The Abstinence Teacher, by Tom Perrotta (2007)
Ruth Ramsey is the sex education teacher in a small town somewhere in the northeast. She believes in teaching the high school students the truth about sex. All was going well until the growing and ultra-fundamentalist church in the community objected. Suddenly, the lines between church and state became blurred. The Tabernacle of the Gospel Truth convinced the school board to institute an abstinence curriculum.
Ruth is sent to re-training seminars to learn this new focus on sex-ed. Although she tries to teach the new course, she makes known to the students that her heart isn’t into the new curriculum.
Ruth is divorced with two young daughters. One of her daughters, Maggie, is on the soccer team, which is coached by Tim Mason.
Tim is a former rock musician, alcoholic and had serious drug problems. He, too, is divorced, with a daughter, who lives with her mother and wealthy step-father. Tim joined the Tabernacle and believes that it turned his life around. At the behest of Pastor Dennis, Tim married Carrie, a fellow church member, who is much younger. Thus, Tim entered into a “good Christian marriage”, albeit one with an unsatisfactory sex life.
All seems to be going well with Tim until after a big soccer game, he leads all the girls on the team into a Tabernacle prayer. This was the last straw for Ruth, who was dealing with the Tabernacle’s interference in her sex-ed class. Ruth is also struggling with young teen daughters, who are ready to rebel against their mother. When Maggie begins to show an interest in joining the Tabernacle Church, Ruth really becomes concerned.
Ruth confronts Tim with the issue of his proselytizing. Although they have an initial mistrust, they have an unmistakable attraction. Tim begins to re-evaluate his life and question the structure of his life within the Tabernacle.
In one scene, Ruth’s daughter was required to write an essay on the woman and man who made an impression on her. When Ruth asked her daughter who the man she wrote about, the daughter answered “Donald Trump.” Remember this book was written in 2007!
I’m not sure what to make of this novel. His description of JoAnn Marlow, the “virginity consultant”, seemed like a caricature. The descriptions of the pastor at the Tabernacle Church was always reminding Tim not to slip back into sin, thus Tim was constantly worrying about whether or not he was a good Christian.
It was a quick read, but will not be added to my top favorites.
Read: September 25, 2018
3 Stars
No comments:
Post a Comment