A Seat at the Table

Joy Swallow, a freshly graduated professional, gets herself wrapped in secrets and superficial “friendships” until she’s been burned and left in ruins. Despite her plight, she grips and claws her way to where she wants to be… or is it where she wants to be?

At its core, this is Christian fiction and that is felt from beginning to end. If that’s not your jam, you’re not going to like this story. If it is, get ready to think on a spiritual and philosophical level even as Joy journeys through a surface-deep life.

Her realistic struggles forced me to think about my own life and led me to measure my ambitions against scripture.

Although Joy can be incredibly childish and self-centered, she slowly turns into the kind of person you want to see succeed. The kind of person that considers their friends and their actions. The kind of person that looks beyond superficial measurements of success like money and connections.

Admittedly, the story was very slow for me, but I tend to prefer action & adventure and fast-paced fantasy. It’s nearly 500 pages In complete fairness, the story required every page of that. If any area had been cut, I would have felt that loss. Even so, because of its length and the age of the protagonist, along with the presence of two affairs (not with the main character), I wouldn’t suggest this for anyone under 18.

I would suggest it to any Christian who enjoys contemporary Christian fiction and is sick of mundane love stories and the same, bland Amish books.

Begin with the end in mind. That is Joy Swallow’s motto. Well, really it’s her mentor’s motto and it gets old realfast. This poorly chosen life code lands Joy in the gutter three separate times in A Seat at the Table.

Joy begins on an entreprenoir’s journey to the top. She has a project and a passion that both get a sucker punch to the gut when she discovers her mentor is having an affair with the white-toothed shark, John.

Things only get stickier when she tries to white-knuckle the project. When John finds out she knows, he tries to get her thrown off the project and away from the school. Joy claws her way back through her mentor, Maggie and finishes the project with a bang. They win, but the result isn’t what she was promised. John had lied to her and to Maggie.

With the project done to his satisfaction, John casts Joy back into the gutter and demands she repay the fifty thousand dollars she borrowed to focus on his project. Instead of doing the sensible thing and revealing the whole affair, or the dastardly thing and blackmailing him into giving her more money, Joy blackmails John into letting her take on another project. He agrees on the condition that she change the charming young bible-teacher’s mind. Joy struggles with this as she has grown fond of Chance, but she does agree.

Yet another mentor offers poor advice, ignoring the means and focusing on her ends alone. Meanwhile, she drowns out the three people trying to talk sense into her. Though this lands her a solid chunk of cash, it burns the school and everyone she’s come to love.

Finally, Joy gets it. It isn’t about the ends, it’s about the path laid out for her in Him.

Joy rallies herself and her spiritual mentor rallies their friends to start praying. They pray and pray and their numbers grow and grow until John tries to put an end to the peaceful uprising. This all culminates in a school meeting where John puppets the speakers to his bidding like good little marionets. Only, the students won’t stand for it, and neither with God. The board turns on John, firing him from his position and trusting God for the financial provisions left in his wake.

Of course, God provides finances, friends, and family for Joy and the beloved little Christian school.

At long last, we find Joy telling this tale to a young businesswoman no older than Joy was in the story. It’s a sweet moment of realization and reflection. The small conversation between mentor and mentee summarizes the lessons in the novel nicely. That’s all well and good, but the moment we’ve all been dying for finally arrives. Joy’s husband comes to introduce himself. Chance, we’re all glad it’s you. I might have rioted.