MY REVIEW:
At the age of nineteen, Dorothy Lynn Dunbar’s life seems to be laid out for her and for the most part, she is happy with it. What more could she ask than to marry the man she loves, serve as a pastor’s wife in the church and small town she has always known and loved, and to continue to spend time alone with the Lord in her special place in the woods writing and singing the songs He inspires. But deep inside Dorothy Lynn is an uneasiness and the question “Is this all there is?” Something in her yearns to see just a little of the world before she settles down to spend the rest of her life as she has always known it. Little does she know that a trip to visit her sister in St. Louis will open doors she has only imagined and for just an instant, fame is almost within her grasp.
“All For a Song” transitions back and forth from the present day with Dorothy Lynn (Lynnie) at the age of 107 to her memories of the young woman whose preparations for a wedding are interrupted by the chance of a lifetime. It was easy to identify with Dorothy Lynn and the realistic dreams and reactions of a young woman and her thoughts as she looked back over her life and the decisions she had made.
I enjoyed learning more about the Aimee Semple McPhearson meetings and what went on behind the scenes. I liked the way the author described Dorothy’s reaction to being on the stage and how she quickly recognized the feelings of pride that tried to overshadow her worship of God. “All For a Song” was a thoroughly captivating novel that held my interest until the end. I was not always in agreement with the decisions that Dorothy made but I felt like she made the right ones at the end.
This book was provided for review by The Tyndale Blog Network.
ABOUT 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.
