Customer Reviews

Every Good and Perfect Gift: A Novel

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Brenda Jernigan's first novel is one filled with authentic, believable characters and gentle but clear-eyed observations of life in the South during the 50s and 60s. Like another reviewer, I found that several of the characters reminded me in no small way of some of my own memorable relatives.

The story centers around three women, living together on their own, whose lives are filled with familiar joys and sorrows, eccentric and strong-willed relatives and neighbors, hard work and rewards. Their personalities are distinctly different, and at times conflicting -- but they are bound together by their faith (expressed and experienced in different ways), values and deep love of family.

Daughter Maggie, the main character and narrator, is ten years old as the book opens. One morning in Sunday school, she is gifted with a vision of God, accompanied by a simple message: "Feed my sheep'. The fact that, in Maggie's vision, God appears as a woman, is met with an understated, natural acceptance by her, and by understandable skepticism and consternation by her family and others in the small North Carolina town of Canaan, where they live. After being rebuked and ridiculed for this aspect of her revelation, Maggie decides to keep the Heavenly gender to herself. From time to time, she experiences repetitions of the initial vision -- and feels herself being utilized as a conduit for healing energy, which of course brings more attention her way. These incidents cannot be called up by her at will -- to the dismay and scorn of those who would use her 'power' for their own purposes and profit. Her view of her 'gift', and all of its accompanying burdens, are refreshingly honest, straightforward and simple -- she knows that the power doesn't lie within her or belong to her, and she sees herself as someone fairly ordinary. She deals with all of this as she struggles against all of the barriers thrown up against a young woman in the South during this time who is trying to be independent, educate herself, and make her place in the world.

Maggie grandmother is -- as one magazine article so aptly puts it -- 'a sturdy country woman of great faith'. She is necessarily tough, the unquestionable matriarch of her extended family -- with some members of which she occasionally butts heads -- but she is filled with the power that unconditional love instills in a person. She is fond of quoting scripture, and she has a knack for getting right to the heart of any matter -- the tools of faith, strength and love serve her well.

Lily, Maggie's mother, is quite the free spirit. Much of her family views her as an aberration, and with some degree of disdain and disrespect -- but in her own way, she is just as strong-willed, just as pure-hearted as her mother. Jernigan skillfully develops her character as the story progresses to allow the reader to come to realize this.

The author's character-building skills are one of the most rewarding things about this novel -- coupled with her talent for translating what surely must be first-hand observations of growing up in the 60s South into readable, relevant and entertaining prose make this book a joyful, moving experience.

In addition, the book is valuable in gently allowing us to consider the ways in which God is revealed -- or not -- to each one of us. Those who cling so tightly to irrelevancies such as gender and skin color -- things of the flesh, not of the spirit -- are in danger of missing the deeper universality of the spiritual experience. A couple of observations from 'outside' Christianity come to mind. Ramakrishna, a great saint who lived in India during the late 19th century, spoke often about the unifying beliefs of the world's great religions. He likened the varying presentations of the word of God as different meals, prepared by a loving mother to suit the tastes of her children. I also recently saw a quote from Mahatma Ghandi that said (approximately) 'There are some people in the world who are so hungry that God can only appear to them as a loaf of bread'. Our needs are as varied as we are as human beings -- why is it that our vision and understanding of God's nature should not be varied as well?

This book is a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a social document, and simply a well-written, rewarding read -- whether you grew up in the South, or anywhere. This is a story and a group of characters that you will not soon forget.

Reading this book brought back memories of growing up with my own Southern family and all its characters. Shelling beans, shucking corn, fried chicken Sunday dinners and great aunts who told it like they saw it....I can imagine any of them in this novel. Jernigan's observations and descriptions made me laugh out loud all the way through. It's a book that all the women in your family will enjoy!

Sitting in Sunday school listening to an interminable story, Maggie Davidson sees God, in the form of a woman, in a vision when she's just 10 years old, and discovers that she has the gift of healing. She blurts this out to anyone who will listen, which quickly earns her the label of liar and kook. So she decides to keep her visions to herself after that. She can't summon the appearances of God, nor does she have any control over her healing powers, but her reputation spreads quickly throughout the small town of Canaan, North Carolina. Maggie bears her notoriety with grace and tolerance, but is always aware of how different she is from other people.

Maggie is being raised by her mother and grandmother, both strong, unique women. Granny is running the tobacco farm, and Maggie helps out when she's not in school. Her alcoholic father took off years ago, but shows up to borrow some money from Maggie when he learns of her famous gift. In fact, most of the men in this book are weak or flawed in some way. Granny is a delightful character, down-to-earth, warm hearted and practical, constantly spouting down home wisdoms.

Alex Barrons, a Princeton seminary student, shows up one summer when Maggie is in college, intent on interviewing Maggie as part of his summer research project on modern day mystics and visionaries. Maggie agrees to talk to him, and they become friends as the summer progresses. But when it's time for Alex to return to college, he admits that he has fallen in love with her. Maggie feels that she won't fit into his world, and feels violated when he reveals that he told someone else about her secret belief that God is a woman. Maggie refuses to read any of his letters while he is away, but her heart is broken and she can't forget about him and the bond they shared.

The book was a delightful study of small town folks, good people doing good deeds, misguided people doing harm to each other, religious fervor, the power of God's love, and the power of faith and forgiveness. Sit down with this book for an afternoon, and you'll feel a renewal of your own faith and love.

I really liked reading this book. It reminded me of "Where the Heart Is". I liked the strong women characters. The healing gift storyline was intriguing to me, but I was disappointed because it seemed to fall to the wayside in the latter half of the book as the lovelife of the characters took over. The story was a little bit predictable, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.

This book was a wonderful read. Maggie, at the young age of 10, sees God. And God is a woman. Healing powers are bestowed on Maggie, and the burden of her gift at times becomes too much for her to bear or understand. Maggie's mother and grandmother play a huge part in her life, as does Maggie's first experience with love. Maggie meets Alex, and during the summer, they spend time on the farm, discussing her gift and trying to understand why she has been chosen to work God's miracles.

The story continues to unfold as her mother suffers a stroke, and Maggie reaches to God to heal her sick loved one. When this does not happen, Maggie rejects her faith, in herself and in God. As well, Maggie rejects Alex and he leaves her, swearing to return when she will finally believe in their love. I kept turning the pages to see if Maggie and Alex can recapture their love...and the ending fits the story.

This story is a soulful journey, with strong female characters, especially Maggie who is our portal to God's love. A rich tale, worthy of 5 stars.

I really loved this book; reminded me of fiction by Kaye Gibbons and Lee Smith. It's difficult for a fiction writer to point out the foibles of established religion without coming across as anti-religion, but Jernigan manages this feat as skillfully as Clyde Edgerton does in novels like Raney.

This book is about many things. The power of love, the power of family, the power of God. The characters are so real, you could close your eyes and see them. I could have read this book from cover to cover, but I took my time and savored each chapter to make it last. If they made it into a movie, the would call it the "feel good movie of the season." I feel inspired to be a better person after reading this novel.