Glory never thought the day would come when she would pour a double shot of Tennessee gumption and consider the seventh commandment.
Meet Glory Potter, a strong-willed farm girl coming of age on the Midwestern prairie during the early twentieth century.
Driven to please her dying reverend father, young Glory takes the helm of his ministry. Folks gather from miles around to witness the holy woman's powerful sermons and her church begins to prosper. But after protesting one World War, and another brewing on the horizon, the pacifist sect comes under fire from its patriotic neighbors.
Further complicating matters, Glory's childhood sweetheart, Emma, returns to the church even lovelier than the traumatic day she left. Glory struggles to hold onto the pulpit--as well as her sanity. The strictures she places on herself will affect the Potterite flock in unforeseeable ways for generations to come.
The saga of four intersecting lives, THE CHILDREN OF MOTHER GLORY, explores our need to belong versus our urge to seek. It is a story of that mysterious inheritance known as human desire and its ability to outpace human ideology.
Meet Glory Potter, a strong-willed farm girl coming of age on the Midwestern prairie during the early twentieth century.
Driven to please her dying reverend father, young Glory takes the helm of his ministry. Folks gather from miles around to witness the holy woman's powerful sermons and her church begins to prosper. But after protesting one World War, and another brewing on the horizon, the pacifist sect comes under fire from its patriotic neighbors.
Further complicating matters, Glory's childhood sweetheart, Emma, returns to the church even lovelier than the traumatic day she left. Glory struggles to hold onto the pulpit--as well as her sanity. The strictures she places on herself will affect the Potterite flock in unforeseeable ways for generations to come.
The saga of four intersecting lives, THE CHILDREN OF MOTHER GLORY, explores our need to belong versus our urge to seek. It is a story of that mysterious inheritance known as human desire and its ability to outpace human ideology.
Editorial Reviews
Review
C.M. Harris's riveting first novel weaves family, fundamentalism, gender, and love through the lives of four members of the Midwestern Potterite sect. Harris deftly explores each character's methods of handling the life he or she has been dealt. --Lavender Magazine
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
C.M. Harris attended The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and The Loft Literary Center of Minneapolis. She is a copywriter and graphic designer for marketing and advertising firm, Carbon Creative. She lives in Uptown Minneapolis with her partner, their twins and two miniature pinschers.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dare To Be True,
By Jim Duggins, Ph.D. "Author, The Power and Sla... (Rancho Mirage, CA USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Children of Mother Glory (Paperback)
C.M. Harris has written an extraordinary novel, "The Children of Mother Glory" which is a century-long saga of an American religious community held together by its communal land, business enterprise, and its religious fundamentalism. Unusual, too, the woman, Glory Potter, whose father, Thaddeus Potter founded the sect, inherits the ministry. Upon that history, author Harris has built an incredibly complex plot which bares the hearts and souls of her dozen main characters in the major social and spiritual issues of the last century, i.e., 1) religion and science; 3) matriarchal and patriarchal leadership; 3) gender and sexuality; 4) church and state; 5) war and conscientious objection; 6) wealth, charity and greed. There are no cardboard cutout characters in the oeuvre of Ms. Harris. A master at developing characters, C.M. Harris deals with each of these issues through finely honed characters who grow with the novel. She shows the struggle of those men who follow their religion to become conscientious objectors and the response of individuals and governments who incarcerate or assassinate them. Harris causes us to see the pain of choice for gays and lesbians who struggle with their sexuality in the real world and the edicts of Christian Fundamentalism.
As the Potterite community grows and flourishes through the wars of the twentieth century, it becomes extremely wealthy. Here, an example of moral issues and values is shown in the hypocrisy of exhorting their young male parishioners to eschew military service as COs while producing war materials in Potterite factories. It is important to point out that these "issues" are always shown through character and setting, dialogue, etc. never "told" or preached. Finally this book is rich in history. The author's command of historical detail is awesome. Another of the many remarkable qualities of "The Children of Mother Glory" is this novel's "writerly" qualities, the prose itself, often profound, lyrical, elegant, and imaginative, is full of simple phrases or sentences that cause the reader to pause and say, "I never thought of it like that"; or ""What a lovely way to say that"; e.g., [the sky] "to the west, the sky grew lavender, fell to pink and finally exploded into melon orange"; [a train whistle]"her passionless call promised no perfect destination, only junction"; and,[a bad girl]"God felt some people needed talking to, while others just needed keeping an eye on. And if that was the case, the least I could do is put on a show". If you enjoy American history and a truly grand novel, C. M. Harris's "The Children of Mother Glory" should be at the top of your must-read-next" list. Like a Gourmet dinner, this novel provides eight courses of mental nourishment, a book that will live in your mind a long time afer you've read the last sentence.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible first novel,
By AR (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Children of Mother Glory (Paperback)
The Children of Mother Glory by first time author C.M. Harris is a sweeping trek spanning the twentieth century through the eyes of four disparate characters born into a Mid-western religious sect. The Potterites are not a cult, just fundamentalist and devout. Mother Glory, an absorbing and steady woman and the eventual leader of the community, is introduced to the reader as an adolescent. She's the anchor of the novel and we see her through to old age. She is a remarkable, complexly drawn character who continues to inform the small clan long after she is gone. She describes her flock thusly: "She could find no demons among them, only the gently flawed."
The four primary characters deal with issues of sexuality, faith, and the powerful bonds of community. Each character is adroitly drawn. None are saints but all have a sense of honor and fidelity. Hemmed in as they are by a sometimes repressive and closed environment, each of them is compelled to bury their more dangerous desires. Inevitably they bump up against the challenges of trying to prevent their own identities from being completely subsumed. But Harris shows quite clearly that nothing can be buried forever. Though this novel has several gay characters, I would not call it a gay novel. That would be much too simple a label considering both the scope and depth of the narrative. For a story that addresses some controversial issues, Harris handles her material free of any agenda other than to tell a good story well. There is no preaching here other than by Mother Glory herself. I was deeply touched by this novel. Glory, Seb, Danielle and Jacob navigate very human terrain in a hothouse atmosphere that attempts to shield the faithful from the world. The Children of Mother Glory is an exploration of the complex bonds of community. Each of the characters experiences some form of escape and homecoming and the reader feels their joy and pain along with them. This novel and these characters have stayed with me long after reading the final page. Harris has an impressively assured writing style, often lyrical, at times funny, and always compelling. Her powers of description, whether evoking the past or the present will carry you along, quite willingly, into the richly textured and deeply sensual world she has imagined. She continually surprised me with her word choices, making me see the familiar with new eyes. This is a very American novel and it made my heart pang for our mixed up, diverse and complicated country. A terrific debut novel. A most satisfying read. I'm excited to see what this talented author will do next.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intriguing and Thoroughly Enjoyable,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Children of Mother Glory (Paperback)
I finished The Children of Mother Glory this afternoon while I was supposed to be working. It was that enjoyable. It's far from a light read but the story is captivating. Some people classify this as gay fiction. I wouldn't pigeon-hole this book. It's about family and community and how things can go terribly wrong (and also at times terribly right). It gave me a rare glimpse inside a small, closed community with a charismatic leader. The characters are beautifully drawn. I grew to care about the people and the place and to wish I could visit a real community like this one in person someday. I think The Children of Mother Glory would make an excellent book club read for those who take their books more seriously than their margaritas.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
