The Hallelujah Side

by Rhoda Huffey

On Sale: 05/10/2022

The Hallelujah Side

by Rhoda Huffey

On Sale: 05/10/2022

Format:

About the Book

“It had been a Second Coming sky all day, which meant they might be in heaven by this evening.” So begins the story of Roxanne Fish, daughter of Sister Zelda Fish and Pastor Winston Fish of the First Assembly of God Church of Ames, Iowa. Roxanne, caught between childhood and womanhood, finds herself pulled between a robust interest in life on earth and the work of being prepared to ascend in the Rapture, where she will live in heaven as an immortal being with her beloved family. Heaven does have one problem: the food, boring manna, it’s the only thing the immortals eat—for eternity. To compensate, Roxy anxiously eats Velveeta cheese in case they should ascend this evening. While Roxy prays, without ceasing to get saved, she longs, in the same breath, to wear high heels, have breasts, and marry Elvis Presley when she grows up. If she grows up. The Fishes’ older daughter, Colleen, wants no part of the family’s exuberant faith, but Roxy keeps a practical eye on Christian women with full skirts in case she needs to grab on at the waist to be dragged up to Heaven at the last minute. Surrounded by the magic of Pentecost—a talking hedge, a sky where Christians can fly if their faith is sufficient, a healing uncle who prays not only for people but for cows and trees—Roxy’s choice between the heaven track and her earthly interests seems impossible until she discovers her own particular salvation—with an assist from the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin. Roxy’s story is as fresh as it is unforgettable.

Critical Praise

Praise for Rhoda Huffey & The Hallelujah Side: “In her vivid first novel, Rhoda Huffey's sinners are bathed in the Technicolor hues of Tangerine Kiss lipstick and green-striped bikinis, while their less worldly counterparts make do with discards from the missionary donation box." — New York Times Book Review

“A funny, heart-warming novel. . .remarkable. . .poignantly humorous. . . . Huffey's light touch with her material, and her sensitive rendering of a religious youngster's matter-of-fact belief that the world may end any minute, move her story from the paradoxical to the plausible.” — Publishers Weekly

“Characters burst into reality from The Hallelujah Side holding tambourines and Das Kapital and tubes of Tangerine Kiss lipstick in their hands. Rhoda Huffey depicts Roxanne Fish’s struggle to grow up in her radically evangelical family with humor and see-through-you insight. Every reader will be rooting for Roxy to open her throat and sing her own unique soul in her amazing ‘porkchop’ voice.” — Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab’s Wife

“This is a wonderful book. It’s wonderful! I loved the people and sympathized with their idealism, even their metaphysics. And the author’s mastery of structural conjunctions in the story is a revelation.” — Louis B. Jones, author of Ordinary Money

“Brimming with humor and wisdom, The Hallelujah Side is a wondrous tale told through the eyes of a precocious and charmingly earnest nine-year-old girl. With observations as sharp and honest as tempered steel, Roxanne Fish will make you laugh even as your heart breaks. Rhoda Huffey has written an infinitely fascinating and memorable novel.” — Connie May Fowler, author of Remembering Blue

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Product Details

  • ISBN: 9781953002150
  • ISBN 10: 1953002153
  • Imprint: Delphinium
  • On Sale: 05/10/2022
  • Pages: 288
  • List Price:21.00 CAD
  • BISAC1 : FICTION / Cultural Heritage
  • BISAC2 : FICTION / Coming of Age
  • BISAC3 : FICTION / Small Town & Rural
  • BISAC4 : FICTION / Family Life / Siblings
  • BISAC5 : FICTION / Religious
  • BISAC6 : FICTION / Contemporary Women
  • BISAC7 : FICTION / Humorous / General

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