Saved Folks in the House
by Sonnie Beverly
Published by Warner Books
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Reviewed by Diane Kasperski
The first half of Saved Folks in the House is wonderful. It tells Zakia's story. Zakia is a young black woman in a modern world who grew up in a part of Richmond, Virginia called The Village. Her mother has very high expectations and accepts no excuses.
In high school, Zakia had good grades and was popular. Friends of her twin brother Zachary helped her steer through understanding boyfriends. In college, life was different, with temptations of all kinds: drugs, alcohol and sex. This part of the book looks into all the peer pressure, challenges and decisions that everyone faces.
Zakia hung tough for as long as she could but then she fell in love with Malik. She ended up pregnant but graduated with honors. She moved back home to raise her son without Malik. Life was full of challenges but then she marries. After years of a great life, she started to feel a hole in her life--an emptiness.
Then she discovers a church that answers all her spiritual needs. She is reborn and becomes consumed with church life and converting the world. Her enthusiasm and pushing her beliefs alienate everyone. After her husband leaves, she eventually she learns to balance her faith in her life.
The second half of the book is Nikki's story. This part seems very unrealistic. Nikki and her children have a strong faith in God, which is admirable. Because of this faith, she has no real challenges, problems, or hardships. She moves to Atlanta with her children and finds a wonderful apartment. She seems to have no problem affording anything while being unemployed and a single mother.
Everyone and everything is wonderful. She wants to get a job at her new church so she gets it. No temptations or hardships are presented, and life is wonderful. The "If you believe everything is perfect" just a little too unbelievable.
Maybe the author should have stopped with Zakia. It was very inspirational and demonstrated with life's challenges and temptations, that there are consequences and then how to deal with those consequences as well as how faith can help get us through these events in our life.
Armchair Interviews says: Zaki's character was real; her inspiration and how she dealt with life's challenges were well written in Saved Folks in the House.