“You just never know where one road is going to lead you. Or how many switchbacks and pathways you’re gonna have to take to make your way home again.” Alvin DuBose, Bus Driver, All for a Song by Allison Pittman

From the Back of the Book:

Dorothy Lynn Dunbar has everything she ever wanted: her family, her church, her community, and plans to marry the young pastor who took over her late father’s pulpit. Time spent in the woods, lifting her heart and voice in worship accompanied by her brother’s old guitar, makes her life complete . . . and yet she longs for something more.Spending a few days in St. Louis with her sister’s family, Dorothy Lynn discovers a whole new way of life—movies, music, dancing; daring fashions and fancy cars. And a dynamic charismatic evangelist . . . who just happens to be a woman. When Dorothy Lynn is offered a chance to join Aimee Semple McPherson’s crusade team, she finds herself confronted with temptations she never dreamed of. Can Dorothy Lynn embrace all the Roaring Twenties has to offer without losing herself in the process?

About the Author:

Award-winning author Allison Pittman left a seventeen-year teaching career in 2005 to follow the Lord’s calling into the world of Christian fiction, and God continues to bless her step of faith. Her novels For Time and Eternity and Forsaking All Others were both finalists for the Christy Award for excellence in Christian fiction, and her novel Stealing Home won the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award. She heads up a successful, thriving writers group in San Antonio, Texas, where she lives with her husband, Mike, their three sons, and the canine star of the family—Stella.

From Me:

I’m thrilled that it worked out to do the review of All For a Song this week, because the whole month of February, we’re focusing on MARRIED LOVE. Although this book has some of the basic formulaic elements of romance (young heroine on the cusp of maturity falls in love with handsome, godly, strong and steady hero, then love is upended by outside influence, etc., etc.), the elements themselves are all unique. All for a Song is less about romance, and more about discovering what it really means to love in every measure of the word.

When Dorothy Lynn Dunbar is faced with the decision to marry the man she loves or see the world, her formulaic romance takes a left turn. Neither offer is bad, or wrong; both are good and godly, maybe even God-ordained. Dorothy, in secret, has felt the wanderlust of youth, the tugging on her heart of places she’s never been before, especially when she sings and writes music. So when the offer comes to serve God by ministering on the road with an evangelist, it seems like an opportunity straight from Heaven. Except that Dorothy Lynn Dunbar is scheduled to marry the man who holds her heart in six weeks time.

Dorothy tests the bonds of love – of her own love for her family, and her family’s love for her, of her love for the young Pastor Brent Logan (great MC name – strong, quiet, sure), and his love for her, of her love for the world and all it has to offer, and of the world’s love for her…because the world loves Dorothy Lynn Dunbar.

She even tests the bonds of her love for Christ, as well as His love for her…and finds Him never failing. Even when she does.

This was a poignantly played, lyrical book about a period of time in this country’s recent past that is unexplored for me. Taken right out of history, the remarkable Sister Aimee Semple McPherson is a real figure. Through the eyes of Dorothy Lynn Dunbar, the untried, small town, preacher’s daughter, Allison Pittman presents Sister Aimee and her entourage with both the strengths and weaknesses that accompany iconic figures and movements. All for a Song is a tale beautifully told, with fictional characters weaving seamlessly in and out of factual characters, the crusade and revival movements of the time masterfully portrayed, and the grace of Christ always, always, always present, like a golden thread defining the pattern of Dorothy’s life.

Readers: Have you recently read a book that was out of your favorite genre? Or have you discovered a new author whose books you’ll be watching for from now on? Won’t you share with us?

Disclaimers:

• To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, this is to inform you that all views shared on this blog are strictly my own. Books I review are either provided for me by the author or the publisher in exchange for an honest review, OR they are books I’ve purchased and choose to review. I receive no monetary compensation for anything written on this blog. This has been my honest review.