Overview

Born and raised in a Dutch enclave of Grand Rapids, Janie now lives with her husband in a suburb outside the same city. It's the 1990s. They have been married for nineteen years when her husband announces he is moving out. Their suburban church is a chip off the old block--the Reformed tradition with which Janie is especially well acquainted. Although some opposition has taken place, patriarchy remains the underlying given. Expectations of submission remain, along with punitive views of mental health and its stigma. Subject to scrutiny and gossip, Janie contends with these difficulties in the context of the church, the one-way community too tightly knit for their own good, and the family court system of West Michigan.

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Reviews

""Like London Street, Jane Griffioen's new book is set in the ethnic-religious community in which she was raised. It had grown bourgeois by the 1990s, but it continued to both tie people together and tie them down. We follow the narrator as divorce fractures her family and she struggles to keep her life together. Her compelling voice balances the emotions of that time with the empathy and thoughtfulness that come in retrospect."" --William Katerberg, Professor of History, Calvin University, Grand Rapids, Michigan ""Sun Valley Court is a heartfelt exploration of challenges when caught in the constrictiveness of a 1990s Christian community. Janie wrestles with doubt as a wife and a mother. Her struggle to reinvent family, faith, and community, along with her journey of mental health is painstakingly portrayed. Griffioen is a fine writer with acute, hard-won awareness of how traditional systems can become obstacles to one's own well-being and survival."" --Margaret Willey, author of A Summer of Silk Moths ""What happens when your social world begins to fall apart? Your husband wants out of a marriage, a marriage where vows taken before God are not to be broken. What support can a woman expect from a deeply conservative community? Sun Valley Court depicts such challenges. Though set in the 1990s, it is a timely and well-told account of one woman's search to find support and understanding for her plight."" --Richard Joanisse, Retired Sociologist, Grand Valley University

Author Information

Jane E. Griffioen is the author of London Street: A Memoir, and I Dare Me: Poems. Her essays include The 'S' Word: Origins Historical Magazine, and I Saw the Holy City: 3288 Review. She has also published poetry and essays in Elysian Fields, Perspectives, Mars Hill Review, and other journals. Griffioen graduated from Calvin University with majors in theology and English. She lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was born and raised. Visit www.janeegriffioen.com.

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