The Road Show by Braden Bell

The Road Show
by Braden Bell

LDS General Fiction
128 pages, softcover
Target Reader: LDS Adult

Cedar Fort, Inc.
978-1599553566
Release Date: June 8, 2010



From the publisher:

“Brother Jenson, you’ve been called as the ward road show specialist. Would you accept that calling?”

What? The road show? The greatest fear of all Mormon theatre artists. The curse of anyone who does theatre. No, no, no! This isn’t happening. The road show! What can I do? I can’t do this! This is like asking Mack Wilberg to lead the ward choir or Danny Ainge to coach church basketball.

“Sure,” Scott answered quietly.

Scott Jenson hates everything he knows about road shows, especially the cheap costumes, silly songs, and bad acting. So when he finds himself agreeing to be the road show specialist, he wonders how he can do it without becoming the biggest fool in the ward. From miscues to missed practices, Scott directs his crew of amateur actors all while hoping that no one finds out about his secret.

Is there any way that this trivial road show could have a healing effect on those who participate? A pornography addict, a depressed young mother, a sick older sister, a lonely outcast, and a spiritually numb elder’s quorum president are about to find out.

The Road Show is the powerful story of five broken souls, contemporary Mormons struggling with familiar challenges—and their unlikely journey to ultimate healing and hope through the Savior's Atonement.

Read Sample Chapters

This is NOT your standard LDS fiction. The characters deal with real issues that we often try to pretend don't exist in our LDS communities—addiction to pornography, sin, depression, pride, loneliness and isolation, health issues. The characters are realistic, sometimes very familiar. We see the whole person, warts and all, as we follow their paths to resolution—and we come to love, empathize and understand them.

This book may be a little too realistic for some—it's definitely raw in places. Having dealt with some of these issues myself, and with close friends who deal with the others, I felt this book was an honest read. It's a bit depressing at first, but by the time it was done, I thought it was hopeful, without being preachy and unrealistic in its outcomes. It is clear that the Atonement works.

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Content Ratings

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Values/Themes: Making choices and accepting the consequences.

Age Appropriate: Deals with some mature themes; for adults.

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*received a review copy.


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