The Evolution of the Gospelettes: A Novel

by Tammy Oberhausen

The Holliman sisters have voices like angels. In 1972, when their father, Garland, hears the girls' beautiful harmonies, he decides to start a family gospel group with his wife Big Jean and four teenage the twins, Jeannie and Junior, and their younger sisters, Debbie and Patty. The Gospelettes become a popular act, traveling throughout Kentucky and the surrounding states spreading the gospel in song. But as society outgrows their way of life, changes are encroaching even on their small town and the sheltered Holliman children.

The Evolution of the Gospelettes follows the family and their transformation from old-time gospel singers in the 1970s to performers on a televangelist program in the 1980s to founding members of a megachurch in the 1990s. As the new millennium approaches, Jeannie, whose beliefs have evolved and irreversibly departed from her family's, fears what will happen the more entrenched they become in fundamentalist thinking and finds herself in a fight to save the people she loves from self-destruction.

This debut novel is a compelling exploration of family ties and rifts, faith and doubt, and holiness and hypocrisy in a changing world.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published November 5, 2024

Reviews

[Jeff Zentner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It’s gorgeous and filled with heart and deep authenticity.

[Margaret Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! this is not just a "goodread." It's amazing. Tammy is a fresh voice of the South, so authentic and insightful. Be prepared for striking imagery, fully developed characters, and a captivating plot structure.

[Jerry B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This highly readable first novel by nearby small-town Russellville KY native Tammy Oberhausen is really a saga about a fictional country family whose four siblings and parents form a Gospel singing group. After plying their talent for years mostly unpaid, they hit it big as part of an evangelism crusade, with the usual charismatic leader, who eventually pays them well and makes them a big success. What then follows is essentially one family tragedy after another, especially as the religious bigwig turns out to be as crooked as many who have gone before. The pages flew by as we could hardly wait to see what happens next, and to whom.

The author's writing style is an interesting combination of literary word crafting mixed with "down home" dialogue. Her views on religion and the happenings with the older generation of church music as well as that which now accompanies modern services are both deep felt at times and amusingly accurate at others. The feelings of the musicians sounded perhaps autobiographical to us - we cannot help but wonder if in addition to her day job as a school teacher, raising two kids, and spending some three decades nursing along this book, if our author dabbled as an avocation with musical entertaining herself.

A final last chapter was a somewhat confusing flashback to when the family was just the youngsters, parents, and grandparents -- was this meant to be a heavenly reunion of sorts? Somehow we were looking for a more satisfying denouement, but we're not at all sure what it would have been if we had to write it ourselves!

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spanning thirty years from the '70s through the millennium, THE EVOLUTION OF THE GOSPELETTES tells the story of an 18-year-old Kentuckian named Jeannie Holliman whose father refuses to let her go to college on a music scholarship but instead decides her destiny is to be the center of his new family gospel group.

In the beginning, Jeannie believes her family is doing the work of God, but as the years pass, she starts to question the motives of those around her and wonders how she can save her family from being destroyed by people driven by greed and power.

This is an extraordinary novel from start to finish that will grab you on the first page and never let you go.

It's also a must-read for anyone who loves books. I mean it when I say this book is truly for everyone.

[Jolene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d give it 10 stars if I could! It magically found its place to my top favorite books of all time. Can’t wait to read it all over again in a few years.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a fictional novel that I resonated with and underlined more. So much of Jeannie’s inner thoughts on faith and doubt I hear echoed in my own head.

If you grew up conservative evangelical and were even heavily involved at multiple points, but now find yourself with more questions than answers, you’ll find solace in these pages.

[Jenny Havlik · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nothing made sense anymore. Everything she had thought was true, everything they had claimed to know about God, about the poor and the humble and the meek, about what was right, it seemed, had been turned upside down."

I don't think it's a shock to anyone that I've struggled a lot with where I fit with my faith, especially during the last decade. This was fiction, and the characters are a few decades ahead of me - but I felt seen.

