Saturday Morning: A Novel

By Lauraine Snelling

Book Overview

Broken by life's disappointments, four women forge a friendship that leads in unexpected directions. Hope Benson is determined to do all she can for the broken souls who come to Casa de Jesus, a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0307459047
• ISBN13: 9780307459046
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: WaterBrook
• Length: 390 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.2" x 0.9" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Another treasured book for and about women

Lauraine Snelling has produced another treasured book for and about women in Saturday Morning. It is the story of a group of women who band together to save a San Francisco women's shelter. Hope Benson tries to save the shelter from developers who want the property. Her pregnancy makes her unable to keep the shelter safe, so she is joined in the fight by three other women who meet at a farmer's market. This novel, published by WaterBrook Press, is about the power of friendship. The four women who are the main characters of the story all have some dilemma, but they work together to save the shelter and to keep it in its original location where the farmer's market sets up. The forty-three chapters tell of Andrea's search for a happy marriage and career blend, Hope's struggle through a difficult pregnancy, Julia's search for her missing daughter, and Clarice's dealing with the disappearance of her husband. One stirring episode involves a police raid on the shelter's Sunday church service and the discovery of drugs on the premises. Andrea, "Andy," is the strongest character and she starts a successful business selling herbs; just as the business takes off her husband decides to move. Andy's husband nearly dies with heart trouble, yet she takes care of him and they come to grips with some of the problems in their marriage. The women become treasured comrades as they each struggle in their own unique set of circumstances, while ministering to the shelter's clients. They learn to trust God and each other. The characters are strong and believable, and it is written with good dialogue and scenes that portray the situation realistically. Saturday Morning infuses a spiritual message which makes it worthwhile reading. I recommend it to women who know that life is seldom of the "Leave It To Beaver" variety." - Elece Hollis, Christian Book Previews.com

An enouraging and moving book about the power of prayer and friendship

Life is full of challenges and disappointments. In SATURDAY MORNING, the reader encounters four women who are in completely different places in their lives. Like a fine weaver, Lauraine Snelling slowly spins the stories of these individuals until they come together in a beautiful tapestry. On the graphic of a price tag, each chapter includes the name of the viewpoint character of that particular section. The book opens with Andy Taylor, who has taken up the hobby of creating products with lavender plants in Medford, Oregon and parlayed the family farm into a booming home business. An empty-nester with her three children in college, Andy's parents live nearby and help plant, harvest and package the raw materials for the business named Lavender Meadows. Andy's husband, Martin, is a business executive who travels a great deal. Over the years, the couple has drifted apart and created separate lives. Almost unaware of the satisfaction Andy receives from her growing business, Martin arrives and announces that the company has offered him the dream job of a Vice President position. It means that he can get off the road and stay home --- but with this promotion, the Taylors are required to live near company headquarters in San Francisco. Furious at Martin's insensitivity about her needs in Oregon, Andy compromises and suggests they have one home in San Francisco and one in Medford. Several chapters later, readers meet Julia Collins, a successful trial lawyer from Kansas City. Initially Julia appears hardworking yet problem-free. As the story unfolds, however, Julia has a communication struggle with her daughter, Donna. For a while, Donna's daughter Cyndy lived with Julia. But the young girl didn't like her grandmother's rules, so she returned to her mother. In a phone call to her daughter, Julia learns that Cyndy has left home and is headed to California. Hiring a private investigator, Cyndy's trail leads to San Francisco. Julia takes a sabbatical from her legal work and tries to personally locate Cyndy. Hope Benson runs J House, a shelter for women. Life is always full at the shelter for Hope and her former policeman husband, Roger. Born in Jamaica, Hope runs her ministry on a shoestring that borders on financial collapse. Living with many unfulfilled wishes, which Hope calls "if onlys," her life suddenly takes a dramatic turn. Thinking she has some terrible illness because of her symptoms, Hope sees a nearby clinic doctor and learns the impossible has happened. Previously, this doctor had told Hope that she couldn't get pregnant. Now, Hope discovers she's pregnant with her first child! With the busy lifestyle of J House, a difficult pregnancy makes it even more complex for Hope. About a third into the book, readers meet the fourth woman, Clarice Van Dam, who lives in Tampa, Florida. After the death of her husband, Herbert, Clarice falls in love with a much younger man, Gregor, who has taken over her life. They pack everything and plan to move into a

Brokenness and healing

Lauraine has taken the truth that every woman, somewhere, has brokenness in her life, and shown how community can be a place of healing. She casts her characters on an unlikely stage-a shelter for women-and deftly weaves between the conflicts of four main characters. If you're looking for fun yet inspirational literature with women as the main characters, don't pass this one by.

fabulous upbeat tale

In San Francisco former hooker Hope Benson runs the Casa de Jesus women's shelter, but knows her facility will fail state inspection unless a miracle occurs. Although she detests moving and giving up her thriving lavender line, Andy Taylor relocates to the Bay City when her spouse accepts a new job. At the same time Kansas City attorney Julia Collins is in town searching for her runaway teenage granddaughter. Finally, wealthy widow Clarice Van Dam is left with nothing when her spouse deserts her taking all their possessions including their funds with him. These four females meet in the Casa de Jesus parking lot and forge the Girl Squad to help them while looking to God for divine assurance. The quartet work to try to save the shelter and each other as a sisterly bond forms by being the women being there for one another and praying to the Lord to show them the way. Though the amoral behavior of the males would lead to neutering them, the Girl Squad members are a delightful group who find solace and courage with one another, a common goal to save the shelter, and a strengthening of their belief in God in spite of the mundane odds against them. Each one of the women brings a different personality to the inspirational story line; together they blend quite well although they are so different in background and temperament. Male neutering aside, SATURDAY MORNING is a fabulous upbeat tale of about caring for others leads to taking care of your self. Harriet Klausner

Snelling hits one out of the park

Lauraine Snelling is best known as a writer of historical Christian fiction, but she hits one out of the park with her latest contemporary fiction offering, "Saturday Morning." Snelling brings together four women of diverse backgrounds who are each going through crises in their lives. Their interweaving stories, and the way they band together for friendship, support and prayer, makes for such an engaging tale, I had a very difficult time putting the book down. There's Andy, who after raising her children and supporting her traveling businessman husband for years, now finds herself with a thriving lavender farm and skyrocketing lavender product business. (Coincidentally, I have had my own love affair with lavender for the past several months! I love its fresh, clean fragrance. I thought lavender was grown in France; didn't realize it's a big business here in the U.S.) Suddenly, Andy's husband wants to move to San Francisco...and Andy doesn't want to go. There's Hope, who runs a downtown San Francisco rescue mission called "Casa de Jesus." Big business is threatening to close the doors--just as Hope gets some of the biggest, most life-changing news of her life. There's Julia, an attorney whose troubled granddaughter has run away to--you guessed it--San Francisco. And there's Clarice, a wealthy aging widow who arrives in the Bay City, stunned and penniless, courtesy of the gigolo husband who duped her. The idea of women coming together for support and prayer is one that Lauraine Snelling hopes will catch on. She tells me, "My dream would be that women would come away from (the book) saying, 'I have to have a group like that,' and do everything they can to build that group and to take the time for that group and to be blessed that way."