Up at the College

by: Michele Andrea Bowen

Published by: Grand Central Publishing — a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

Reviewed by Beth Cummings

Up at the College is Michele A. Bowen’s fourth novel in the African American Christian Women’s fiction genre. She presents a picture of life at a southern black Christian college that is both humorous and faith-based.

The main character, Yvonne, has taken an adjunct position at Evangeline T. Marshall University in her hometown of Durham, North Carolina after her husband determined she was boring and put her and her young teen daughters out of his house and life. Being a black woman of strong religious conviction, she decides to live her life according to her faith in God. Yvonne’s friends and family feel that after two years, she should have a new man in her life and arrange for her to meet Curtis Parker, head basketball coach at the school. They hit it off, but she cannot have a relationship with a man who doesn’t put Jesus first in his life.

As a middle-aged white woman from the plains of the Dakotas and Minnesota, I found the descriptions of the black churches of Durham to be fascinating in their difference from the staid Lutheran congregations I grew up attending. Bowen makes the faith of her characters a central part of her novel. The faithful receive what they need – the unfaithful get their comeuppance.

I wanted to read this book as a way of learning about another American culture with which I am not familiar, and on that level the book succeeds. Unfortunately, the preachy-ness of the novel takes away from the effectiveness of the storyline. Because the faithful are the good guys – with Jesus on their side, there is little doubt about the plot’s direction and outcome.

Readers who frequently read Christian fiction may not find this as off-putting as I did. I’m sure that fans of Bowen’s earlier novels will find Up at the College equally funny, touching and well worth reading.

Armchair Interviews says: Nice story that gives insights into this culture. Her genre is Black Christian Fiction.

Author’s Web site: http://www.MicheleAndreaBowen.com