Jumping in Sunset

October 20, 2003
Readers of evangelical Christian fiction should welcome this novel for its acknowledgment that sometimes marriages between two believers fail, and resolution isn't possible. Pamela Thornton and her husband, Paul, are everyone's ideal Christian couple: successful, outwardly moral and almost finished raising their only child, Angie. Then Paul drops a bombshell—he's leaving Pamela to marry Dana, a woman he volunteers with at church. Paul wallows in self-justification as he convinces himself he was naïve and hurried when he met Pamela and has finally found the one woman he was meant to love. As Paul sees it, "Wasn't the smoothness of this transition out of his marriage a sign... that God smiled upon his and Dana's love?" Pamela's story is believable and poignant, as Ringling chronicles her depression, denial, anger and pain. Readers will cheer as Pamela finds hard-won independence and self-esteem through her photography and recognizes the value of her northern Minnesota roots. Although Angie's narratives are a necessary component of the novel, they are unfortunately told through CBA fiction's well-worn device of italicized journal entries, which lessen their impact. There are a few other missteps—Pamela finds support in her best friend, Starla, who speaks in an unconvincing vernacular ("Ya have no work"), and there is an unnecessary subplot involving Paul's childhood. However, the characters are multifaceted, and their emotions, even when disturbing, are believable. This novel deserves a place in CBA bookstores for its genuine portrayal of imperfect Christian people.

November 1, 2003
Pamela Thornton noticed that Paul, her husband of 20 years, was not acting like himself at his birthday dinner, but nothing prepared her for his news on the drive home-the church leader and devoted family man is leaving her for another woman and never coming back. In this frank and honest debut novel, Ringling not only details Pamela's painstaking recovery but also brings the reader into the mind and life of Dana Taylor, the "other woman." Both Pam and Dana have to confront their mistakes and find forgiveness and healing. No fairy-tale endings here, but this is essential reading for women in similar circumstances. Highly recommended for all collections.

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2004
Ringling's "Jumping in Sunset "is a straight-ahead tale of divorce featuring Pamela Thornton, whose financier husband, Paul, leaves her and Minnesota for an even fancier career and another woman, in that capital of sin, Los Angeles. In melodramatic fashion, Ringling heaps all manner of indignities upon Paul, admittedly an insufferable hypocrite; meanwhile, Pamela makes out like a bandit and is far better off, though not to hear her tell it. The blow-by-blow emotional impact of divorce on a long-suffering woman will prove agreeable to many readers, but inadvertently, by stacking the deck, Ringling comes near to arguing "for" divorce. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2004, American Library Association.)