While I find some parts of Sue Monk Kidd's writing to be a bit indulgent with forced prose and detail, I also agree that this is allowable for how transferrable her characters are to all of "us" and outwayed by the poignient thoughts and images. I feel that there could have been a little more time spent on the initial attraction between Whit and Jessie- it seemed that they met and fell in love too quickly- either that or the elapsed time was not represented correctly. The genesis of their affection did not seem realistic. I will submit that there were some wonderful lines that I will never forget used in this book- one that I will keep close to my heart is, "God is something whose center is everywhere but circumferance is no where". Whoa.