cover image Bloomfield Avenue: A Jewish-Catholic Jersey Girl's Spiritual Journey

Bloomfield Avenue: A Jewish-Catholic Jersey Girl's Spiritual Journey

Linda Mercadante, . . Cowley, $14.95 (211pp) ISBN 978-1-56101-278-7

When Mercadante misses the neighborhood where she grew up, she watches reruns of The Sopranos . Newark's Bloomfield Avenue, site of numerous scenes in the TV series, was where her Italian immigrant father brought his New York Jewish bride shortly after World War II. "Mixed marriages" were scandalous in those days, and the couple dealt with their differences by virtually banning religion from their home—"the worst solution of all," according to their daughter, because "children are naturally spiritual." Hungry for God's approval, Mercadante was baptized twice; first at age eight in Sacred Heart Cathedral, then in her 20s at L'Abri, Francis Schaeffer's evangelical center in Switzerland. Eager to assimilate into the wider American culture, she became a reporter, accumulated awards and earned advanced degrees, despite struggles with infertility, domestic violence and gender-based barriers. "We don't take girls in management," an airline recruiter told her, "but you'd make a great airline stewardess." Now an ordained Presbyterian minister and a theology professor at a Methodist seminary, Mercadante concludes her colorful and compelling memoir with a dash of American optimism: "No matter how many dreams smash in front of you, if you follow the lure of love, God will use that love to make you whole." (Oct.)