Sister, Sinner
Riveting.
I don't typically read history or biographies, but full disclosure, I am an ordained minister in the Foursquare Church, founded by Sister Aimee. When I saw this book, I immediately wanted to read an "outsider's" perspective. For so many years, I heard very little about the mysterious and unknown parts of her life and story, but I feel like in recent years the denomination has been more open about her faults and struggles, even admitting that she left us a heritage of workaholism. Hoffman writes in her epilogue, "Aimee's legacy lives on at Angelus Temple and in Foursquare churches, but it is not a cult of personality. Aimee is presented as an upright religious pioneer, a revolutionary woman of historical importance, of the distant past." I think this is an accurate portrayal of the denomination today. As for the book and its contents, I was fascinated to learn about Aimee's early life, her kidnapping and disappearance, and her interactions with her mother, followers, and the rich and famous throughout the 20s and 30s. Is the mystery of Aimee's disappearance solved through Hoffman's journalistic efforts? Not completely. Is Aimee portrayed as a fraud and liar? No. Is she portrayed as a Saint? No. Hoffman strikes a balance between sister and sinner, as the title implies. She works through the court documents, newspaper articles, and Foursquare archives to bring a nuanced portrait. In the author's note she says she suspected there was more to Aimee's story than the polarized portrayals as "either virtuous and misunderstood or a conniving huckster; a great spiritual paragon or a fame monster." Hoffman's tone is informative, funny, and incisive. She treats the subject of her research with care and highlights this remarkable woman who made waves, for good or ill, during a time when women made very few.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the digital review copy of this book. All thoughts are my genuine reading experience. And thank you to Claire Hoffman for seeing Aimee Semple McPherson as a human being, more than only the scandals or the achievements.
