Publishers Weekly
09/20/2021
In this moving debut, Selecman, the daughter of country music star Alan Jackson, chronicles her journey from heartache to hope after her husband, Ben, died three weeks shy of their first wedding anniversary. She explains how Ben’s accidental fall on a boat dock resulted in a traumatic brain injury, and describes how grief and widowhood affected her faith. “I am going to tell you the truth,” she writes, “about how I wrestled with a God who is absolutely good but who absolutely did not give me the miracle I prayed for.” Selecman recalls fond memories—meeting Ben, their wedding day, their hopes for the future—and describes the pain of her loss, her struggles moving forward, and how she has learned to see God’s goodness despite a suffering she compares to “lemons on Friday,” a “bitter, stomach-turning” situation that need to be turned into lemonade. Cooking and writing aided her healing, as did the support she received from friends and family, who invited her to watch the new season of a show Ben enjoyed, and took her to pick pumpkins ahead of Halloween. Her friends’ efforts to continually show up, Selecman explains, kept her from shutting down. Selecman’s honesty about her pain will encourage others who have questioned their faith while grieving. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
'Lemons on Friday is a beautiful and raw depiction of what grief can look like and a hopeful testament to how God can take life's most painful situations and weave them into an incredible masterpiece. Mattie is a wonderfully gifted writer and storyteller whose ability to capture the rollercoaster of loss and faith in God's promises is unparalleled.' —Shannon Frazier, MMFT (marriage and family therapist)
'An honest and vulnerable peek into the healing spaces between love, grief, hope, growth, and true restoration. Attainable by all, through God's mercy and grace, especially for the 258 million widows globally we are called to care for in their distress. This is an answer to that divine call.' —Carolyn Moor, founder, Modern Widows Club
'Mattie's story carries you through a valley of unbearable heartbreak, and in the very next moment you are experiencing an ocean of peace that is the heartbeat of Jesus. Her honesty and vulnerability in this book are a beacon of light to any heart that has experienced total darkness. The courage and wisdom expressed through her words will inspire hope in readers, no matter their walk of life.' —Lauren Akins, author of the New York Times bestseller Live in Love: Growing Together Through Life's Changes
'No matter what the format—songs, books, and so on—writing allows us to share experiences with and enter into the lives of people we may never meet face to face. For all those who pick up this book, they are welcomed into Mattie's personal story of heartbreak and are reminded in the midst of their own pain: you are not alone, and hope is never really out of reach.' —Lee Ann Womack, Grammy-winning, ACM-winning, and CMA-winning recording artist
'The most honest, vulnerable, and completely beautiful look inside loss and grief. Mattie's courage to share her intimate thoughts on love, death, grief, and her unending faith will be a gift to those who have loved and those who grieve. Only someone who has suffered through the death of a loved one can write from this place. Lemons on Friday is a lifeline for those who have suffered loss and those who seek to find joy in life again.' —Liz Allison, NASCAR analyst, author, and radio host
'There is a sisterhood among all of us who have been widowed at far too young of an age. That's where our story intersected with Mattie's. She's wonderful, witty, and wise beyond her years. In Lemons on Friday she takes us all on a journey that is less about making lemonade out of lemons and more about looking to faith for transformational healing. Her story of loss, with hope, reminds us that partnering with Christ can turn the bitter sorrows of life into something far sweeter than we could ever accomplish on our own.' —Rachel Brown and Ginger Ravella, founders, Be Still Ministries and Never Alone Widows Retreats
'Too often, as Christians, we have no idea how to approach grief. We either stuff it down, dismiss it, 'Jesus juke' one another, or end up drowning in it. The church needs Mattie's story because, through it, she teaches us something about what it looks like to grieve honestly but with hope.' —Rachel Joy Welcher, editor at Fathom magazine and author of Talking Back to Purity Culture
'When a tea bag gets steeped in hot water, the true content and nature of what's inside the bag, whether sweet or bitter, is revealed. The same is true of people when their lives become steeped in unexpected sorrow and loss. I will never forget how the sweet aroma of Christ, even and especially through honest yet noncynical, humble tears, came out of Mattie when she lost her beloved husband, Ben. I am thankful that she has gone more public with her story, so that others can see in it the goodness of God in times when they need him most.' —Scott Sauls, senior pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church and author of Jesus Outside the Lines and A Gentle Answer
