Publishers Weekly
07/05/2021
Two sisters are rocked by the infidelity of their famous pastor father in McKinney’s promising debut. At the outset, Caroline Nolan is excited to leave for college and is helping her older sister, Abby, prepare for her wedding with Matthew, an oil rig worker. The sisters have always been expected to behave like their father, Luke—gracious and holy—which as a girl Caroline thought was a privilege, but now begins to question. Abby, meanwhile, has helped write her father’s sermons without receiving credit—one of which went viral with Luke encouraging a million teenagers to wear abstinence rings and take purity vows. Caroline secretly loses her virginity and worries her sister is settling for Matthew, whose strong feelings for Abby aren’t completely reciprocated. Then a woman from the congregation confesses to a relationship with Luke, leading the church board to put him on probation. Their mother stands by her man, but the sisters move into a ranch they inherited from their grandmother. As the weeks go by and the wedding nears, the sisters bond over their anger toward their father’s hypocrisy, which escalates with another revelation. While the ending is a bit abrupt, McKinney otherwise successfully wrangles her plot. This stirring debut about faith, secrets, and familial bonds will keep readers turning the pages. Agent: Dana Murphy, the Book Group. (June)
From the Publisher
[A] tender, aching debut . . . where faith and betrayal are intertwined.” — Elle, The 55 Most Anticipated Books Of 2021
"Kelsey McKinney’s debut is a timely exploration of the moral contradictions of contemporary Evangelical Christianity. But the accomplishment of this canny novel is in positing coming of age itself as a loss of faith—not only in the church, but in our parents, our family, and the world as we thought we understood it." — Rumaan Alam, New York Times bestselling author of Leave the World Behind and Rich and Pretty
"Every family has its secrets. . . . God Spare the Girls is an exploration of individuality, family, religion, community, and how when one family secret is revealed, many more follow." — Oprah Daily, 33 of the Best Beach Reads to Help You Escape
"God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney is a fascinating look at the moment in a young woman’s life when she starts to forge an identity separate from her family’s." — Real Simple, The Best New Books to Read in 2021
“McKinney is a strong and compelling storyteller and has crafted a captivating small town world full of gossip and intrigue. God Spare the Girls beautifully explores the challenges of young womanhood in the context of a religion that has its own very strict ideas about what it means to be a good daughter, sister, and wife. Above all else, God Spare the Girls is a touching and powerful story of a bond between two sisters navigating a world and life they never chose. It is a beautifully rendered spin on classic coming-of-age tales, with the characters navigating intricate layers of relationships with themselves, with each other and with their faith.” — Associated Press
"God Spare the Girls is an incandescent novel. The book is a clear-eyed breathtaking exploration of sisterhood, faith and love and loss. McKinney broke my heart a million times with her beautiful and unflinching exploration of two sisters caught in a repressive world of religion and even more repressive love. I couldn't put it down. I found myself lost in the world of Texas heat and the fires of faith. McKinney's world is both familiar and engrossing, compelling and poignant. God Spare the Girls is a dazzling debut." — Lyz Lenz, author of Belabored and God Land
"This coming-of-age debut about sisterhood, faith, community, and Evangelical Christianity is sure to delight." — The Millions, Most Anticipated of June
"Compelling . . . Both a coming-of-age book and an examination of belief, identity, and family, God Spare the Girls is unflinching and entrancing, and a reminder of the dangers of blind faith, but also the power of love." — Refinery29, 38 Books You’ll Want To Read This Summer
"The writing is evocative, and McKinney masterfully captures the nuanced dynamics of sisterhood. I wish it had been 10 times longer." — The Atlantic Daily
"Kelsey McKinney’s debut novel asks a difficult question: Why does God’s love often feel more conditional when it comes to women? . . . With a story about family, womanhood, and the question of goodness, readers will not be able to put God Spare the Girls down." — Shondaland, The 5 Best Books for June 2021
"A story of sisters, family, faith, power, performance, secrets, and betrayal . . . a gorgeously written exploration of what it means to attempt to love and trust when the foundations upon which we’ve built those words have been torn down." — Lynn Steger Strong, author of Want and Hold Still
"A heart-filled exploration about faith, family, and loyalty, and what it means to strike your own path . . . Told with such tenderness, humor, and yes, hope, this is a novel for anyone who’s felt broken down over faith and love and who has questioned what they thought they knew about life, which is to say, all of us. A coming of age tale that feels fresh and untold . . .These characters will be on my mind for a long time." — Chelsea Bieker, author of Godshot
"Kelsey McKinney has written a real whopper of a novel with God Spare the Girls, a book that explores the ultimate cost of love within a family and the secrets people keep. I felt deeply touched by these characters as I read; both hopeful for their relationships and also wishing for their success. It is a precious thing to find a novel that allows for both the sweetness and the sour—McKinney writes it all deftly, beautifully, and fearlessly." — Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things and With Teeth
