Reserve your copy of “The Second First Lady”
Follow
He’s a renowned pastor at the height of his career, heading a congregation of middle- to upper-class black professionals. The church is bulging and he’s building a boys’ school in “the ’hood.”
But then the unthinkable happens: His high school sweetheart and wife of 15 years dies unexpectedly, leaving him alone with the ministry and a 14-year-old son. He must go on, but doesn’t know how to re-enter the dating game. Plenty of women are lining up because he’s such a “good catch.” Meanwhile, his son shuts down on him.
“The Second First Lady” is the story of Clairmont Jenkins, a recently-widowed 40-year-old pastor in a small Florida town. Clairmont is a progressive preacher with a sincere desire to do God’s will and make a difference, but his wife’s death throws a wrench in his plans. He must learn how to date again and be a single parent, while figuring out what God wants him to do for the congregation and the community.
It’s the first book in a series that centers on Clairmont’s family. The second installment follows the new first lady as she struggles to find her place in the congregation. In the third, the focus shifts to Clairmont’s son, now entering young adulthood and dealing with life as a “preacher’s kid.”
The Second First Lady appeals to readers as a two-way love story between man and God and man and woman. Clairmont works through his grief until he finds love again. His journey gives readers a look at the human side of pastoring, while he rebuilds his personal life and battles conservative church leaders. There are a variety of characters to like, dislike and outright hate. Clairmont’s comical friend Lloyd Harris who knows him better than anyone. Opposing Clairmont throughout the book is Deacon Ashcroft. He hates Clairmont’s desire for change and progress and wants to protect the church’s traditional doctrine at all cost. Clairmont ends up with a choice between two women with totally different personalities. Sidney McClean is an Afrocentric modern woman while Claudia Ferguson is a bit of a southern belle who fits the traditional first-lady role.
