Literary Tag

Charity U at Austenitis did this Literary Tag and it sounded like so much fun I decided to do it here too! Thanks for this fun tag Charity!

1. Share (up to) four heroines of literature that you most admire and relate to: Margaret Hale in Mrs. Gaskell's North & South. When I first read N&S I connected with her and felt her heart more than any other heroine I've read before. Not just her personality but also her circumstances touched right where I was in my life when I first read N&S. I also love and relate to Anne Elliot of Persuasion and Elinor Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility.

2. Share five of your favorite historical novels: Hmm...this is tricky. Defender of the Faith by Charles Ludwig, Mozart's Sister by Nancy Moser, I love all of the Little House books about the Ingalls family. Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess by Carolyn Meyer, Standing in the Light: The Captive Diary of Catharine Carey Logan by Mary Pope Osborne, I also read and enjoyed several books in the Trailblazer Series based on the lives of Christian heroes.

3. Out of those five books, who is your favorite character and why? I always love books about royalty and Queen Victoria is my favorite, she's so fascinating! Defender of the Faith is my favorite book about how the Lord worked to bring Victoria to the throne and bringing a much needed change to the monarchy.

4. What is your favorite time period and culture to read about? Books about or from the 1700's-1800's era are my favorites to read. Most of the books I read are set in England.

5. If you were to attend a party where each guest was to portray a heroine of literature, who would you select to represent? Well any of my favorite heroines but probably a Jane Austen character first of all. Probably Catherine Morland or Elinor Dashwood.

6. What are your sentiments on the subject of chocolate? I ADORE chocolate! It's a must and is great for indulging while reading! :) I especially like chocolate mixed with something else like peanut butter, nuts, caramel or fruit.

7. Favorite author(s)? Jane Austen and Agatha Christie are my all time favorite authors. I've read and enjoyed almost all of their work. Other favorite authors include: Elizabeth Gaskell, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, Janette Oke, Lori Wick, Grace Livingston Hill, C.S. Lewis and so many more!

8. As a small, imaginative, red-haired damsel might query: would you rather be divinely beautiful, dazzlingly clever, or angelically good? Probably angelically good, then I'd be patient and kind to everyone.

9. In which century were most of the books you read written? In the 19th century, mostly. But early 1900's is a close second.

10. In your opinion, the ultimate hero in literature is... This is a hard one! I adore Henry Tilney and Mr. Knightley and Captain Wentworth but they probably wouldn't be considered the ultimate hero. I do just adore Austen heroes though, they are

11. Have you ever wanted to change a character's name? Yes! I love names and their relation to history and I can sometimes get very put out when a name is overused or used in the wrong time period. One great thing about Austen and Christie is that they use great names that are time period appropriate.

12. In your opinon, the most dastardly villain in all literature is... Wow! This is tricky! Maybe like Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes or Bill Sykes from Oliver Twist. Both are the worst I can think of. I recently made a list of my favorite villains but those were really my favorites because they're semi-good and interesting in their own way.

13. Three favorite non-fiction books? Besides my Bible the other books that have influenced my life are probably: I Kissed Dating Good-Bye by Joshua Harris, Let Me Be A Woman by Elisabeth Elliot, and The Delicate Power of Modesty by Dannah Gresh.


Now it's your turn! If you're reading this I'm tagging you! Go answer these questions on your blog and if you do let me know about it! This was so much fun!

~Miss Laurie

Book Review: The White Flower

The White Flower by Grace Livingston Hill is the story of young Rachel Rainsford who all alone in the world since the death of her professor father. In an attempt to support herself she answers a newspaper ad to become an old lady's companion and begins her journey by train out west. Wealthy Chan Prescott sees Rachel's red hair and immediately recognizes her as the daughter of his old professor who inspired him to truth and excellence. Sitting quietly reading on the train Chan overhears Rachel's traveling companion selling Rachel to businessman Mr. Shillingsworth and submit her to "a fate worse than death". It is then that Chan makes his own plans to warn Rachel of the plan and get her off the train and to safety out of these evil men's grasp. They hop off the train at a remote location and the chase begins - hiding in trees, running through the countryside, jumping onto moving trains, and renting rooms from old ladies in farmhouses. Suspense abounds as the pair think their safe only to run into the bad guys and off they have to run again. But God is looking out for Rachel and her protector guiding them to safety and Chan to a saving knowledge of Himself.

