Today is the last day of The Name I Call Myself book blog tour and I am honoured to be today’s host.
I would like to thank Rhoda Hardie for giving me this opportunity.
About the book:
All Faith Harp wants is a quiet life–to take care of her troubled brother, Sam, earn enough money to stop the poverty wolves snapping at her heels, and to keep her past buried as deep as possible. And after years of upheaval, she might have just about managed it: Sam’s latest treatment seems to actually be working, Faith is holding down a job, and she’s engaged to the gorgeous and successful Perry. But, for Faith, things never seem to stay simple for long. Her domineering mother-in-law-to-be is planning a nightmare wedding, including the wedding dress from hell. And the man who killed her mother is released from prison, sending her brother tumbling back into mental illness.
When secretly planning the wedding she really wants, Faith stumbles across a church choir that challenges far more than her ability to hold a tune. She ends up joining the choir, led by the fierce choir-mistress Hester, who is determined to do whatever it takes to turn the group of ragtag women into something spectacular. She also meets Dylan, the church’s vicar, who is different than any man she has ever met before . . .
My Review:
Don’t let the cover of The Name I Call Myself fool you. It screams qirky and funny chick lit in all it’s glory.
And yes, it was quirky, it was fun at times and you could say it is a chick lit (even though it is a true piece of women’s fiction in my opinion), but it is also so much more.
The story follows Faith, 25 years old girl who is engaged to Perry, who’s family come from the old money.
Faith has some trouble preparing for the wedding as her mother-in-law likes to have everything under control, from Faith’s wedding dress to wedding invitations, every possible aspect of Faith’s big day.
While trying to arrange what church the wedding should be in, Faith and her best friend Marilyn stumble upon a choir and decide to join.
What hurt can some choir practice bring, right? Especially where there’s a cute church vicar involved…
But Faith also has so much more on her plate. The life she lived before, her unreliable brother she’s taking care of and some ghosts from her past will shake her everyday life and make her question her decisions in a search for herself.
This book took me by surprise. I enjoyed reading it as much as I expected, but what I didn’t expect was the seriousness that the story took.
At first, it started as a typical chick lit, with a clumsy protagonist and humoristic scenes that even made me roll my eyes.
But as the story progressed, it took another turn and it became more serious, covering some pretty important issues like addiction, violence and abuse.
Characters we met in this novel had more dimensions and I liked how they seemed real.
Faith was a great protagonist. The writer made her relatableand at some points, even though I didn’t agree with her, I saw where she was coming from.
I only wish we got to see more scenes with Perry. In that case, we’d got a chance to meet him better so he wouldn’t be so mysterious. I can’t even tell if his absence came as a planned part of the story or if his character was just neglected in the process of writing.
Whatever it is, I think it would be better if there was more of him.
The writing style was really good. From pacing to describing, everything is well managed and the book reads pretty quickly.
This was my first time reading the work of Beth Moran.
I am glad I had a chance to read The Name I Call Myself because now I’d like to try Moran’s other work.
If you are a women’s fiction lover, I highly recommend you to put The Name I call Myself on your to-be-read list.
In my opinion, it is worth giving a try.
About the author:
Beth Moran has a background as a research scientist and adult educator. She now concentrates on church work and is part of the national leadership team of the UK women’s network Free Range Chicks. She is married with three children and lives in Nottingham, England.
Visit other blogs that were part of this tour: