This Fine Life
This novel falls into the genre of “inspirational,” and it really is. The story takes place in Georgia in the early 1960s. Mariette Puttnam, a daughter of the privileged class, has committed a faux pas by falling in love with a worker in her father’s factory – a worker in the mailroom, no less. She is struggling with being on the cusp, as we see it now. She has to decide whether to marry a wealthy provider as her mother desires or go to college to make her father happy – finding her soul mate was never an option. She meets the new hire in her father’s factory, and her life is turned upside down.
Thayne Scott is just not part of her parents’ plan for their daughter, and their love is forbidden. As hard as the young couple tries, they cannot keep apart. Soon Mariette and the handsome Thayne have eloped. He has been taking seminary classes while working for her father, and his faith is real. The problem and the plot are that Mariette has never really felt very close to God; she’s used to finer things in her life, and she’s a tad immature. They go through the minor struggles and joys of all young newlyweds, but soon that paradigm has to shift. They are forced to grow up and grow up quickly when they face tragedy on a personal note, move to a small town, and grapple with a social issue of Biblical proportions.
Thayne is endearing, and Mariette – not so much, but I liked this story. It was well written, moved quickly, and the author did well with her scenario of a very small town with a very big faith.
