1946 Alabama is racially divided. Benjamin Church returns from the war to help his dad, Otis, in the farm. One night, he meets Delia at a dance and falls deeply in love. However, Delia’s father, a pastor, wants Delia to attend college and not marry a poor farmer.
Delia and Benjamin get married and have a son, Isaac. A series of tragedies and heartbreak follow their lives. Benjamin experiences racism by whites on many occasions.
Ultimately, this is a story of triumph, and of people who like you for who you are, vs. the color of your skin. ( )

Passing Through Perfect by Bette Lee Crosby is very appropriate book for these times. I live north of Dallas where there was recently a protest march and shootings by a man filled with hate _targeting white policemen. I believe to understand both sides, you need to either have experiences yourself or you need to do a lot of reading and discuss the problems with your friends or family. This is great book to help people understand the history of racial hatred and what can be done.

This book is so well written, inspiring and easy to get into the feelings expressed. You really care about Benjamin Church and his family. Benjamin Church was a black sharecropper in Alabama. The story starts when he came back from WWII. He had great ambitions but the army at that time relegated blacks to menial duties. This was the time of the Jim Crow laws.

Blacks were only hired for hard labor and there were signs, “No coloreds allowed” at many places in many towns. I was a child in the 1950s but I can remember going to an all-white grade school in Indianapolis and one summer I went to all Black School. I learned a lot more than the math that I was sent there for. It was a different world. This book brings many memories for me. My family later took a road trip to Florida and we saw some of those signs still at drinking fountains and could sense the tension in some of the towns on the way to Florida.

While Benjamin Church and his family in Grinders Corner, Alabama, they were denied respect, safety and justice. When your home has become too hard to survive and raise your child, it is time to move on. There are some new Jim Crow laws in the South like literacy tests to pass for voting Blacks get harsher sentences for crimes. Hatred is not dead we need to put it out with love.

I highly recommend this book for more understanding between the races. I did read the first book in this series, Spare Change, and was amazed at how the author connected the two story lines. I really enjoyed reading Passing Through Perfect.

The author generously gifted me with an Advance Copy because I have trouble reading books in other than print form. ( )

Passing Through Perfect by Bette Lee Crosby

The story takes place in Alabama during the segregation era during, mid 1940's-1950' and revolves around Benjamin Church, and American Soldier and a farmer.

He meets the love of his life Delia, a preachers daughter. But Delia's Father does not approve of Benjamin. The two do decide to marry even though Delia will be estranged from her Father forever.

Benjamin is an honest hard working man, he was very likable. Delia is just as likable, although they have come from different families they get along perfectly. They lead an ordinary (but happy) life. Then a tragedy occurs, and lives are changed forever.

A heart-felt story, of love, family, hardships, loss and acceptance Passing Through Perfect left an impression deep in my soul. I feel those who love a great (emotional) love story will enjoy it as well as I did. A true five-star read. ( )

I would like to start with the cover. Bette Lee Crosby’s cover gives you a glimpse of the story inside. Her sweet, southern charm comes through the pages and wraps around me with loving arms. Passing Through Perfect brought forth so many emotions that I kept my tissues at my side. That is not unusual for a Bette Lee novel. With each novel in the Wyattsville series I say it is the best, but the best one is the next one.

The story includes chapters of the characters thoughts and feelings – Benjamin, Delia, Camella, Sidney and Martha’s. We get an up close and personal invitation to share their lives. The characters had me crying for them, yelling for them, wanting to protect and shelter them from all the harsh realities of life.

The story takes place in Grinders Corner, a small town in Alabama.

Benjamin Church came home from war, to see nothing had changed. Benjamin had thought of being a mechanic. He had learned to repair almost anything mechanical during his time in the service. This is a time in history where the shift was from working for yourself to working for someone else. But, he knew he would be a farmer like his father and his father before him. He is a sharecroppers son and the world did not look kindly on blacks in 1946.

