Book Review: Moving among the faithful: "Pew" and "Transcendent Kingdom"

For many, the church is a place of community and comfort during trying times. It can encourage personal growth, challenge, and reflection. Two novels I recently had the joy of reading approach the church in very different ways, but they both turn a mirror back toward those who profess to be of faith and ask some very profound questions.

The first is a fairly short novella, entitled “Pew” by Catherine Lacey. This is her third novel, and the title is also the name bestowed on the central character, a person of indeterminate gender and race who shows up one day in a small church somewhere in the...