Search by Michelle Huneven

This book was riveting. I could not put it down and was annoyed when I had to put it aside to attend to household chores! The story of a congregation looking for a minister to succeed the one who is retiring is told in the form of a committee and its hearings (and there are wonderful recipes and food to gloat over) whilst we go through with all the meetings that follow. The congregational search is in itself divided. There seems to be fairly well established rules for the entire process but very early on the group seems to be divided by young and old, conservative views and definitely more radical ones. My knowledge of church leaders if very narrow so it was an eye opener for me. Ministers using every trick in the book to keep a congregation happy. Theatrics, yoga, comparative religions, plenty of music of every kind, a few under hand tricks as well to get a Ministership (?) if thats what its called with a negotiation which would do a corporate proud to get the best deal. The book meandered chapter by chapter but it did not hide the passion of the church members to do what they feel is best for their church. Unfortunately many of the feelings clashed and most were intractable. Those who gave in gracefully "for the common good" felt cheated at the end that the result was not worth the sacrifice of principles and ethics. The story is an unusual one, and is a page turner. Sent by Penguin Group The Penguin Press for an unbiased review, courtesy of Netgalley.