Book Review: The Fine Art of Insincerity by Angela Hunt

For the last few Sundays, my pastor has been preaching about speaking the truth to one another (Ephesians 4:25). He has emphasized how it is vital that we always speak the truth, no matter what. For our relationships to be healthy and all that God intends for them to be, we must put away all lies, misrepresentations, deceptions, etc.

This book by Angela Hunt "preaches" that message as well. The Fine Art of Insincerity is the story of three sisters who, over the course of three days, are confronted with the lies of their childhood and their marriages.

Here's how the author's website describes it:

"Three Southern sisters with nine marriages between them--and more looming on the horizon--travel to St. Simons Island to empty their late grandmother’s house. Ginger, the eldest, wonders if she’s the only one who hasn’t inherited what their family calls “the Grandma Gene”--the tendency to enjoy the casualness of courtship more than the intimacy of marriage. Could it be that her sisters are fated to serially marry, just like their seven-times wed grandmother, Lillian Irene Harper Winslow Goldstein Carey James Bobrinski Gordon George? It takes a “girls only” weekend, closing up Grandma’s memory-filled beach cottage for the last time, for the sisters to unpack their family baggage, examine their relationship DNA, and discover the true legacy their much-marrying grandmother left behind."

And an excerpt from the book:

(One of the husbands tells his wife) "I'm going to promise you something. You can be honest with me about anything, and I promise to love you through it. Tell me when you're glad, when you're mad, and when you're sad. Say you're annoyed at me; say you're miserable because of something I did. Let me know when I do something wonderful, so I can learn what makes you happy. Tell me anything, but be honest. As long as you are, I'll love you forever."

Honesty. How important it is for a life of integrity and genuine Christian unity. This book makes that clear.

The author reminded me of how I should be living a life of honesty. Also, how destructive it is to try to manipulate others to do what we think they should be doing. We cannot do that and love them at the same time. Love is patient and kind, never seeking its own way (I Cor. 13).

I also like the sayings (from the girls' grandmother) sprinkled thoughout the book. Here is one of my favorites:

"Grandma once told me that you can always tell if a woman is truly in love by the way she looks at her husband. If she smiles at him like a woman pulled over by a traffic cop, that's genuine love."

I really liked this one. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.


(I received this book from Glass Road Publications for review purposes. I received no monetary compensation for this review. All opinions expressed are completely my own.)

You can go to the publisher's website to read the preface and first chapter of the book.

Author's Biography:

With nearly four million copies of her books sold worldwide, Angela Hunt is the bestselling author of more than one hundred books, including The Tale of Three Trees, Don’t Bet Against Me, The Note, and The Nativity Story. Hunt is one of the most sought-after collaborators in the publishing industry. Her nonfiction book Don’t Bet Against Me, written with Deanna Favre, spent several weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Angela’s novel The Note was filmed as the Hallmark Channel’s Christmas movie for 2007 and proved to be the highest rated television movie in the channel’s history. She often travels to teach writing workshops at schools and writers’ conferences, and she served as the keynote speaker at the 2008 American Christian Fiction Writers’ national conference. She and her husband make their home in Florida with mastiffs. In 2001, one of her dogs was featured on Live with Regis and Kelly as the second-largest dog in America.