Sunday Clothes

by Thom Lemmons

Addie Caswell finds herself in a precarious position in the turn-of-the-twentieth century South, especially for a young girl from a religious, proud family. Addie falls in love with a traveling Church of Christ salesman, much to the disapproval of her stern, Methodist father. Defying her father in the face of estrangement, she marries Zeb, only to be betrayed by his subsequent infidelities. Alone but determined, Addie must find redemption as she comes to terms with her faith and the healing power of family and relationships.

432 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Rene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set around 1900, this rather sad story is about a young woman, Addie, who defies her staunchly Methodist father to marry Zeb, an insurance salesman who belongs to the Church of Christ. Both men were very dominating -- especially in the area of religion. Zeb bullies her into converting before they are married: Addie's father even breaks off all contact and disinherits her for marrying against his wishes.

Zeb and Addie move to Nashville but Zeb is often in Little Rock for business for weeks at a time. He tells Addie his good work there will result in him getting a job at the home office in Nashville but as time goes on, they grow further apart. Addie is lonely in a strange city with a baby and so is not the cheerful, adoring girl she was when they were dating. Zeb finds another woman in Little Rock and fails to tell her he is a married man. Inevitably, she gets pregnant and Zeb asks Addie for a divorce.

Addie moves into her father's house after his death and makes a living for her two children making tufted bedspreads. I kept thinking that Addie would eventually connect to God and find her own faith, but, alas, that never happens. I also hoped she would find a man who truly loved and cherished her, but while she does find contentment, she never remarries or finds true love.

Although I often complain about the predictable happy endings of Christian fiction, I would have greatly preferred it to the abrupt and unsatisfactory ending of "Sunday Clothes."

[Dee Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

It started slow, got good, then ended abruptly w/o developing supporting characters. I was disappointed.

[Jaelene Maat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really slow. Rather boring. And it just ended. Didn’t really have a point to the end of the story. Disappointing.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot Summary: What happens, When & Where, Central Characters, Major Conflicts[return]Lemmons' Sunday Clothes is set at the turn of the twentieth century in eastern Tennessee. Young Addie Caswell is in love with a smooth-talking insurance salesman, Zeb, but she cannot gain Jacob's--her widower father's--approval to marry him. Zeb's a Campbellite, or member of the Church of Christ, and Jacob is a Methodist. Jacob claims that Campbellites are too literal-minded even to talk to, though of course he's equally muleheaded. In despair, Addie defies her father and marries Zeb, but then Zeb turns out to have an appetite for other women. Maybe that shy young Methodist that Jacob was trying to marry her to wasn't such a bad choice after all, but in any case Lemmons does a fine job bringing to life denominational wars. In the bargain, he tells the story of Chattanooga, where Cherokee and Coca-Cola lores blend colorfully. [return][return][return][return][return][return][return]Style Characterisics: Pacing, clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.[return]This story is rich with historical detail, and the portorayal of the early days of the Church of Christ movement was interesting, if not very flattering to people of that denomination (though Addie's Methodist father is pretty pig-headed too). But the plot doesn't seem to go anywhere beyond Addie's early struggles to win Zeb and then survive after he leaves her for another women. She doesn't hook up with anyone else, and while we learn about how childhood friend ministers to young people at the YMCA and sends a young man to art school that's as far as it goes.[return][return][return][return][return][return][return]How Good is it?[return]Kind of bland, interesting characters but an unsatisfying end.

[Jelecia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eery as this is very similar to the story of my life...plus or minus a few details. I loved the character Rose, who reminds me of some of the women in my life. The strength and wisdom without the formal education was/is priceless! There were alot of individual characters in the story...which made me have to put deliberate thought to remember who and how they were connected (Im getting old, I think). Overall, I enjoyed the historical fiction but especially the detail and accuracy of the different cultures. I was amazed...as well as amused at the dialect and the quotes. I enjoyed it enough to find more books by this author.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and humourous story. Some of my favorite quotes:

"Well, at least he's honest.... I like that in a swindler."

"That's what everybody knew, but what nobody said."

[Elaine]

4
424
444/397

[Ceashark · Rating 4 out of 5]

a pretty good book