The book selection for the February Book Club is now available. “Mennonite in a Little black Dress” by Rhoda Janzen. The group will meet on Feb. 17th at 2 p.m. to share thoughts on this title. Please note that this is a Tuesday and not our usual Monday.
This is a hilarious and moving memoir about a woman who returns home to her Mennonite family after a personal crisis. The same week her husband of 15 years ditches her, a partially inebriated teenage driver smacks her VW Beetle head-on. Marriage over, body bruised, life upside-down, Rhoda does what any sensible 43-year-old would do: She goes home. But hers is not just any home. It s a Mennonite home, the scene of her painfully uncool childhood and the bosom of her family: handsome but grouchy Dad, plain but cheerful Mom. Drinking, smoking, and slumber parties are nixed; potlucks, prune soup, and public prayer are embraced. Having long ago left the faith behind, Rhoda is surprised when the conservative community welcomes her back with open arms and offbeat advice. She discovers that this safe, sheltered world is the perfect place to come to terms with her failed marriage and the choices that both freed and entrapped her.
