The Passion of Reverend Nash: A Novel - Hardcover

Basch, Rachel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393057682 ISBN 13: 9780393057683

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2003

Synopsis

In the vein of Gail Godwin's Evensong, a powerful novel that explores faith and sisterhood in small-town New England.

Reverend Jordanna Nash is the "dangerously tall," bicycle-riding, female minister who commands the pulpit of Hutchinson Congregational Church. She came to this Connecticut town where her sister and four nephews live in an attempt to escape the loss of her own two babies, as well as to distance herself from her faltering marriage. If Jordanna's personal life is cursed, her professional life is, seemingly, blessed―her congregation cherishes her dynamic presence in their community. But when a depressed young mother she's been counseling suddenly disappears and a member of the church youth group gets pregnant, Jordanna's faith in God and in herself is profoundly shaken.

A novel about the role of faith in contemporary life, The Passion of Reverend Nash tells the story of a wounded healer who must make sense of her own grief if she is to continue caring for her flock. As Jordanna struggles to render meaning from loss, readers of her story will be taken on an unforgettable spiritual journey.

About this title

About the Author

Rachel Basch is the author of three novels: The Listerner, The Passion of Reverend Nash, and Degrees of Love. She currently teaches in Fairfield University’s MFA Program and in Wesleyan University’s Graduate Liberal Studies Program.

From Booklist

Physically, emotionally, and spiritually dynamic, Reverend Jordanna Nash does nothing by half measures. Though her pastoral method is often unorthodox, she is championed by the majority of her congregants in a small Connecticut town. Ever haunted by the loss of her two stillborn children and the impending dissolution of her moribund long-distance marriage, she nevertheless perseveres in her all-encompassing quest to minister to her demanding flock. But after a series of seemingly unrelated events combine to undermine her faith in God, her community, and herself, she must cope with a spiritual crisis of enormous proportions. Not only does Jordanna question her own abilities but several key members of her congregation lobby against her after a depressed young woman she counseled commits suicide and a teenage member of her youth group becomes pregnant. Only after humbly assessing and forgiving her own shortcomings is Jordanna able to figuratively rise again in this uplifiting--but never saccharine--tale of faith, doubt, and redemption. Margaret Flanagan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0393057682
• ISBN 13: 9780393057683
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336