[Bette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish i knew where I read a recommendation for this book, so I don’t follow that advice again. Predictable characters, mediocre storyline. Wondered if it was written by two people, the first half droned on and the second half was more succinct, but still- meh. I liked Wick.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If any novel deserves considerations for a limited series on Netflix, it's "The Evolution of the Gospelettes." The character development and sense of place are so well defined, I could picture each scene. The novel begins in 1972 when Garland Holliman, the patriarch of the family, hears the sweet harmonies of his teenaged daughters as they wash dishes and clean the kitchen in their modest Kentucky home. Garland, his wife (known as Big Jean,) and their four teenaged children create a gospel group known as the Gospelettes. This wholesome family band starts as "sing for your supper" performers at churches across rural Kentucky while they hone their skills as entertainers. The oldest children, ne'er-do-well Junior and his twin sister, Jeannie, the glue who holds the group together, clash at every turn. Debbie, the meek, middle child, has little passion for performing, but follows Jeannie's lead. Patty, the youngest, is the spitfire of the family, who gets pregnant out-of-wedlock at the age of sixteen, but continues to sing as if each performance will wash her sins away. Junior spirals into drug and alcohol abuse, mulitple marriages and has children he does not support. Jeannie, the most talented and organized of the group, marries a drug dealer who refuses to attend church or any Gospelette performances. Debbie marries an unfaithful much older man. Their lives and the future of the Gospelettes change forever when they are asked to perform at a tent revival next to their church where a charismatic preacher, Brother Oren Alford, takes the stage promising miracles for money. The novel spans four decades, from the family's simply beginnings in the 1970's to their fractured family and the demise of the Gospelettes in the early 2000's.
The sign of a truly great writer is one who is able to elicit emotions from their readers. Oberhausen pulls the reader into the world of the Gospelettes with ease. Every time that silver-tongued devil, Brother Alford, entered the page, my blood pressure started to rise. When Junior found his way home with another get-rich scheme, or his so-called passion to become a minister of a megachurch on the property of Jeannie's home, I felt sick. I saw all the red flags of Debbie's troubled relationship and wanted to warn her. Poor, poor Debbie. Mostly I felt angry at Garland and Big Jean for not doing more to protect their children from a shady televangelist. "The Evolution of the Gospelettes" is a wonderful novel that can be finished in a weekend. I highly recommend this book. It's one of the best novels I've read this years. Please, somebody, buy the rights to make this into a miniseries!

[Portia Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Evolution of the Gospelettes is a novel that is almost more music than words. Every page, every paragraph, sings with the language of the rural south, of churches and singings and family and feuds. Tammy Oberhausen sees, and celebrates, this world the way only someone who has lived and felt it can.

Told over the span of three decades, and with a multigenerational cast of characters, Oberhausen’s gifts are good and artfully used as she masterfully follows a family of folks who fit together in spite of their many differences. These people live on the page in the way that only well-wrought characters can, and Jeannie, Oberhausen’s guide, is someone you will wish you knew in your own life.

Like any good story, The Evolution of the Gospelettes is funny and poignant, biting and bittersweet. Even as she celebrates the past, her eye, and Jeannie’s, is firmly focused on the future and what that may bring to the town of Bethel, Kentucky. Love, laughter, addiction and loss, struggles with faith and what it means to serve a God that may at times be a cruel taskmaster—in these pages Oberhausen weaves a story that will stay with you long after you close the book, like the strains of a gospel tune that won’t let your heart go.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this well-written and easy to read novel. It's sweeping and fast-paced, moving through several decades in the life of a Kentucky family, with the feel of an epic and keen insights about Christianity, doubt, and the prosperity gospel. It has vivid characters, a detestable villain, and a palpable Kentucky setting. I do wish some character arcs had more resolution, but perhaps that was by author design. I also wish we could've spent more time with Papaw Virgil, but that's purely personal preference. He has some quotes that are zingers toward the end of the novel. Lastly, the prosperity gospel, in my opinion, has become kind of an easy target and I'd hoped the story would speak more to some of the problems and doubts people have with Christianity/conservative evangelicalism that is more typically practiced. But, with all that said, I was captivated and couldn't wait to read more. Oberhausen is just one more name to add to the long list of authors carrying on Kentucky's proud literary tradition.

[Norma Panigot · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel I picked up randomly off a shelf at the library. The concept of Jeannie's journey from strong believer to non believer gripped me right away, and for the most part I thought this was well-executed. Her passion for music is tangible and her despair is contagious when she witnesses the abuses taking place within the church. I also empathized with her role transition of being the family's bedrock to becoming an outcast. The social issues that plague rural life- substance abuse, poverty, partner violence- made for a compelling backdrop to Jeannie's intial dreams of success. Her motivations are consistent throughout the story despite the change in circumstances. Jeannie never gives up on her family or her home- even as those two things continued to change and evolve without her. In response, Jeannie was forced to change her definition of family and home. In sum, I thought this was solid read about the pitfalls of organized religion and rural life.

