"Christmas At Fairacre"

Christmas At Fairacre by Miss Read

This is the Christmas book I've been waiting for. One might question why I've been waiting given that it's been in print for several decades. And the answer of course is that this is yet another authour of which I knew nothing till I took my first faltering steps into the blog world. If the rest of the books in her Fairacre series and her Thrush Green series are anything like this one, then Miss Read will be one of the best discoveries I've ever made.

This books reminds me of Anne of Green Gables, or the Mitford books by Jan Karon with small town settings and characters full of common sense and heart. Kindness to one's neighbours, duty to family, and helping the less fortunate are the principles they live by. There is comfort in these stories. They restore your hope in humanity when much of what we read and hear is working to destroy it.

There are three stories here: "Village Christmas", "The Christmas Mouse" and "No Holly For Miss Quinn". "Village Christmas" is about two aging sisters living across the road from a growing young family. Slightly disapproving at first, the sisters remember the true meaning of Christmas when the neighbours need their help in an emergency on Christmas morning.

"The Christmas Mouse" takes us to the home of Mrs. Berry, her widowed daughter and two young grandchildren. It is Christmas Eve, and with everything ready for the next day, the family has settled in their beds for the night. Mrs. Berry is awakened by what she fears is a mouse but turns out to be a small boy, wet, cold and about to eat the Christmas cake she'd made only that day. This encounter will change both their lives and help each one appreciate their many blessings.

The final story is "No Holly For Miss Quinn", which has Miss Miriam Quinn, in need of a new place to live, renting the annex of Holly Lodge. She is looking forward to a quiet, solitary life but things don't go according to her very carefully laid out plans. She is called away when her brother, a busy Pastor, calls to tell her his wife has been hospitalized and asks her to come help with the children. Her plans for redecorating will have to be put on hold, but, she tells herself, "What can't be cured must be endured". As she is swept up in the busyness of family life she finds herself enjoying it - and the company of a surprise visitor - far more than she had expected to.

As I came to the end of each story I wished it would keep going so I could spend more time with these wonderful, very human characters. I loved them, and was utterly charmed by the setting and the storytelling. I can't wait to read more. Very, very enjoyable.

From Some Far Place

I wrote this poem some years ago. I used it then in Christmas cards and sang it in church, and every Christmas my heart wanders back to it. It still brings tears to my eyes when I think of what that first night must have been like for a young girl holding the Son of God in her arms, and her husband wondering how he would ever be worthy of the honour of protecting and raising Him. This is the wonder of Christmas.

From Some Far Place

From some far celestial place

unobserved by human eye,

he came,

unfettered by the chains of time

 and space.

A mystery.

God’s vastness,

concentrated in one tiny seed,

would grow to be a child

of form, and face.

She sat within the starlight

and held him while he slept.

Her firstborn child -

she laughed with joy,

would bear her sin and die -

she wept.

Beyond the distant hills

she thought she dimly heard a song

...did angels sing?

Quietly she stored these things

within her heart and thought

of what the years would bring.

Her husband stood beside her,

an ache to understand

inside his heart.

An angel dream had told him -

he had known 

about this moment from the start.  

And yet -

Jehovah’s son? His wife?

Could it be

that they would give each other life?

From some far celestial place

unobserved by human eye,

he came.

A stranger to the weary race on earth.

A mystery.

He, spirit, took on human life

to give us, human, 

spirit birth.

"Old Christmas"

Old Christmas by Washington Irving

Full of charm - and wonderful sketches - this little book is a collection of observances about Christmas in England many years ago. It begins with the authour rambling a bit about Christmas and how it has changed, then he meets up with a friend, and having no other plans, agrees to join him and his family for Christmas.

The family live in a large manor house where the Christmas gathering includes people of all ages. The Christmas Eve celebrations are described - from the children's games to the grown-ups toasting each other over the wassail bowl - then the next chapter talks about Christmas morning and another details the Christmas feast.

I tend to leave books I like quite marked up and I found lots to underline in Old Christmas:

On society...  "The World has become more worldly. There is more of dissipation and less of enjoyment. Pleasure has expanded into a broader but a shallower stream, and has forsaken many of those deep and quiet channels where it flowed sweetly through the calm bosom of domestic life."

On Christmas..."It is, indeed, the season of regenerated feeling - the season for rekindling, not merely the fire of hospitality in the hall, but the genial flame of charity in the heart."

On family..."It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow."

As good as those are, my favourite quote comes from the last ten lines of the book...but I'll leave you to discover that for yourself. 

This is a treasure of a book. I never get tired of reading it, it's such a pleasure. I class it with "A Child's Christmas In Wales" and "A Christmas Carol" and I think that's probably the best recommendation I can give it!

"The Aluminum Christmas Tree"

The Aluminum Christmas Tree by Thomas J. Davis

This is a somewhat typical Christmas story. It's a bit overwritten, a bit cliche, a bit sappy - but the dust jacket is beautiful!

The story is narrated by Mildred Jackson, an elderly widow telling her cousins about the struggles she and her late husband Jimmy experienced as they married and raised a family. Told in flashbacks, it's a mildly interesting story with a predictably nice ending.