“Kelsey McKinney has wrought an elegant tale of sisters, yes—but its greatest success is in accommodating a story of Evangelicalism that both speaks to its strengths and all-too-human heartbreaks. A compelling read.” — Esmé Weijun Wang, New York Times bestselling author of The Collected Schizophrenias
"I don't know what I was more moved by in God Spare the Girls: the depths and twists of family love, the complexities of faith, or the failures of both faith and love. A devastating and large-hearted novel." — R.O. Kwon, author of The Incendiaries
"The highlight of McKinney’s authentic narrative is her treatment of relationships, and Caroline and Abigail’s growing connection as the rest of their world threatens to fall apart is at once engaging, witty, and heartbreaking. A loss of faith gives way to something much stronger." — Kirkus
"Read it for twists on twists, meditations on faith, and a deeply thoughtful treatment of an evangelical community." — Glamour, Beach Reads That Are Like Summer in a Book
“This stirring debut about faith, secrets, and familial bonds will keep readers turning the pages.” — Publishers Weekly
"An astonishingly assured debut that focuses on Caroline and Abigail Nolan, a pair of sisters in the fictional North Texas town of Hope, as they struggle with their evangelical faith and family betrayal." — Texas Monthly
"A feminist rewrite of Lot. . . . God Spare the Girls is, in short, delightful." — Texas Observer
"Bewitching . . . [a] tender but cutting coming-of-age story." — Elle, The Best New Books to Read in Summer 2021
"The story is fictional, but far too familiar to many who were raised in the church.” — Relevant Magazine
“The novel’s strength lies in its note-perfect depiction of conservative white Bible Belt church culture, and what happens when that culture’s image of perfection clashes with reality. Kelsey McKinney’s powerful first novel takes on Texas summer heat, church politics and complicated family dynamics.” — Shelf Awareness
"A compelling and beautifully written tale, a book that captures the hubris and hypocrisy that can come from institutionalized faith while also finding ways to acknowledge the value that such circumstances can bring. Delicately heart wrenching, driven by sad realizations and quiet humor, it’s an unforgettable read. . . . An exceptional piece of fiction, sad and smart and driven by an overarching verisimilitude. What McKinney has created feels like a real place with real people, all while sharing their stories of faith gained or lost or somewhere in-between. Believing matters—but what often matters more is that (or those) in which (or whom) we choose to believe." — The Maine Edge
38 Books You’ll Want To Read This Summer Refinery29
"Compelling . . . Both a coming-of-age book and an examination of belief, identity, and family, God Spare the Girls is unflinching and entrancing, and a reminder of the dangers of blind faith, but also the power of love."
Real Simple
"God Spare the Girls by Kelsey McKinney is a fascinating look at the moment in a young woman’s life when she starts to forge an identity separate from her family’s."
The Millions
"This coming-of-age debut about sisterhood, faith, community, and Evangelical Christianity is sure to delight."
The Atlantic Daily
"The writing is evocative, and McKinney masterfully captures the nuanced dynamics of sisterhood. I wish it had been 10 times longer."
Associated Press
McKinney is a strong and compelling storyteller and has crafted a captivating small town world full of gossip and intrigue. God Spare the Girls beautifully explores the challenges of young womanhood in the context of a religion that has its own very strict ideas about what it means to be a good daughter, sister, and wife. Above all else, God Spare the Girls is a touching and powerful story of a bond between two sisters navigating a world and life they never chose. It is a beautifully rendered spin on classic coming-of-age tales, with the characters navigating intricate layers of relationships with themselves, with each other and with their faith.
Lyz Lenz
"God Spare the Girls is an incandescent novel. The book is a clear-eyed breathtaking exploration of sisterhood, faith and love and loss. McKinney broke my heart a million times with her beautiful and unflinching exploration of two sisters caught in a repressive world of religion and even more repressive love. I couldn't put it down. I found myself lost in the world of Texas heat and the fires of faith. McKinney's world is both familiar and engrossing, compelling and poignant. God Spare the Girls is a dazzling debut."
Rumaan Alam
"Kelsey McKinney’s debut is a timely exploration of the moral contradictions of contemporary Evangelical Christianity. But the accomplishment of this canny novel is in positing coming of age itself as a loss of faith—not only in the church, but in our parents, our family, and the world as we thought we understood it."
The 55 Most Anticipated Books Of 2021 Elle
[A] tender, aching debut . . . where faith and betrayal are intertwined.
Oprah Daily
"Every family has its secrets. . . . God Spare the Girls is an exploration of individuality, family, religion, community, and how when one family secret is revealed, many more follow."
The 5 Best Books for June 2021 Shondaland
"Kelsey McKinney’s debut novel asks a difficult question: Why does God’s love often feel more conditional when it comes to women? . . . With a story about family, womanhood, and the question of goodness, readers will not be able to put God Spare the Girls down."
The Best New Books to Read in Summer 2021 Elle
"Bewitching . . . [a] tender but cutting coming-of-age story."
Shelf Awareness
The novel’s strength lies in its note-perfect depiction of conservative white Bible Belt church culture, and what happens when that culture’s image of perfection clashes with reality. Kelsey McKinney’s powerful first novel takes on Texas summer heat, church politics and complicated family dynamics.
Texas Observer
"A feminist rewrite of Lot. . . . God Spare the Girls is, in short, delightful."
