Review: The Faith of Dolly Parton by Dudley J. Delffs

Dolly Parton has entertained, educated, and inspired millions of fans for over five decades. Whether she’s writing songs, performing live, recording new albums, acting in or producing new movies and TV programs, expanding her wildly successful Dollywood amusement park, helping children around the world learn to read with her Imagination Library nonprofit, or donating millions of dollars to schools, charities, and people in need, the Queen of Country Music has never been shy about crediting her Christian faith for her success.

Tennessee native, Dolly fanboy, and award-winning writer Dudley Delffs now spotlights ten faith lessons as evidenced in Dolly’s life, music, interviews, and attitude. The Faith of Dolly Parton focuses on the ways Dolly’s life can inspire us all to be more authentic, to trust God during hard times, to stay grounded during the good times, and to always keep our sense of humor. Sometimes poignant, sometimes funny, frequently surprising, and always true to Dolly’s down-home spirit of joyful generosity, this book will delight her millions of fans as well as anyone seeking a fresh faith-filled role model.

Review

My secret is out! I love country music. Growing up in the 90s, I used to listen to a lot of hip hop and RnB. That is the music that my friends and I were singing along to. However, it was a different story at home. Momma loves country! I still remember walking through the door and hearing her singing along to country music. Her favorite artist is Dolly Parton although she likes other singers too such as Kenny Rogers, Don Williams and Charlie Pride. Dolly ‘s music is what she loves the most. It feels like Dolly has a song for all kinds of life situations especially relating to women. Up to now, my brothers and I still listen to country especially when momma is around. We sing along to all her favorite tunes. Sometimes, we pretend to forget the lyrics so that momma reminds us by singing them out loud. Country music and especially Dolly holds special place in my heart and that is why I couldn’t resist this ARC.

The Faith of Dolly Parton: Lessons from her life to uplift your heart by Dudley Delffs is an inspirational read. It delves into Dolly’s life and shares lessons from her experiences. I was surprised to find out just how much Dolly’s music is influenced by her life. One of the first stories shared is about Dolly’s humble beginnings. Her Coat of Many Colours was inspired by an incident that occurred during this period of her life. This song is beautiful and knowing that it was inspired by actual events makes it even more special.

Through each chapter, the author shares a lesson from Dolly’s life. He then relates it to his own life and in some chapters; he shares his personal experiences. The lessons are diverse and applicable to all of us. One that I really liked was on getting out of our comfort zones. In this chapter, the author shared his own experience and also Dolly’s about making risky moves to follow their dreams. He challenges readers to consider their own situation and this is what I did. I don’t know if I would leave my job right now to follow my dreams though.  I know I would be ten times happier if I did but it is still scary.  It was still nice to get some inspiration from Dolly and Dudley.

Each chapter ends with a lesson, a song, scripture and prayer. I really liked this book and thought it was very well-written, inspiring and relatable. Although it has a number of Christian teachings, it also has life lessons that I believe anyone can apply in their lives. Dreams, ambition, courage, love do apply to all humans, right? I can’t wait to buy a copy of this book for my personal library and extra copy for my momma. What a beautiful read!