American Leftovers: Surviving Family, Religion, & the American Dream

by Shaun Wilson, Heidi Wilson Messner, Eric Wilson

American Leftovers is the story of Heidi, Eric, and Shaun, three children who follow their parents through eastern Europe on Bible-smuggling adventures in the early 1970s. When they return to the States, they face third-culture questions of home and identity. They also deal with sexual situations and abuse, while settling into an evangelical bubble with their parents who pastor a fast-growing church. Everything collapses when their father runs off with an eighteen-year-old girl, leaving behind his family and church. This forces Heidi, Eric, and Shaun to reconcile their own spiritual fervor with the lies and dysfunction so close to home.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0827201109
• ISBN13: 9780827201101
• Release Date: April 2023
• Publisher: Chalice Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Great for Both Sides of the Fence

No matter if you're religious or irreligious, this Christian family airs out their dirty laundry and shows the intense struggles they've had. It's stated something happened before the start and something will happen that threatens to tear the family apart, so it has a constant feeling of dread, broken on occasion with rowdy humor. In the end, it ends with a feeling of peace and hope.