Mildred Budge in Embankment

De: Daphne Simpkins

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

When the car sailed over the embankment carrying the four members of the pulpit committee, Mildred Budge called out, “Jesus saves.”

The others heard it, but they were also experiencing their own quick flashes of insight.
Liz, a serial widow, felt unsatisfied with her life. She wanted more. Sailing toward her death, she still did.

Sam, who had turned the steering wheel that had sent them over the embankment, was looking forward to the crash. He wanted to feel it—the hard slam of collision. His hands held the wheel tightly, bracing for it.

Jake smiled. He resisted holding Mildred’s hand, because black men still didn’t touch white women in the where he lived. And he took note of the wonder of the experience that was like flying. ‘So, this is what it’s like—to fly. To live.’ And then the car touched down hard and slammed into a tree. And when they could speak, their conversation was different than it had been moments before.
Life was different. What they really wanted was not what they thought. But in order to pursue it, they had to get out of the ravine where they had landed. And they had to work together to get home.

This is a story about “Jesus saves” and how that message gets lived out in people who know the gospel and believe it. If you love a Christian story about real people, you’ll enjoy this second book in the Mildred Budge series.

The Mildred Budge books in the primary series:
Mildred Budge in Cloverdale book 1
Mildred Budge in Embankment book 2
The Bride's Room book 3
Kingdom Come book 4
The Shorter Adventures of Mildred Budge are a separate series and include:
Miss Budge in Love
The Mission of Mildred Budge
Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City
A spin-off series that features the friends of Mildred Budge are:
Belle, A Mildred Budge Friendship Story
A Gentle and Lowly Christmas A Mildred Budge Friendship Story
Daphne Simpkins has also written some stand-alone novels:
Lovejoy, a novel about desire
Christmas in Fountain City
Additionally, she has written non-fiction books, often about caregiving:
What Al Left Behind
Blessed
The Long Good Night
A Cookbook for Katie

Daphne Simpkins writes about church life in the South through her Mildred Budge books. She has also written about caregiving, cooking, Christmas, and Nat King Cole, a native of Montgomery, Alabama. Connect with her on Facebook, or follow her on Amazon to learn about new releases.

Mildred Budge & her community are fun to follow

I am posting this same review for each of 10 related books. In the course of a few weeks in early 2026, I listened to all of Daphne Simpkins’ Mildred Budge books. Like many before me, I fell in love with main character Mildred. There is much I recognized from my own experience in the stories. I was born in Alabama (AL), & lived 57 of my 64 years in the South (AL & Tennessee). My mother lived in Mongomery’s old Cloverdale neighborhood a few years, so the setting was familiar. The “church lady” stereotype struck me as a bit dated or too extreme at times, but there is much truth in it. The material is funny, practical, & very accurate as far as human nature. It portrays a church community living out faith, shares the truth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; & what it’s like to have the Christian experience over the long haul of life, to be convicted & grow as a Christian, & to have the Holy Spirit in your ear.

There are three series featuring the same character (primary, short adventures, friends/friendship). The “primary” four are continuous stories that follow in order from first to last. The short adventures & friends/friendship ones fit around/before/during/after the time frames of the “primary” four. Some of the same events overlap, but titles across the three series do not fully follow each other sequentially, including if you read from oldest to last by original publication date. It is obvious where some would fall, but debatable where to place others. If you want to go everywhere Mildred does, you want to consume all titles as much in order as possible. There are numerous Internet references that list the books in order (not all the same). Here is the order I recommend - (1) Miss Budge in Love, (2) Mildred Budge in Cloverdale, (3) The Mission of Mildred Budge: Short Stories About Church Life in the South, (4), Mildred Budge in Embankment, (5) Belle, (6) Bride’s Room, (7) Miss Budge Goes to Fountain City, (8) Kingdom Come, & (9) A Gentle & Lowly Christmas. Christmas in Fountain City can go anywhere near the beginning, but works best before Mildred Budge in Embankment. It makes no mention of main character Mildred Budge, but lays groundwork for when she & Dixie go there later, & refers to an earlier different Christmas than the one where Mildred Budge visits.

At the close of A Gentle & Lowly Christmas, there is plenty of story for the cast of characters that could still be told IF the author chooses to produce more!

I purchased the main four in large print hard copy paperback to donate to the local Sellersburg, IN library near me. I know plenty of ladies from age 60s into 90s who would very much enjoy them. The author herself helped me to find these through Amazon, as they were not obviously available when I searched. It was a pleasure to correspond with her via electronic mail.

I always prefer authors reading their own works, but most non author narrators on Audible are good. These books were my first Audible experience with artificial intelligence (AI)/virtual narration. I AM NOT A FAN! It was dismal to me. Despite loving the first book & falling in love with the main character, I considered not listening to any more due to the this factor alone. Though it was was generally annoying, I forged ahead due to my affinity for the material, & because the titles were available as part of my membership without costing credits or extra funds. There were mulitiple AI voices - young to middle aged sounding women (black & white) & two males, at least one of which was black. The best fit for narrator would be a white female, aged 60+, from the deep South/with a clear natural Southern accent (such as Fannie Flagg or me!) & familiarity with lingo. It would also be more pleasant to the listener to have the same voice do all titles in the series. The cadence was off. “Breaths” were taken/pauses occurred at wrong places. Emphasis was not always on the correct syllable. Pronunciation was often incorrect. I called Audible & complained & was told my input was being noted. I contacted the author in case she had input into the process & was not aware of how her work sounded. She explained that she had agreed to participate in a program to implement & develop the use of AI/virtual narration with Audible.

Heartwarming and joyful!

In a world that sometimes feels overwhelming, it is so lovely to visit Mildred and her friends in the delightful faith based story!

Lovely Christian Story

I enjoyed this story. It was thought provoking and an easy read. I enjoyed the characters and am looking forward to the next book.

Mildred

Absolutely loved the book, the characters, the story. I smiled throughout the book, and at times laughed out loud! I hope there are many more to come about Mildred, and her friends in Cloverdale.

Sweet church ladies

I love the honest look at church life. The people are not perfect, just forgiven… and willing to forgive.