The landowner, Sylvester Crane, is a sorry excuse for a human being.

Benjamen’s dad struggles after the loss of his wife. Sometimes when a mate dies, the other person is not far behind. Do they lose their will to live?

Everything in Grinders Corner is the same for Benjamin, until he lays eyes on Delia.

Delia is a preachers daughter. Her father heads the New Unity Church. She has a zest for life and it was love at first sight for Benjamin. I guess we can see where this is going. He courted her in the proper manner, with courtesy and respect. Ben’s love is strong, gentle and true.

The preacher had a holier than thou attitude and looked down his nose at Benjamin. He didn’t think Benjamin was good enough for his Delia. Don’t a lot of parents think that way, even if their child is grown? Our kids are always our kids and we want the best for them. On the other hand, as kids, our parents are our heroes.

“You made your bed, now lie in it.” Have you ever heard those words?

Bette’s descriptions of the simplest things brings the times and people to life, their sorrow and pain, their joy and happiness. I can picture Benjamin standing in front of the deputy with his weather beaten straw hat in hand and his eyes looking down at the floor.

Bette talks about the sun and heat of the south. If you have not experienced it, you will find it hard to feel the intensity of the suns rays as they beat down on you, the thickness of the muggy air as you struggle to draw breath and the fact that you are soaked to the skin shortly after stepping outside. The heat builds during the day and it is not unusual for there to be afternoon rain.

In the 1940s, bigotry and racial hatred was in your face. Go to the back door. For Whites Only. No Coloreds.

I know it’s coming and I ruefully wait for the hammer to fall. And it does. Tragically.

People sometimes find themselves not really living, just getting through. There is heartwrenching sorrow and despair. Overriding guilt. Life isn’t fair! Is the grass greener on the other side?

“It ain’t the preaching that makes a man godly, its the doing.”

I get to page 91 and tears form in my eyes, but I will not let them fall. SO SAD. We all handle grief and loss in our own way. I am reading through teary eyes, but I can’t stop. With Bette’s writing, I knew this would break my heart, but she will not leave me feeling lost. She will help me find my way. She will show me that people are more good than bad. They will give, even when they don’t have much of their own.

“I can’t be thinking of how much I lost, I gotta be thinking of how much I still got.”

Well, what can I say. I am pretty much teary eyed through the rest of the story.

“Sometimes life provided opportunities to reach out and make a difference, and when that happened a man worth his salt had to step up to the challenge.”

“Are we out brother’s keeper’s?”

The saying – It Takes A Village – answers that question.

“Folks don’t live in PERFECT, they just get to pass through every so often.” What a wonderful statement.

Amazing writing and it stuns me that this genre of book can affect me so deeply. I am more of the action, shoot ‘em up, creatures chasing me variety.

Even though Bette’s books end happily, with a warm and comfortable feeling, there are bumps and jolts throughout. My feelings for Benjamin were anger and rage, sadness and despair, happiness and . He was a better person than I. He dealt with his responsibilities in an intelligent, loving and gentle way, sacrificing for others and doing the right thing. You can choose which you want to be – bigoted and angry or laughing and loving.

Very thought provoking and the book will stick with me long after reading it.

I received a copy in return for an honest and unbiased review. ( )

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, and although this is book three I can't help but think how Ms. Crosby top it with book four! Benjamin Church left Grinders 'Corner Alabama as a skinny boy with thoughts to join the Army to learn how to become a pilot, but instead he learned how to fix them. It was 1946 and the war had ended. Two years earlier he'd learned that his mom had died, so he returned home as a big man to help his father with the farm, giving up his dream. As he walked he could see that the town had never changed, then he saw his house, his dad standing on the porch, dropped his duffel bag and ran to his dad to give him a hug. Times were tough for the poor residence both black and white trying to eke out a living as sharecroppers, but then he fell in love with a girl wearing a pretty red dress. With no rain for months, the crops died and some people left to go up north or west to start over but he'd been born here and planned to die here. ( )