Just Shy of Harmony

February 25, 2002
When Sam Gardner reads an article about "the ten warning signs of depression" in a Christian magazine, he discovers that he has seven of them. The article closes by telling readers that if they have seven or more signs of depression, they should see their pastor. The trouble is, Sam is
the pastor. He's tired of writing sermons and exhausted by his congregation's resistance to any change more meaningful than installing a new vanity in the women's bathroom. In this refreshingly candid novel, a sequel of sorts to Home to Harmony, the members of Harmony's quirky Friends Meeting engage in various struggles with depression and doubt. Like Jan Karon, Gulley has a gift for understanding the hilarity and pathos of small churches in small towns. With his characteristic wry humor, he develops a host of side characters, from Dale Hinshaw, the self-righteous and infuriating church elder, to the salt-of-the-earth lottery winner, Jessie Peacock. Gulley is unflinching at depicting some of the church members' narrow-mindedness, but he never succumbs to stereotype. While some readers may initially have a difficult time adjusting to the way Gulley often switches from the past to the present tense, this device helps the book play out like a comfortable, down-to-earth conversation. Many readers will relate to Sam's honest struggles with faith and will appreciate the book's subtle message: that Sam's faith is rekindled only when he steps away from congregational infighting and begins to help others. This story is a winner.

Starred review from April 15, 2002
\deflang1033\pard\plain\f3\fs24 Gulley, easily evangelical fiction's funniest man, turns in something just shy of a real novel in \plain\f3\fs24" Just Shy of Harmony\plain\f3\fs24 --as opposed to the loose collections of sermons and stories he's published in the past. This time out, Gulley's alter ego, Quaker minister Sam Gardner, decides that he no longer believes in God. His reason? A pretty good one: nothing ever gets done, and he fritters away his 60-hour weeks on discussions about church gymnasiums and a scheme for inserting Bible verses inside chicken eggs. Then a woman in the congregation is stricken with leukemia, and all the backbiters and gossipers rally to her cause. Sam's gloom lifts with his renewed faith in humankind. Once again, Gulley gives us a triumph of homespun values, pitched somewhere between Jan Karon and Garrison Keillor. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2002, American Library Association.)