The Broken Covenant

Synopsis on dust jacket: Though I am no longer a member of the Church (partly because I no longer believe in Mormonism and partly because I had a really bad experience in Utah), I still think this is a very good book, but not without its flaws. I think it would have been better if Kathy had really been in love with Jay because it would have made staying with her cold husband a harder decision to make (though I am sure their having three children together would have tipped the scales towards staying with the man she married in the end, though, of course, staying with her husband is obviously the right choice and this is an LDS novel so it couldn't really end any other way). I am getting tired of reading about women who sleep with men they don't really love. I would have respected Kathy more if she had loved Jay. I thought Jay was a much nicer guy than Robert (Kathy's husband), even though he didn't have the same values, at least when it came to marriage, though Robert did realize at the end how his treatment of Kathy (though it did not excuse her committing adultery--she should have sought for a divorce first, and then don't sleep with the man until you're married to him. You just don't start another relationship until you have ended the one you are in). I thought it was odd that Brad and Susan (Robert and Kathy's two oldest children) never realized their parents' marriage wasn't the "happily forever after" family it should be. I don't think Kathy realized how unhappy she was in her marriage until she slept with Jay. One thing I really didn't like was how Kathy just fell apart after the encounter. I mean, I could see feeling really down in the mouth about it, despite what a cold husband Robert was, but to completely let herself go? I believe if the Montgomerys hadn't been members of the Church, Kathy would have been able to move on from her indiscretion much better, as the Mormon Church is obsessed with the law of chastity. It's like some of the Protestant churches who go on about how all gays are going to hell, but never mention rapists or murderers. I don't agree with the lifestyle, but gee, are they really going to the same place as Hitler? Anyway, this book had a satisfying ending (though I think it's a shame Kathy and Jay couldn't still be friends--he really seemed like such a nice guy, and I felt he was kind of duped, even though he shouldn't have slept with a married woman), and though I think it helps if you know a little about the Church and have experienced the LDS lifestyle, it's not necessary for it to be an absorbing read.