cover image Deal with It!: You Cannot Conquer What You Will Not Confront

Deal with It!: You Cannot Conquer What You Will Not Confront

Paula White. Thomas Nelson Publishers, $21.99 (192pp) ISBN 978-0-7852-6106-3

In this misleadingly titled book, televangelist White galvanizes women to confront their setbacks by recounting stories about the Bible's handful of resilient women, like Leah and Mary Magdalene. Certainly their trials can be a source of inspiration to the Judeo-Christian faithful; however, much of their power is buried in the author's superficial recitation of events and pithy sound bites. In the chapter on Ruth, for example, White aptly highlights the message that one's past, no matter how ugly, does not determine one's future happiness, but then she boils the lesson down to the irksome rhyme""leave and cleave."" (""Leave the past...and cleave to today..."") She also provides few personal details of her own past struggles, though she does mention that her father committed suicide and that she was sexually abused as a child. Thoughtfully interpreting these stories and candidly sharing her own might touch a larger swath of women.