The writing isn't bad but I found the dialogue forced in places. The bottom line is it's one of those stories I can tolerate during the holidays but wouldn't enjoy any other time. I'll keep it on my Christmas book shelf and perhaps read it again one day when I've forgotten the plot. It wasn't anything special for me, but for anyone who is looking for a light holiday read - this may be just what you want. I found it on christianbook.com for $2.99 so you may find it worth checking out.

Three For The Price of One...

Oh my.  Seventeen days since my last post. I have three books to write about but I've been buried in an online Photoshop course for the past few weeks. It required more time than I expected and eventually something had to give. Something turned out to be the blog. Rather than skip these books altogether I'll just say a little bit about each of them in this one post.

A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle
It only took me fifty years to get around to reading this but when I finally did I loved it. The story centers around Meg Murray, daughter of two scientists, one of whom has been missing since he took part in a time travel experiment. Meg, her brother and friend meet three unusual women who help them locate Meg's dad on a far off world, traveling to distant planets and fighting strange creatures before they all arrive safely back home. There's mystery, fantasy, science, faith and all the usual ups and downs of growing up woven into this story. I liked it enough that I bought a copy of the 50th anniversary edition for my eleven year old grand-daughter. Hopefully, she'll love it too.

Back In 6 Years by Tony Robinson Smith    

This is the (true) story of a guy who set out to travel the world without leaving the surface of the planet, which basically meant cars, bikes, boats, trains and feet were acceptable forms of transportation and airplanes were not. The journey took him almost six years, and to be honest I thought it might take me that long to finish the book. I am usually a fan to travel writing but this one was not my thing at all. It chronicled the grittier parts of his adventure; I prefer the prettier parts. He talked in detail about the various horrors of his ocean crossings in small boats; I wanted to hear about the beautiful scenery he saw bicycling across Canada but that whole trip only got a couple of pages. He wrote a blood, sweat and tears adventure story that didn't appeal to my landscape, museum and architecture loving heart. Not my kind of adventure. I didn't like it, but I'm sure there are many who will find this a very good read.

 The Island by Victoria Hislop
Set in Greece, this is the story of an Island leper colony and the people who were taken from their families and sent there to live after receiving the diagnosis. Covering several generations, the story is told in flashbacks as a young American woman seeks to discover her family's history. It's a good story and an interesting subject, the first novel I've ever read that deals with this horrible and misunderstood disease. I didn't find the writing great, but it's pretty good for a first novel and the story is enough for me to give it a good recommendation.


So that's it - my feeble attempt to make up for neglecting these books. They deserve better but that's all they're getting while I'm living and breathing Photoshop. I should have a better handle on it soon, and then it's on to Christmas books, some new and some re-reads, but all of which I am anticipating for the quiet pleasure they bring in a season that is increasingly chaotic. I'll be back....sooner rather than later...I hope...

"The Birth House"

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Dora Rare is the first female born into her family in five generations. That, and having been born with a caul over her face, makes her the subject of gossip in the small community of Scot's Bay and an easy target for pointing fingers when any trouble befalls it's inhabitants.

Miss B. (Marie Babineau) is the local midwife and herbalist. She assists women through pregnancy and delivery, marital problems and sick children. She offers her services free of charge, opening her home to any woman who needs a place of refuge, but once they are no longer in need of her services the women tend to distance themselves from her and her sometimes strange ways.

While Dora is still a young girl, Miss B recognizes the kindred spirit in her and takes her on as an apprentice to learn the arts of healing and midwifery. They face a lot of opposition from the local physician who sees them as doing more harm than good and wants to shut them down. His interest in bringing modern medicine to Nova Scotia is strengthened by his interest in the fees he is hoping to receive for his services.

This book addresses the struggles of women to be autonomous and have control over what happens to their own bodies. It paints a picture that is both harsh and beautiful, looking at a broad spectrum of women from the strong and independent to those who are no more than slaves in abusive marriages. It makes a strong statement about a woman's need for female friendships and support. It is also emphatically pro-choice. Pregnancies are terminated based on the hardship it causes the mother and though the sheer desperation of some of these women is agonizing, I still can't get past the fact that to make one life more bearable, another life has to be ended. As a woman I find myself rooting for wives and mothers whose lives are unbelievably hard and being happy for them when things finally get easier, then as a Christian I sometimes get that uncomfortable feeling that I'm applauding things God doesn't call good. These are not easy issues but they do make me take stock of who I am and what I believe.  

The healing arts that Miss B and Dora practice are an eerie mixture of Mary-worship, superstition, future foretelling and herbal medicine. The "Willow Book" contains all the wisdom of their trade. It prescribes things like this: "Moonbath: Lie naked in a crossroads in the light of a full moon. Makes the womb ripe." Some of it is silliness, some of it seems more like the witchcraft of tv shows and movies.

 I will confess I don't like the messy aspects of being human so that part of the book was not enjoyable for me. When my children were babies I loved holding them and playing with them but I did not at all enjoy the drool, snot, vomit and other bodily function messes. Because this book tells a lot of pregnancy stories, there is blood, etc, and there was too much of it for me.

I thought Birth House was well written and I loved the setting of Scot's Bay, Nova Scotia. The glimpse into life in that time and place was wonderful but it wasn't enough to make me like the book so I can't recommend it.