Beach Reads That Are Like Summer in a Book Glamour
"Read it for twists on twists, meditations on faith, and a deeply thoughtful treatment of an evangelical community."
Kristen Arnett
"Kelsey McKinney has written a real whopper of a novel with God Spare the Girls, a book that explores the ultimate cost of love within a family and the secrets people keep. I felt deeply touched by these characters as I read; both hopeful for their relationships and also wishing for their success. It is a precious thing to find a novel that allows for both the sweetness and the sour—McKinney writes it all deftly, beautifully, and fearlessly."
Texas Monthly
"An astonishingly assured debut that focuses on Caroline and Abigail Nolan, a pair of sisters in the fictional North Texas town of Hope, as they struggle with their evangelical faith and family betrayal."
The Maine Edge
"A compelling and beautifully written tale, a book that captures the hubris and hypocrisy that can come from institutionalized faith while also finding ways to acknowledge the value that such circumstances can bring. Delicately heart wrenching, driven by sad realizations and quiet humor, it’s an unforgettable read. . . . An exceptional piece of fiction, sad and smart and driven by an overarching verisimilitude. What McKinney has created feels like a real place with real people, all while sharing their stories of faith gained or lost or somewhere in-between. Believing matters—but what often matters more is that (or those) in which (or whom) we choose to believe."
R.O. Kwon
"I don't know what I was more moved by in God Spare the Girls: the depths and twists of family love, the complexities of faith, or the failures of both faith and love. A devastating and large-hearted novel."
Relevant Magazine
"The story is fictional, but far too familiar to many who were raised in the church.
Lynn Steger Strong
"A story of sisters, family, faith, power, performance, secrets, and betrayal . . . a gorgeously written exploration of what it means to attempt to love and trust when the foundations upon which we’ve built those words have been torn down."
Chelsea Bieker
"A heart-filled exploration about faith, family, and loyalty, and what it means to strike your own path . . . Told with such tenderness, humor, and yes, hope, this is a novel for anyone who’s felt broken down over faith and love and who has questioned what they thought they knew about life, which is to say, all of us. A coming of age tale that feels fresh and untold . . .These characters will be on my mind for a long time."
Esmé Weijun Wang
Kelsey McKinney has wrought an elegant tale of sisters, yes—but its greatest success is in accommodating a story of Evangelicalism that both speaks to its strengths and all-too-human heartbreaks. A compelling read.”
Texas Monthly
"An astonishingly assured debut that focuses on Caroline and Abigail Nolan, a pair of sisters in the fictional North Texas town of Hope, as they struggle with their evangelical faith and family betrayal."
38 Books You’ll Want To Read This Summer Refinery29
"Compelling . . . Both a coming-of-age book and an examination of belief, identity, and family, God Spare the Girls is unflinching and entrancing, and a reminder of the dangers of blind faith, but also the power of love."
Nine June Beach Reads That Are Like Summer in a Bo Glamour
"Read it for twists on twists, meditations on faith, and a deeply thoughtful treatment of an evangelical community."
Claire Lombardo
"God Spare the Girls is a thoughtful and candid meditation on faith, family, and forgiveness; it's also a tender portrait of two sisters reluctantly on the cusp of adulthood. McKinney's writing is sonorous, unsparing, and deeply generous—this is a fabulous debut."
Linda Holmes
A deeply felt book about love — love for family and community, for people who sustain you and people who disappoint you. And love for God, too, which Kelsey McKinney writes about with humane and incisive frankness.
Kirkus Reviews
2021-06-02
A looming wedding, an extramarital affair, and a broken virginity pact: family drama with a born-again twist.
Caroline Nolan can’t wait to escape. It's the summer before her freshman year of college, and she’s excited to leave her life as the daughter of Luke Nolan, head evangelical preacher in Hope, Texas, and start forging her own way. Caroline doesn't want to follow in her mother’s footsteps as the preacher’s perfect wife; nor does she see a place for herself on her older sister Abigail’s path as the preacher’s perfect daughter. But then life as she knows it starts to crumble. On the evening after Abigail’s bridal shower, Caroline has sex with the son of a church elder and removes her purity ring—placed there by her father. She doesn't feel the catastrophic guilt she had expected but instead starts to question who she is: “A good Christian would feel guilty. Caroline felt nothing at all.” Later, Caroline and her family must reckon with a far more disastrous event: Luke confesses to the church elders that he had an affair with Caroline’s fourth grade teacher. With their family life in ruins and their father’s career hanging in the balance, Caroline and Abigail—armed with a resounding feeling of betrayal—leave their parents' home to stay at the ranch left to them by their grandmother. All the while their mother’s confusing words echo in Caroline’s thoughts: “This land hasn’t been kind to the women of our family. It holds a lot of bitterness.” The longer the sisters stay at the ranch, the more uncomfortable truths they uncover and the more they must grapple with their roles in the family and what they want for the future. The highlight of McKinney’s authentic narrative is her treatment of relationships, and Caroline and Abigail’s growing connection as the rest of their world threatens to fall apart is at once engaging, witty, and heartbreaking.
A loss of faith gives way to something much stronger.
