Press
Publisher’s Weekly
Journalist Hoffman (Greetings from Utopia Park) offers a vivid biography of Aimee Semple McPherson (1890–1944), an evangelical leader and radio pioneer whose ascendance to near-sainthood was shattered by scandal.
Books & Looks Podcast
Claire Hoffman dives into Sister Sinner, uncovering the sensational life of 1920s evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson—a media pioneer, a mystery, and a legend.
Listen now ->
Los Angeles Review of Books
A review of Claire Hoffman’s brilliant new book Sister, Sinner: The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson, out this April from FSG.
Kirkus Reviews
Hoffman’s discerning biography is as much a work about faith, self-mythologizing, and ambition as it is, in Hoffman words, “a cautionary tale about fame.” A well-researched portrait of an outsize personality.
Library Journal
Readers who enjoy richly detailed biographies that read like fiction will appreciate Hoffman’s latest. Many will note comparisons to modern televangelists and women religious leaders.
The Millions
This biography of the fascinating Aimee Semple McPherson, America’s most famous evangelist, takes religion, fame, and power as its subjects alongside McPherson, whose life was suffused with mystery and scandal.