My “home town” would be very difficult to find on any map. Even in grade and high school, I had to give directions.Therefore, you can imagine how delighted I was as a youngster to find a book that took place on a farm near Curtin, Pennsylvania! The kids in the story went swimming in Dowdy’s Hole, a favorite spot when I lived there. The main character sang in the choir at the Methodist church and looked out the window at the graveyard outside the window. This is the same church that witnessed several of the weddings in my family, including my own.
The book is BITTERSWEET by Martha Barnhart Harper and I read and re-read it over and over while growing up. Then, my mother loaned the book to someone and I felt as if I had lost an old friend. Miracles of miracles,this year I found a copy of BITTERSWEET at The Faith Centre Thrift Shop. I had found that old friend!
I started to read about the residents of Curtin during the Civil War with some dread. Would it be as entertaining to my more mature self as it was to that long ago youngster? I am glad to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it this time around also.
As most big sisters, Lucy Barnhart was responsible for her younger siblings. Living on a farm in rural central Pennsylvania, her duties also included domestic chores. Lucy was dependable and fun, the understanding older sister.
When President Lincoln called for able-bodied young men to join the troops to save the Union, many of the local boys left to fight, including Lucy’s young brother Joe. It was up to Lucy to console Joe when he is sent home because he is too young.
The new minister at the Methodist church is handsome and soon has all of the girls setting their caps for him, but it is pretty, practical Lucy that catches his eye. When Lucy has to face a tragedy that almost undoes her, she finds that family and friends are there for her.
This is a simple book with as much emphasis on the times and the location as on a complicated plot, but still I was moved by the emotions felt by different characters. The author’s father was one of Lucy’s youngest brothers and the stories are the stories that he told Martha Barnhart Harper as she was growing up.
Harper captures the times and the characters well. The book is an easy history lesson that never bores the reader. A large part of the story is how important the coming of the railroad was to the area and how it replaced the somewhat dangerous canal system that served the iron works.
Most of my fascination with BITTERSWEET is my personal association with it. Not only have I walked the lanes that Lucy walked, attended her church, known many of her ancestors, but have stood at her grave site near Curtin. It is still an interesting read for anyone who likes to learn about life “back then”. In today’s market BITTERSWEET would fall into the Youth category but that is not a bad thing.
Old books really do become old friends.
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