Blameless

by Thom Lemmons

Is it possible to find unconditional love in a world of expectations?Professor Joseph Barnes is attractive, intelligent, and successful–beloved by both his students and fellow university faculty. Despite her professional reservations, Alexis, the dean of Joe’s college, finds herself drawn to him and recognizes his interest in her. But when Joe’s career begins to crumble, Alexis has to decide whether or not to rescue Joe from his circumstances. If she does save him, how can she be sure he loves her for herself–and not for what she can do for him? Can she fight the ghosts of the past that haunt them both? Three well-intentioned friends and an ambitious department secretary complicate the delicate situation between Alexis and Joe in this modern retelling of the biblical story of Job. Thoughtful and clever, Blameless asks, what does it mean to love without expectations? And in the midst of losing it all, is it possible to find everything you’ve been looking for?

259 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2007

Reviews

[Melissa (Semi Hiatus Until After the Holidays) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah story about two professors. Flat plot, confusing romance.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing story of romance and conflict - dont know the work of Hawthorne so those parts are a bit vague for me - hints from the book of Job also not so evident - but makes you think

[Kerstin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited when I found “Blameless” by Thom Lemmons 2007 Waterbrook Press but deeply dissapointed in this “modern retelling of the biblical story of Job”. I’m not sure which book of Job this comes from, but it’s not a story found in my Bible. I am offended that Lemmons uses marrying the wrong person, an ugly divorce, having an affair, and being wrongly accused of sexual misconduct as a modern parable to the suffering of Job. Yes, it’s a good story, well written, the style is very good, but this is not a book about suffering. The unraveling of this Job’s life comes when he doesn’t get a fellowship and his past actions come back to haunt him. The last time I checked, none of what happened to Job was as a result of his actions. He lost his home, income, children and health, but doing nothing to contribute to it. Lemmons falls tragically short in this novel, perhaps it is due to his personal experiences. And his whole approach of God loving us unconditionally, I don’t see how that relates to Job either. Although God’s love is unconditional, our response to him requires some extremely important conditions. Reviewed as “clever and thoughtful” I disagree strongly. I find this story hard to swallow. I don’t see the parallel. The romantic side of this story is also convoluted, the characters are not developed enough to make any relationship believable. Perhaps the publishing house didn’t think that an honest gut wrenching modern retelling would sell. Are we really that afraid to address suffering in our time? Will no one step up and show how one can live through loss and find hope again? Well, enough said, I do not recommend this book to anyone who may need some encouragement.

[Jessie Weaver · Rating 1 out of 5]

The back cover of Blameless touts it as a retelling of the biblical Book of Job. The Job-figure is Joe Barnes, a college English professor at a small university under financial turmoil. Joe has a burgeoning relationship with the Dean of Arts and Sciences, Alexis. When past events cause Joe to get into difficulty with the college authorities, he must decide whether he can risk his relationship and love for Alexis to have her save him from the fire.

After reading and being very impressed with Lemmons' Sunday Clothes, I was quite disappointed with his newest novel. His writing is exquisite, but the plot falls far short of what I would consider necessary for the reader to have an enjoyable experience. The relationship between Joe and Alexis is not believable, as all the reader sees is an attraction which is vaulted into an undying love by the climax of the novel. The Job parallel seemed only to come in the final chapters. I found the whole work confusing, but felt that it could be a very good novel with more editing and clarification in the plot. For a Christian novel, I also felt there was very little spiritual talk except for Alexis going to church one Sunday and Joe being counseled by Alexis' pastor.

I felt that this book must have been rushed to print, for I can see no other explanation for its weak character development and confused storyline. Lemmons has written other wonderful novels, and I would recommend you turn to one of those instead of Blameless.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book retells the book of Job with Job as an older untenured professor, God as the dean to whom he's attracted, and the devil as the dean's secretary. Job's semi-useless friends are fellow faculty members. The story manages to be it's own story with real interactions between the characters, but also true to the spirit and issues of Job. The clever name choices are fun. I recommend it for those who want to probe the question of how to we ask a powerful God to intervene on our behalf without looking like we only want him for what he can do for us.

[Neema · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish - got a little bored half-way through.

[Cws]

F Lem

[Raquel]

still reading.