BOOK REVIEW: The Curate's Awakening

The name of author George MacDonald is probably not well known today and the chances of his being on the bestseller list may be slim, but the fact that C.S. Lewis considered him to be his master made me curious about his work. After reading THE CURATE'S AWAKENING I understand why Lewis admired MacDonald enough that similarities can be found in their writings.

George MacDonald was born in 1824 and had hit the peak of his popularity by 1876. His message was essentially a spiritual one. His opinions ran counter to the popular views of organized religion of the time. Christianity in England during the late nineteenth century was locked into constricting doctrines often carried to extremes. It taught that the people should fear  God’s severe wrath and that all who were not born one of the “chosen

few” were doomed.

MacDonald’s sermons portrayed a warm God, one of love and compassion. He was scorned by the officials of the established church, but he refused to relax his attacks from the pulpit on the Phariseeism. Trying to influence the system from within, he was expelled. He then took his case directly to the public. The popularity of his books affirmed to him what was in his heart.

THE CURATE'S AWAKENING departs from his other writings at the time by being the first of his novels. In it he uses the story of a young minister and the people of his congregation to further MacDonald’s own argument.

Thomas Wingfold has settled into his first parish. As most people who became part of the clery, Thomas goes through the motions every Sunday. Having found a source of sermons written by an earlier minister, he has not had to bother writing any on his own. He is a good person, an honest person, but it has never occurred to him that more might be required.

At a dinner party he is asked the question. “Tell me, do you really believe one word of that?” He realizes that he had chosen the ministry simply as a job and that he does not have any idea of what he believes. His search for understanding brings an unusual group of people together.

The characters in the story could very easily be stereotypes. Instead we get caught up in their uniqueness: the young girl who has never had to have a serious thought has to face the ugly fact that  a cruel murder has taken place, her widowed aunt whose husband had been a minister  does not want to see changes of any type in the church, let alone ones that make the congregation think, the young lawyer who makes a convincing argument against religion has been a regular visitor in the small town and seems to have vague ideas of marriage, and a man who needs to find forgiveness is hiding from the authorities.

Although this story was written over one hundred years ago and the characters are there to make the author’s point, I found it a good read. An important element in any story for me is good characterization. The people in Thomas’ life were there for the author’s convenience but still held my interest.

Considering that the book was written during the late 1800’s, the language was very readable. I think of this as a florid time in literature and the subject itself could have tempted the author to go flowery on us. Instead it is a book full of subtle humor and some spiritual ideas that have not gone stale.

At the risk of sounding disloyal to my idol, MacDonald is a little easier to read than most of C.S. Lewis is. This is not to say that  Lewis has been replaced on my list of favorite authors.

BOOK REVIEW: Whistling Past The Graveyard

At first glance, Susan Crandall’s WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD reminds the reader of other coming of age books that take place in the South during the 1960’s. The Secret Life of Bees came to mind with touches of The Help and To Kill a Mockingbird. WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD deserves to be included with these excellent books, but it is definitely an original piece of literature.

Starla Claudelle is nine years old and lives in her exacting grandmother’s home in Mississippi. Starla’s mother left when Starla was three years old to become famous in Nashville as a country singer. Her father works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and rarely gets home.

Mamie has never approved of Starla’s white-trash mother and has been working very hard to turn the young girl into a respectable lady, but Starla’s natural tendencies to speak her mind and to get into fights put the two of them at constant odds.

Mamie forbids Starla from going to the town’s big Fourth of July parade and celebration, but she sneaks out only to be caught by Jimmy Sellers’ angry mother. (Starla had caused Jimmy’s bloody nose, but he had deserved it.) Mrs. Sellers’s threat to have Starla sent to a reform school, a threat that she has heard from her grandma many times, causes Starla to just start walking out of town. Her idea is to get to Nashville where her famous mother will take care of her. That way she, her mother and her daddy will all live happily together.

After walking far enough to realize that she should have thought this trip out a little better--no food or water, her feet hurt, and she had no idea which way to Nashville-- she is picked up by Eula. Eula is a black woman driving a truck that is falling apart and has a white baby with her.

This trip will change Starla’s life forever. The nine-year-old will face  dangerous racial bias, deal with attempts on her own life, and be a witness to murder. Along the way she will also experience unconditional love and learn that meanness or kindness know no color lines.

The story is told by Starla herself and we easily fall into her innocent dreams for the future. After awhile, we start to read between the lines and decide that the world is a grittier place than a nine-year-old realizes. The author, Susan Crandell leads us along, slowly helping us to decide who is good and who is really bad.

Starla is a well drawn character. She will stay with you for a long time. I also liked how well the author captured other characters in the book. The racial tension of the 1960’s has been written about a lot lately, but it seemed fresh and even more tense when seen through the innocent eyes of Starla. Starla’s observations on human nature are also worth the read.  She has enough pluck and humor to keep the book moving to a very satisfying conclusion.

BOOK REVIEW: The Accidental Mother

THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER by Rowan Coleman is a good piece of “chick lit”. I was looking for a light read, so thought that I would try an author who was new but who sounded not too deep. THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER fit the bill perfectly.

Sophie has her eye on a great promotion; her life has been centered on getting her boss’s job. The office talk is that the job will soon be available and that she and one other woman are in contention for the promotion. In the middle of her biggest project and knowing that she can not make the slightest mistake, she receives word that her childhood friend Carrie has been killed in an automobile accident.

Carrie had married and was the mother of two young children. Several years earlier Carrie had asked Sophie to care for her children if anything ever happened to her. After several glasses of wine Sophie had said yes, knowing that they were both young and such an event was certainly not going to happen.

Sophie has had no time for any type of personal life. She had a promising career, a small, chic apartment, and a great shoe collection. Now she has six year old Bella and Izzy, age three. The children’s grandmother is moving to an assisted living facility and their father is nowhere to be found. The only person to care for the children is Sophie...and she had promised Carrie.

The results of course are humorous and genuinely heartwarming. Sophie is terribly under-equipped to care for two grieving girls and some of her ways of coping are inventive to say the least.  

The cold, career woman who is suddenly thrown into motherhood is an oft used one in women’s  literature, but THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER is set apart by good characters:  a little girl who will only wear her lilac fairy costume and definitely will not ride in a car, a too mature six year old who can be won through a mutual love of shoes, a very gay assistant, and a wealthy, handsome suitor who does not interest Sophie. Sophie’s growth as she learns to open to a world outside of her job is well done. There is humor in her inability even to feed two little girls, but from the beginning it is easy to see that she will make it all alright for the three of them. And if the ending left the reader hanging a bit, well, that was OK, too.

I have learned that there is a sequel to THE ACCIDENTAL MOTHER titled The Accidental Family. It is fairly obvious what the story line will be but it would be nice to see what happens to Sophie, Bella and Izzy.