Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter (Hardcover)
By Elizabeth Emerson Hancock
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Description
Growing up Southern and Baptist in Eastern Kentucky, Elizabeth Hancock's world revolved around Sunday School, foreign missions projects, revival meetings and of course, the Kentucky Wildcats, who "glorified God through their goal-shattering, soul-shattering play." Hancock chronicles her childhood misadventures with sardonic wit, detailing her and her sister Meg's mischievous - if harmless - abuses of power (stealing Guess jeans from the Africa donation box, or hawking backyard swimming pool baptisms during her neighborhood's annual yard sale) and lovingly recalling the wisdom imparted by her long-suffering parents as they ministered to their unruly flock. TRESPASSERS WILL BE BAPTIZED marks the arrival of a talented new voice in a coming of age story that is by turns comical and affecting.
About the Author
Elizabeth Hancock was born to a Southern Baptist minister and choir soprano in Central Kentucky. She abandoned her Bluegrass roots to attend HarvardUniversity, and in 1998, became the first-ever Miss Massachusetts with a Southern accent. She earned her J.D. from Georgetown in 2005, and now practices law in Virginia.
Praise for Trespassers Will Be Baptized: The Unordained Memoir of a Preacher's Daughter…
Starred Review. "Daddy had a sermon voice and an at-home voice; his church smiles and his at-home grins; his damnation-from-above tone, and his damnation-on-whoever-flooded-the-bathroom-floor-trying-to-play-Olympics tone," writes first-time author Hancock in this beautifully crafted and downright funny memoir about growing up a Southern Baptist pastor's daughter in Kentucky. Hancock's voice is a real find, managing both spirituality and irreverence in her account of family and flock. Parishioners jostling for her father's attention are particularly skewered; on the competition among church ladies to prove themselves the most charitable: "Yes, Jesus was dirt poor... But this does not take away from the fact that if you really want to show that you love someone, you have to give them things." While her father is the focus, Hancock gives much time to nuanced, loving observation of her mother, sister and other family members, achieving unexpected depth in the ongoing narrative of her grandmother's long illness. A true gem of a memoir, this will resonate with anyone who grew up in a religious and/or Southern family.
-Publisher's Weekly
Humorously irreverent look at life as the eldest daughter of a Southern Baptist preacher whose philosophy, he once told her, "rests largely on the principle that all God's glorious, perfect children are also dumb as dirt." That pious but realistic comment framed Hancock's childhood attempts to understand the church people around her as well as her own special role as the PK (preacher's kid) in 1980s Kentucky. Her experiences will ring true for anyone long involved in a church, as she sardonically tells of busybodies and holier-than-thou congregants while keeping the main focus on the sincere believers who were her true beacon, none more so than her parents and sister. A large portion of the memoir pokes fun at the silly and often maddening people found in any congregation, prompting many a good laugh. But [the author] goes deeper, delving into her own spiritual journey. [Her] experiences are the true crucible of anyone's faith, and they certainly shaped Hancock. The reader comes away hoping that this rueful autobiographer will tap more of her memories in the future. Expressive and thoroughly entertaining.
-Kirkus Reviews
"As one who has done time in the fishbowl known as a parsonage, I can confirm that Elizabeth's voice is authentic. Poetic and passionate writing combined with honest and unvarnished storytelling makes this story of one girl's struggle to understand life in the stained-glass house a must-read."
-Brad Whittington, author of Welcome to Fred
"Elizabeth Emerson Hancock has a big voice and a bigger heart, and she absolutely nails the experience of being Raised Right. I loved this memoir about growing up smart-mouthed and Baptist, written by the only preacher's kid in America who didn't go bad. TRESPASSERS WILL BE BAPTIZED is hilarious and touching in turn, and always hugely entertaining."
-Joshilyn Jackson, bestselling author of gods in Alabama and Between, Georgia
"Elizabeth Hancock's riotous tale of growing up as a Southern Baptist preacher's daughter is laugh-out-loud funny and touching at the same time. TRESPASSERS WILL BE BAPTIZED captures the true down-home spirit of all GRITS (Girls Raised In The South)."
-Deborah Ford, author of The GRITS Guide to Life, GRITS Friends Are Forevah, and Puttin' on the GRITS
"This is as close as you can get to Southern church life without eating your weight in Velveeta. Trespassing through this book, you don't have to be Southern, Baptist, or even a Kentucky Wildcats fan to find your sense of humor and faith more than a little revived."
-David C. Barnette, author of The Official Guide to Christmas in the South
"Hancock paints a candid picture of her unique childhood in this delightful memoir of religion and rebirth."
-Nancy Redd, New York Times' bestselling author of Body Drama
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