[Eileen Joyce-Donovan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of the Holliman family in Kentucky who are devoted Christians and fully committed to serving their church. They form a gospel singing group and travel from church to church to sing "the work of Jesus" to the congregations.

Along the way, they meet a visiting preacher who turns out to be a con man, only looking out for himself and how much money he can swindle out of the poor farmers and working folk of the rural area the Holliman lives in. when the foamily winds up singing in his televangical church, Jeannie, the eldest sister in the group, begins to suspect something is wrong. Eventually, a terrible truth is revealed that causes the group to break up and creates a rift in the family.

Each member of the Gospelettes goes their own way, usually down a disastrous road.

There might be a lot for a book cub to discuss here in terms of family dynamics and faith.

[Renea Dijab · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book takes you on a journey through time following the lives of the Holliman family, a gospel group just trying to spread the Good Word through their gift of beautiful vocals and soaring harmonies.

But life is hard and answers aren't always as simple as they seem, especially when things don't turn out like you had hoped. You will fall in love with Jeannie and Wick and you will experience both sorrow and joy along with the rest of the family.

If you have any experience with rural Southern church life of the past few decades, this book will feel as true as a memoir and if you haven't, then you will visit a new place and meet people who might surprise you.

Spanning three decades, this book is a journey that you won't forget anytime soon.

[M. Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spanning thirty years from the '70s through the millennium, THE EVOLUTION OF THE GOSPELETTES tells the story of an 18-year-old Kentuckian named Jeannie Holliman whose father refuses to let her go to college on a music scholarship but instead decides her destiny is to be the center of his new family gospel group.

In the beginning, Jeannie believes her family is doing the work of God, but as the years pass, she starts to question the motives of those around her and wonders how she can save her family from being destroyed by people driven by greed and power.

This is an extraordinary novel from start to finish that will grab you on the first page and never let you go.

It's also a must-read for anyone who loves books. I mean it when I say this book is truly for everyone.

[Mary Montenegro · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I loved this book! It’s set in Bethel, KY (with Bowling Green getting an honorable mention or two). Oberhausen’s writing has an E.B. White-meets-Harper Lee feel, but more grown up. Her words were like being wrapped in a warm blanket on a rainy afternoon. I fell in love with the characters and I didn’t want this book to end. I could hear the author narrate soothingly as I read.
In fact, it would make an excellent Netflix series.
I found the main character’s relationship with her family relatable as she tried to balance her respect and love for her parents with her own evolution and changing perspectives on religion.
If you need a good literary vacation from the political shitshow we’re enduring, I recommend this book. #kentuckywriters #appalachianliterature

[Hannah Higginbotham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so proud to say that Tammy Oberhausen is my aunt. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Such emotion and depth is captured within these pages. Highly recommend reading this amazing book.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was recommended by Silas House. It is set in Tennessee. Parts of it were so familiar, it was painful. The book jacket describes it as "a compelling exploration of family ties and rifts, faith and doubt, and holiness and hypocrisy."

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bittersweet story that gave me the same feeling I had after reading Demon Copperhead. Flawed characters march through their lives, making choices that impact those around them. I am not sorry that I read the book, but I feel a real sense of loss.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful novel! This is much more like a Lee Smith novel than Lee Smith’s last few novels. I hope Tammy Oberhausen keeps writing!

[Valeriep · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! Her writing reminds me of my struggle with religion and family. It was well written and a great story.

[Nike G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tammy Oberhausen has given the world a beautiful book. My heart needed this book. The story of Jeannie's spiritual journey resonated so much with mine, and both have a family farm at the center.

[Jamelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This follows Jeannie, who is a teenager in the 1970s, until the early 2000s. All she wants to do is be a gospel singer in rural Kentucky, but she is constantly thwarted by her heavy-handed father and church leaders' obsession with power and greed. Jeannie's dreams and re-imaginings of those dreams affect her entire family and community.

This is a heartfelt family narrative but also deals with the evolution of mega-churches and Christian nationalism. On a smaller scale, it shows gender dynamics within the family. I thoroughly enjoyed it on several levels.

[Elizabeth E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this writer’s knowledge of the state and the region. The descriptions were beautiful. It felt like a familiar story in the best way, given my Kentucky church raised childhood.