What I most appreciated about Grace Livingston Hill is the purity and high spiritual ideals she writes both into her stories and her characters. In this book Rachel is a born-again believer who's very character breaths modesty, sweetness, kindness and purity. These are things that Chan loves about her, he sees right away in the way she dresses and conducts herself that she is different than other girls he's known, and he really appreciates that. She is a special lady and throughout the story she inspires in him a desire to be a man worthy of such a woman. To be a noble protector, loyal, kind and pure gentleman who she can trust. She also inspires in him a desire to "Live pure, right wrong, and follow the King" and to wear "the white flower of a blameless life". Another things about Ms. Hill's is that she always tried to include the salvation message and spiritual truths in her novels, which is a great blessing.

I loved the descriptions of different ways Rachel wore her hair and the 1930's clothes she wore. The way Ms. Hill writes it's so easy for the reader to see the picture she's painting of places and characters.

Another thing I enjoyed was Rachel's explanation to Chan about her Christian view of love and marriage, and why she would only marry the man God wanted her to. Below is an excerpt from Chapter 9 where Rachel is explaining:

"You see, this house we live in...This house of flesh is full of electrical currents, like the wiring of a house. That's how father explained it to me, and when we bring the wires together the current is bound to flash along the whole circuit. And we have no business to bring them together unless we really belong. That was why father objected to dancing. He said it gave license for too much personal contact, and young people especially were misled and took it for a deeper feeling. They thought it meant mind and spirit too, when it was only just the senses. And then when it was too late and they had spoiled their lives they found out it was only the flash deceiving them. He said that those feelings were meant to come after and add beauty and light and glory, just as the lighting system of a house is not the place we live in, but only an added beauty; a thing to rejoice in, but not a thing to shelter us. ...Mother used to say the light of the house were not for everybody to turn on. They are for the master's hand only. They are the crowning glory. She said that for anyone else it was uncleanness, impurity."

How does the story end? Very well, wrong is righted when Chan leaves vengeance to the Lord and chooses to follow Christ as his King! This is such a sweet and interesting story a bit like a mystery and the "romance" doesn't really happen until the very end of the story. I hightly recommend this books and other from Grace Livingston Hill. I'm afraid that his good Christian author has been forgotten in recent years.

Have you every read anything by Grace Livingston Hill? What did you think?

What have you been reading lately?

Your's Very Truly,

Kay

My work with Alzheimer's residents is such a blessing and is teaching me a lot. I have come to see each and every one of my residents as unique and beautiful. The nurse who taught my PCA class challenged us as caregivers to look beyond the medical info and ask ourselves "can I describe who this person is without thinking of their disease first?" This was a great point, and I began to change my way of thinking. I love learning about their family and history and discovering today what makes each person tick.

I think my residents are the most fascinating people and my views on love and beauty have differed from what they used to be. I posted on my other blog on the beauty of hands, particularly work worn, weather beaten hands. In fact I think that white hair and wrinkles are the most endearing beauty marks around. On the outside a person might not look like much but when you take the time to listen you'll see the true beauty of the soul coming through.

I wrote the following poem (ballad, essay, not sure what to call it) about one of my favorite residents. Kay's heart is so sweet, she'd always polite and thinking of others. She's the person I want to be when I'm her age. She's aged very gracefully, not just in outwardly but inside too. She doesn't let her limitations of mind or body keep her from being kind to others. I find her even more beautiful when she hears other residents repeating themselves or being forgetful and she points to herself and says "that's like me, I do that". Other times you wouldn't think she knew she had Alzheimer's but at those moments you can tell she really does understand.


I hold out my hand to her
She takes it, trusting me completely
She is small and round
Her face is screwed up as she concentrates

Her eyes stare at the floor
Her tongue runs over her lips
She hums a repetitive three notes
She carefully lays each foot, step by step

I speak to her gently
She looks up at me quizzically
Her steps falter
Her expression changes to one mingled with confusion

She reaches her other hand out to the wall
She braces herself to regain balance
Her eyes have drifted back to her feet
She stands still only a moment

She doesn't understand what has happened
She continues to walk
She looks up at me again
My dear sweet Kay smiles bravely at me

“I don't know what's the matter with me.”
She speaks the works with a little chuckle in her voice
“Are you dizzy, Kay?”
I ask her.

