Kirstie from the “Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots” by Karla Akins

This week in the ACFW Bookclub we’ve been discussing the “Pastor’s Wife Wears Biker Boots” by Karla Akins.  This novel falls under the “mom-lit” genre, which I hadn’t really been exposed to before.  I was attracted to the fun title, but wasn’t sure if I would be able to relate to a main character so different from me in age & lifestyle.  Still, I gave it a go and was pleasantly surprised!

The heroine, Kirstie is a 47 year old Pastor’s wife living in a small Indiana town, raising 3 teenage boys, one with autism.  She has more than a full plate as she tries to balance her time among her sons, take care of an enormous dog, run the household, make sure her husband is never late, and keep peace among all the very opinionated parishioners!  She struggles with feelings of guilt about not getting to spend enough time with her loved ones and feels overwhelmed by all the demands of being a Pastor’s wife.  For a release, she turns to the world of biking (with the blessing of her very kind, supportive husband) and takes to the open road forming an unlikely motor club of both non-church going and church going ladies.
 

Karla balanced humor with heart in Kirstie’s story, and spent a lot of time developing her characters so I really felt like I knew them.  The pacing of events felt a bit episodic; I could often picture a chapter being a single episode in a TV series.  Each chapter had a little something different to offer ranging from comedy, to drama, and even mystery.  The plot that tied it all together was centered on Kirstie’s internal struggle to cope with the way her life had become and continue trusting in God.

When I read the ladies having Kirstie draw their club patch, I couldn't resist making this page of sketches, imagining what her ideas might have looked like.  Their club name sounded soo ridiculous- Lady Eels on Wheels!  I just had to prove to myself it could be done! ;) 

 

As I mentioned, I wasn’t sure if I would relate to Kirstie (I’m in my 30s, still single with no kids), but Karla did such a good job of showing Kirstie’s feelings through the events that happened to her and her reactions to the characters around her, that by the end of the story I had no trouble relating to her.  It was fun to follow along with her as she learned about the biking culture, and God showed her new things about what it means to follow Him.

 

Here's Karla's Website:
http://karlaakins.com 

And, another blogger's post about the book; I love the picture of Karla riding that's featured!  http://livingourfaithoutloud.blogspot.com/

-Monica