WALKING IN HER OWN SHOES

Taylor’s debut novel charts a woman’s Christian journey.

Ariana is born in the 1950s. She attends Catholic school as a child and, from a very young age, she has positive ideas about God—as a youth, she feels that “the Lord was a warm, cozy feeling, like a big hug, and he was watching over her and loving her each and every day.” The story follows Ariana throughout her life as she faces various obstacles while holding close to her faith in the Lord. A major source of conflict emerges when she marries a man named Jay. Although Jay is charming during their courtship, married life with him is a disaster; he even reveals that he has had several affairs. The couple has two children, David and Caitlyn. As the kids go through their own struggles, their parents eventually divorce. Ariana endures much in her days, always turning to her Christian faith for support. Biblical quotations appear regularly in the story (“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”) as Ariana comes to learn that setbacks merely set the stage for “the Lord to do a tremendous work.” The narrative moves at a serious, steady pace throughout. The prose sticks to straightforward statements, noting that Caitlyn “was busy with friends and activities” during a stable period in her life, and that Ariana believes that “being a Christian didn’t mean being a doormat or taking abuse.” While such a plainspoken approach can make for some dry scenes, the story consistently moves forward—there is always some new obstacle in Ariana’s way, and it becomes compelling to discover just how she will deal with life’s many pressures. And those pressures are strikingly relatable, from trying to help someone with dementia to facing the fact that she has no choice but to declare bankruptcy. It’s ultimately inspirational to see how Ariana navigates troubled waters with faith as her guide.

A realistic and touching (if sometimes bluntly rendered) tale of coping with challenges.