4 out of 4 stars
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Elizabeth Good’s Trampled Underfoot: The Dirt on Vic and Lia is rife with conflict. Conflict arises in love, marriage, family relationships and decision-making. The conflict all has one underlying them: religious strife. Trampled Underfoot is contemporary fiction, taking place in the mid-1970s to early 1980s in a blue-collar beach community on the Jersey shore.
Trampled Underfoot is told in third party form, with the focus on the protagonist, Lia. As the story begins, Lia is a young woman, married, pregnant and newly married to Vic. Lia is a devout Jehovah’s Witness and believes her husband has been converted as well. Some of Lia’s family adheres to the same religion as Lia, while others are distraught that some of the family has converted to the Jehovah’s Witness faith. Lia’s faith is the root of conflict that influences every facet of her life. Lia wants to remain faithful to her faith but at the same time do what she feels in her heart is right; often, those two things are in conflict with each other.
As life goes on, a baby is born and a father is often absent. Lia loves her husband and tries to find ways to show her love but at the same time has a need to know the real deal. She is often surprised as things are not always as expected. The people who are there for her are not always the people that Lia things will be there to help and sustain her.
By far, the way Good demonstrated the conflicts between religion and relationships is my favorite part of the book. One is really drawn into the relationships in Trampled Underfoot. Relationships are heavy hearted throughout the story, as we watch Vic’s inability to remain faithful, with spurts of hope that he can be who Lia wants him to be. Relationships between mother and daughter and between sisters bow to discord as the Jehovah’s Witnesses have expectations for behavior, from the mundane to things of a more serious nature. Lia’s mom and one sister put more stock in the concern of elders over the needs of the family. There is a great deal distress in the conflict of family versus faith. Medical concerns become weighty issues due to the dictations of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. There is little that I did not like in Trampled Underfoot, except perhaps wanting to know more about what happens to a couple of the key players in the end. The author kept me captivated throughout the story, making me want to know what decisions Lia will make as she resolves her conflicts. It is important to note that this is not a work of Christian fiction as it does include steamy explicit sexual situations. If you are looking for something clean and faith based, this is not it.
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Trampled Underfoot:The Dirt on Vic and Lia
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