Saturday Morning: A Novel [Paperback]

Lauraine Snelling (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2005

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 women’s shelter in the heart of San Francisco. When a difficult pregnancy forces her to relinquish control, she draws support and strength from an unlikely group of women, each struggling with her own heartbreak.

Andy Taylor, a reluctant transplant to California, was compelled to leave behind her lavender-growing business and her home of twenty-some years to support her workaholic husband’s pursuit of career success. Attorney Julia Collins is searching for her teenage granddaughter, believed to be living on the streets. And Clarice Van Dam’s life has been shattered by the disappearance of her husband, who appears to have relieved her of all earthly possessions except a fur coat and her overnight bag.

Drawn together at the weekend market held in the shelter’s parking lot, the women pool their resources to fend off an unscrupulous conglomerate that threatens to replace the facility with a commercial development. As they fight to retain this haven for women in need, they find their own longings for home answered by the solace of faith and friendship.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Prolific writer Snelling offers another round of light inspirational fiction, this time following four women whose lives intersect at J House, a San Francisco women's shelter. Andy struggles to figure out how to love a workaholic husband whose job has transferred him, threatening to take her away from the family homestead and her own profitable lavender farm. Hope runs J House with her husband, Roger, and longs for children of her own. Julia is despondent about a granddaughter who has run away, and Clarice has been ditched by her second husband, who drained their bank accounts and vanished, leaving her to fend for herself in a new city. The women become a prayer support group for each other, witnessing miraculous solutions to each situation. J House becomes the concern that unites them all when it is threatened by hostile takeover from developers and by reclamation from the city for not meeting earthquake codes. Snelling weaves the four stories into one compelling whole, set against the somewhat sanitized backdrop of the shelter. The characters fail to be distinct, each speaking with largely the same voice, but no doubt Snelling's loyal fan base will welcome these women as friends. (Sept. 20)
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About the Author

Lauraine Snelling has written numerous best-selling books, including The Way of Women, The Healing Quilt, the Red River of the North historical series, and the award-winning novels An Untamed Land and Song of Laughter. Lauraine leads writer’s workshops in her home and at numerous conferences around the country. She and her husband, Wayne, make their home in California’s Tehachapi Mountains.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 392 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press (September 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578567882
• ISBN-13: 978-1578567881
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,370,487 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lauraine Snelling, an award-winning author of fifty-plus books with sales of over 2 million copies, also writes for a wide range of magazines and teaches at writers' conferences across the country. She and her husband make their home in Tehachapi, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another treasured book for and about women, December 21, 2005

By 

Christian Book Previews "Christian Book Previews" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Saturday Morning: A Novel (Paperback)

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

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brokenness and healing, October 6, 2005

By 

Jeanne Zornes (Wenatchee, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Saturday Morning: A Novel (Paperback)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Snelling hits one out of the park, September 22, 2005

By 

Cindy Swanson (Rockford, Illinois) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Saturday Morning: A Novel (Paperback)

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."