THE REVEREND'S WIFE

Another episode in the soap opera otherwise known as the life of Reverend Curtis Black.

Chicago mega-church pastor and celebrity author Reverend Black has another self-engineered debacle on his hands. Although in the last installment he and wife Charlotte had cheated on each other, Curtis is unable to forgive her. Charlotte, who has atoned in myriad ways, including transforming her resentment of Curtis’ love child Curtina into profound motherly love, goes into a tailspin when Curtis moves into a guest bedroom and coldly informs her that he will file for divorce the minute their son Matthew has graduated from high school and is safely Harvard-bound. At her favorite suburban sports bar, she has a few too many and returns home schnockered. She pours out her frustrations to Curtis, who only grows more indifferent the more she drinks. Increasingly, he’s been finding solace in daily telephone conversations with Sharon, a new church member who moved (she says) to Chicago to be near him and offers him (he thinks) platonic friendship. When Charlotte’s behavior grows more erratic (she embarrasses the straight-laced Matthew by impugning his girlfriend’s virtue as the youngsters are posing for prom photos, and then stays out late at the sports bar where she’s seen chatting up another man), Curtis visits Sharon and almost sleeps with her before his religious scruples kick in. Charlotte confronts Curtis with cell phone evidence of his flirtation, and the tide turns. Curtis actually warms to her, and reconciliation is in the air. He’s happy Charlotte decided to surprise him at an event he’s keynoting in Detroit, but when the couple discovers Sharon, scantily clad and lolling on Curtis’ hotel bed, it's back to square one. As a pastor, Curtis is a woeful role model—he behaves ethically only when it suits him and is quicker to blame others than to accept the consequences of his own misdeeds.

Despite his sanctimonious protestations, Curtis hasn’t learned his lesson, and future fracases, necessitating future books, are inevitable.