“Yes...a bit”
I can see the gears turning in her brain
She still doesn't understand
She holds my hand a bit tighter

We reach the kitchen safe at last
She sits down gingerly
She is ready for what is next
She is ready to eat

Later we walk to her room, hand in hand
She hums again her same old song
We near her door
She repeats her room number several times

She knows the door when she sees it
She recognizes the room
She knows this is where she belongs
“This is where I was before” she tells me.

After a quick toilette she stands before the glass
Carefully she washes and dries her hands
Then she brushes her thick gray mop
Carefully curling a lock of hair on her forehead

“Can I get in there?”
She asks me as she points to her bed
She tucks her favorite shoes under the bed
I turn down her covers

She lays her glasses on the night stand
She fluffs the pillow
I tuck her under the covers
One more blanket for warmth

I kiss her bonny face
“Good-night dear” I say.
She cups my face in her hands
“Thank you” she says.

“You do so much...for me.”
She stammers, trying to say what she thinks
“You are just...so..you're so smart...just beautiful.
God bless you.” she finishes.

“I love you.” I tell her
I walk to the door.
I take one last look
Before I close it tight

I wipe tears from my eyes.
My dear sweet Kay loves her sleep
One day I fear to find her there
Never to awake.

- Laurie B Michael 1/21/09

Figment

I haven't actually decided quite what to entitle this. It's going to be Figment of ___ something like hope, love, imagination, my mind.

I'm not sure if the meaning of this poem will be quite clear but it refers to a young man I thought myself in love with in 2007. Though I will always like him a great deal I am almost certain that I wasn't really "in love".

Forgive the lack of punctuation and there is at least one place where I haven't decided on the correct word to use.

It started out as a beautiful thing
An object of love and delight
Now I sit and stare at it
An object of pain and spite

T'was odd to me at first to love
Something beyond my wildest dreams
Tenderly my heart took hold
Filled with many lofty schemes

This dream stayed outside my reach
But I was young; hope springing new
Loving on was easily done
Earnestly, sweetly staying true

Time (weeks, months) passed as years to my heart
The object loved, now out of sight
My mind played o're remembrances
That kept love alive and bright

To these memories I added
What I wanted to see
Thinking fondly all the while
"This is what it could be."

Before I knew what I had done
I had so greatly altered it
That little beauty could I find
In my love once brightly lit

The truth revealed hurt me deep
What I'd been loving wasn't true
I loved not what it really was
But my awful dream in lue.

Worthy was it of high esteem
Of love and honor most high
But I myself had played the fool
I had dreamt and believed a lie.

This my lesson's sober thought
Teaches me to deeply love but few,
Speak the truth to even myself
And curb my imagination too.

Friend, loving long is great and good
Even thought it does cause pain,
But loving with no hope - beware!
Love, but do not love in vain.

-Laurie Michael, Winter 2007

Waiting Patiently

God's plan for my life continues to unfold daily and yet I can't help hoping that one day His plan will include marriage and a family of my own.

The poem below was inspired by a couple sermons, summer crushes, and another poem. I think it probably rhymes a bit too much but it is pretty much the prayer of my heart.

What will he be like Lord?
Strong and brave and true?
Will he be an old time friend
Or maybe someone new?

Will he have a quiet heart
Or boisterous may he be?
Will he want to follow you?
Will he really love me?

What will he look like Lord?
Not sure I really care
Just let him be tall and fine
With a full head of hair.

May he have inner beauty
Always shining through
In goodness and in holiness
Let him model you.

Let him want children, Lord
As many as can be had.
Let him be romantic
And a loving dad.

Let him have a sense of humor
Be sociable, be kind
Respectful of his elders
This man let me find.

I don't know where he is right now
But this one thing I pray
Keep him whole, keep him pure
For our wedding day.

Father, give him wisdom
As he waits for me
Grow him up and teach him
My husband soon to be.

Lord, you know my heart's desires
You know I long for this man
Please help me to wait patiently
On your master plan.

~Waiting Patiently, Laurie Michael - July 2008 at River of Life Bible Camp