Rhoda Janzen has experienced a husband's abandonment, a debilitating car accident, financial difficulties, and a move back in with her parents. Frequently, she wondered if anything good could come of those events. They made for an entertaining memoir, as 42-year-old poet and college professor discovered when her "catastrophe of errors" forced her to move back home to live with her Mennonite parents.

"While I was home, I needed something to work on," Janzen said. "I was just sending humorous e-mails to my girlfriends, and they were like, ‘Keep those e-mails, start writing nonfiction! They're funny; they're cute.' And so I did, at their advice, because I had nothing else to do."

And thus, Mennonite in a Little Black Dress was born and released this past April. Despite the seemingly serious content, Mennonite carries a surprisingly deadpan, laugh-out-loud honesty that appeals to everyday readers.

An Evening with Rhoda Janzen Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch July 8, 7-8:30 p.m. Free! grpl.org, (616) 988-5400

Reconnecting with her own past included returning to the Mennonite community of her childhood. Distinguished by simple living and non-violent peace stance, the Mennonites "have a premium on the New Testament life of Christ as it's depicted in the Gospels."

"Most Mennonites would say the goal is to have our lives today in 2010 resemble Christ's life," Janzen said. "So that sometimes leads Mennonites to positions of rejecting participation in the larger popular culture."

Janzen experienced many difficulties growing up in such a strict community, especially since she attended public school.

"I could see that all the kids around me had access to restaurants, they knew how to dance, and they were sneaking doobie behind the bleachers and they could sing the songs on the radio, and I couldn't do any of those things. So I felt very much on the margins, on the sidelines."

It wasn't alienation that ultimately led Janzen to finally break away from the Mennonites-it was academia. But when push came to shove, desperation drove her to return to the comfortable community she'd left behind. In doing so, she discovered that the Mennonites held just the right amount of support, understanding, and humor for her to heal, both physically and emotionally-as well as helping her to find a new niche for her writing.

Currently, Janzen is touring for Mennonite in a Little Black Dress, and is also in the process of writing its sequel, which will be called Backslider and will be written in the same humorous tone as her first memoir.

"The organizing principle is what happens when somebody like me, who has lived a life outside a religious community, decides to make a move back to it. So in a sense, I am really sliding back into religion. I've also had other life events that I'm going to be writing about. I've been diagnosed with cancer, I've married one of the characters in my last book, and I'm now a mom, so all of those things are going to be written about."