The Waiting Place by Eileen Button

A book review.

Eileen Button is a pastor's wife, often to her dismay, and a mother of three, as well as an author, columnist and professor. Each of these aspects of her life as well as others shine through the pages of The Waiting Place. This book has an interesting format and concept - it is autobiographical, and each chapter tells of a time in the author's life when she was made to wait. Some of these times are significant and will have undoubtedly shaped her, such as her child's serious illness when he was born. Other times of waiting she tells of are unbelievably mundane, such as waiting for her friend to decide what to order at Panera. Each waiting place however has taught the author something, though it is at times left unsaid.
This book at times brought me to tears as Button told the stories with such honesty and the situations were ones of despair and an uncertain ending. Other times I felt it was over dramatic and wanted to tell her to "dry her eyes and just get on with it" or "man up", though this would probably be harsh of me. She has found a topic common to all though, and overall I did enjoy reading it. It is an easy and pleasant read, and a good book in its genre. We all have to wait for things, for things to get better, for things to stop, for things to change. The Waiting Place provides insight into the life of a woman who, like it or not, has many waiting places and is provided with the opportunity to grow in them or moan about them. And we readers are invited and reminded to do the same.


*I was provided this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze Program in exchange for my unbiased review.