patch weeding, grinding stumps on the eight-acre plot Mike is intent on clearing, or the sound of her own screaming when, while operating a cantankerous tractor, she panics and pulls the hydraulic loader control lever in all the wrong directions, causing said loader to dangle field boulders over her hard-working husband’s head.

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Mike doesn’t enjoy that either.

Reviews

[Katherine Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone who’s been a Christian for any significant amount of time understands how easy it is to fall into judgmentalism, the issue at the heart of Willow Feller’s quirky debut novel, The Epic Undoing of Haley Ann Ewing. Personally, I think it’s genius the way in which she lovingly skewers us all, exposing our nearly universal flaw—because, of course, our defenses are down when we are laughing, even at ourselves.

Feller weaves resounding themes throughout the story: sacrifice, rebirth, forgiveness, and the biggies—acceptance and love. There’s also a touch of the supernatural, with shades of C.S. Lewis and Frank Peretti. I also appreciated her tackling of the dangers of social media and how it can affect our thought-lives and—yes, let’s face it—the way we judge ourselves and others.

I don’t think I’m giving too much away when I say that as I neared the novel’s end, I was really beginning to fear for Haley. With only a handful of pages remaining, she still hadn’t seen the light. But Feller pulls a convincing resolution out of the hat just in the nick, leaving me to now look forward to future off-beat shenanigans from this talented writer.

[Kate Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book in a contest, but if I hadn't, it is one I would purchase. I loved this book from the first page, I laughed and I cried as I journeyed along with Haley Ann. I loved the writing and I loved the story. It makes such good points about judging and loving others and reinforces in a real-world way how little things we do can separate us from God. This book was so good that my son asked me about it several times while I was reading it, and it lead to some really good discussions between us. I highly recommend this book if you are looking to help improve any relationship in your life, if you are looking to laugh and if you are looking to just feel joy from the inside out.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a reminder of how we are often intent on judging others and fail to see the faults within ourselves.