Everyone’s Favourite Mumfluencer Comes to Home Group!
‘Among the familiar fun and frivolity, the pomposity and ridiculousness, she weaves a heartfelt, poignant and beautifully written story of deep spiritual awakening. The best book yet, IMHO. #issyandGod #perfectmatch’
Joy Margetts, author of The Healing series of books and Christ Illuminated
Have you ever wondered what a home group looks like to a new Christian? When everyone’s eyes are shut, how do you know when it’s your turn to pray? And how do you make those strange, encouraging sounds when someone else is praying? Are there questions you’re not supposed to ask? And what counts as an acceptable biscuit?!
In The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge, the hugely entertaining fourth instalment of her Isabella M Smugge series, Ruth Leigh answers all these questions and more! As her eponymous heroine, the UK’s premier social media Instamum, continues to explore the Christian faith, she finds herself intrigued and perplexed in equal measure by the strange, unspoken rites of her new home group. What’s more, the eclectic selection of attendees might even rival the diversity of her school gate. These are not people she would normally meet!
But as Isabella warms to them, and to God, under Ruth Leigh’s fond and gently satirical eye, both we and she find ourselves encouraged by all that church can be. The daily challenges Isabella faces – blended families, parenting crises, finding a work-life balance, divorce, aging parents – are ones that many of us can relate to. Yet at home group, and in her nascent faith, our influencer begins to encounter something truly authentic. Behind the sometimes comic rituals and muddled prayers, there is a warmth and affection, and a spiritual reality, that can make a huge difference in managing all life throws at us.
‘As I continue to tell Issy’s story,’ says Ruth, ‘I make less and less of it up. Conversations with potential readers at events often touch on faith and a number of people have got in touch having read about everyone’s favourite mumfluencer to say how comforting they find the faith element. One reader even told me they prayed for her when reading the second novel. She seems to touch people of all faiths and none, which is a wonderful thing.’
So if you are looking for a beautifully written, laugh-out-loud book to remind you why you are a Christian, or to share with someone who might like to be, then The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge might just be #perfect!
‘Issy’s back, and so is the wonderful array of friends, frenemies, enemies and family that attend her in this brilliant and breathless instalment of Issy’s life.’
Andrew J Chamberlain; speaker, podcaster, and author
The Further Adventures of Isabella M Smugge by Ruth Leigh (ISBN: 9781912726820) is published by Instant Apostle and is available on 19th September 2024 from bookshops and online retailers. Fiction, paperback, 256pp, £11.99.