Her Story

The title for Rhoda Janzenā€™s latest memoir, Mennonite Meets Mr. Right, could be recast as Egg-Head Mennonite Intellectual Meets Pentecostal Hunk Mitch. I succumbed easily to her comic style, which engaged me while reading her first memoir, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, recounting a return to her religious roots after several life-changing experiences sent her reeling and in need of healing.

An English and creative writing professor at Hope College, Janzen takes her readers on a romp into new territory. With chapter headings like Lady Problems, The Ghost in the Tub, and Whippersnapper, the author reveals a serious health diagnosis, a haunted bathroom, and revelations from stepson Leroy.

If Janzenā€™s storytelling rivals that of Nora Ephron, her take on faith recalls Anne Lamottā€™s Traveling Mercies. In the most unlikely congregation with ā€œhand-clappin ā€™hallelujahs,ā€ readers observe her spiritual transformation from skeptic to faith-filled: ā€œBut I had left Texas. I was in a different state now, a weird one, where Iā€™d actually rather have cancer than a grudge.ā€ About suffering, she poses the question, ā€œ . . . if we didnā€™t suffer, would we still be human?ā€ In so doing, she invites readers to examine their own beliefs.

A New York Times best-selling memoirist, Janzen hasĀ also published aĀ collection of poetry, Babelā€™s Stair. I found the cadence of her lines often magnetizing like her use of metaphor, ā€œSome sisters only pretend to like each other. When they speak of each other, their lips thin like pressed leaves and their tone takes on a crunchy sugar coating. ā€˜My sister? Well, her choices arenā€™t my choices, but sheā€™s still my sister, Of course I love her.ā€™ā€

Once Janzen seemed to go off on a tangent when she discussed the GiftQuest report at her church and I lost interest. But soon she looped around to stories of weddings and marriage in her family and I was again hooked.

If you fancy an author who can use the words anagnoritic, jejune, and salvific adroitly in her text and then go spinning off a tale about silicone panty packs, Rhoda Janzen is the author for you.

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My Story

In case you missed it, you can read my version of Mennonite Meets Mr. RightĀ on this blog postĀ “How We Met: CareBearCliff”Ā published in 2013.


 

Janzen’sĀ book was a gift from a gracious blog reader, Marcia Felts, who included this note when she mailed the book to me:

Have you read any of Janzen’s books? Does your response match mine?

Any other memoirs to recommend?