Stainless Mary — Kathleen K

STAINLESS MARY (O Come, All Ye Faithful) KIRKUS REVIEW: A witty and wise read, especially for fans of tough-minded heroines. by Kirkus Reviews Oct. 2012 Mary is a Catholic wife and mother of three working as an accountant for her church. Except none of that is true, not any more… her kids are grown, her husband divorced her, she got fired from her job. Everything she believed in has turned itself inside out. She still loves God but she's lost her faith in the “Men in Charge” approach so lovingly described by men in their very own Bible. Her husband has puny emotions, the priests are sin-ridden and unrepentant; the planet is dirty and the money is funny. She goes to work for a women's shelter and faces the sad fact that men mean trouble, they are selfish and violent and weak, and women are not blameless. People engage in a war of clever words that never settles anything: the difference between having faith and being religious, what it means to be a loving mate and a legal spouse, does your plumbing determine what you accomplish in life? This is a briskly written narrative sharing the stages of Mary's one and only life, her finitude. She comes to understand that life is about choices: from circumstances dictated by our DNA and birthplace, choices are made for us by our parents, our teachers, our leaders. We measure our life in choices: college or no, married or no, parent or no, stay or go? We choose how to react to what happens to us, and to engineer solutions that suit our sensibilities. At peace with what she has made of herself, Mary meets a man who seems heaven-sent. So many new choices... O Come, All Ye Fathful indeed! KathleenK.com for vivid family fiction.