In these eleven stories, a Mennonite minister鈥檚 daughter moves from a youthful, exuberant understanding of her family鈥檚 faith toward religious doubt. Stumbling comically at times, Ruthie navigates life with and without the rules in which she鈥檚 been raised. Always physical, often sexual, Ruthie鈥檚 search for personal truth leads her from missionary outposts in Paraguay and Brazil to Mennonite towns in northern Indiana and central Kansas, a vandalized Native American site, women鈥檚 healthcare clinics, and lingerie shops on the secular, melancholy East Coast. Ultimately, these stories consider how faith and identity intertwine, the cost of abandoning one鈥檚 cultural heritage, and the complicated longing for return.
鈥淲hat a magnificent book. So scary, so sad, so strange, so brutal, so true, so expertly written, so brave, so forlornly Mennonite, so fiercely beautiful in so many ways. Ruthie is a creature who will live forever inside me. Is this a book of stories, a novel, neither of these, both of these? Who cares? It鈥檚 art. High, heart-thumping, unforgettable art. I was shaken by this book, but I was also made more wholly human.鈥濃擳im O鈥橞rien, author, The Things They Carried
鈥淚n these marvelous, deeply suspenseful stories, Sears writes with remarkable intimacy and lack of judgment about the deeply conflicted Ruthie and the religion she no longer believes in. By the end of What Mennonite Girls Are Good For, I felt I鈥檇 seen 鈥榯hat ancient truth鈥攈ow small we all stand.鈥欌濃擬argot Livesey, judge, John Simmons Short Fiction Award
鈥淲ith rare intelligence and sensitivity, Jennifer Sears has created remarkable stories set at the intersection of old-time religious ardor, erotic exploration, and the complex, often cruel weirdness of American life. What Mennonite Girls Are Good For is a singular achievement.鈥濃擬ary Gaitskill, author, Bad Behavior
鈥淏ecause these stories tell truths about the lives of girls and women, they reveal the brutality of patriarchy, invisible as the air we breathe. Similarly, set in a religious subculture that values self-sacrifice and peace, they expose the avarice and injustice that sustain North American life. Yet, Jennifer Sears knows it鈥檚 never that neat. With skill, guts, and intelligence, she鈥檚 created a novel in stories that is as profound as it is compelling. Even when it鈥檚 hard to read, it鈥檚 even harder to put down.鈥濃擩ulia Spicher Kasdorf, author, As Is
