The Sound of My Voice

It's not often enough that the essence of the Christian journey is clearly and simply expressed through fiction. Jo Kadlecek has built a world peopled with characters who carry the fear, determination and potential common to all humanity. While her church-based settings will be embarrassingly familiar to many, it's all of us who are imperfect and it's only a God-out-of-the-box who can restore us. My own dreams are richer after reading Jordan Riddle's story.

This is a wonderful book. Thank you Jo for writing this for the muse in us all. Readers will not be disappointed by this engaging story.

Her mother cooks Jordan her favorite meal before she moves from her Jackson, Mississippi home to New York City; however her last supper becomes a battlefield between her father Peter, an assistant Baptist pastor, and her. They bitterly argue over her move to New York City. In Manhattan Jordan studies playwriting at a theater workshop while tasting the city. A few years pass with Jordan waitressing at the Dream Time Tavern while she writes a play Windfall with religious overtones that contain basic human values that is performed in the Village. Peter preaches to the hometown flock. He can accept their needs but is unwilling to reconcile with his daughter as he remains steadfast in his belief that theater and his ministry do not mix. He refuses to speak to Jordan. When her mother lies dying, her Aunt calls her home to say her goodbyes to the woman Jordan has missed. Her mom's last wish is for her two loved ones to make up and come together. THE SOUND OF MY VOICE is an interesting character study that focuses on the debate of whether modern day artistic endeavors fit inside or outside the Christian religion. Jordan and Peter represent the poles in the dispute on the place of secular art in a religious pantheon. That enables the audience to look much deeper into the argument, but also makes the spat seem childish and inane, but then again many family arguments that lead to years of non communication are heated but silly in terms of the price. Jo Kadlecek provides an interesting family drama played on a two-state stage but with universal implications. Harriet Klausner

I'm not much of a fiction reader, but found myself pulled into this one. I liked that the story was believable but not predictable. More real life than fluff. More Biblical wisdom than sermonizing. Letting God's Word speak for itself. I think everyone can relate on some level to family conflict or feelings of being a disappointment to your parents. I also thought that issues such as racial tension in the south, pastors actually being human, and faith being a lifelong journey were intertwined into the story witout coming across as "preachy". Definitely kept my attention throughout. Looking forward to Kadlecek's next fiction project. .