Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen -- Book Review

 

From Goodreads: "Agatha Christie meets Jane Austen in this atmospheric Regency tale brimming with mystery, intrigue, and romance. When Miss Rebecca Lane returns to her home village after a few years away, her brother begs for a favor: go to nearby Swanford Abbey and deliver his manuscript to an author staying there who could help him get published. Feeling responsible for her brother's desperate state, she reluctantly agrees.

The medieval monastery turned grand hotel is rumored to be haunted. Once there, Rebecca begins noticing strange things, including a figure in a hooded black gown gliding silently through the abbey's cloisters. For all its renovations and veneer of luxury, the ancient foundations seem to echo with whispers of the past--including her own. For there she encounters Sir Frederick--magistrate, widower, and former neighbor--who long ago broke her heart. When the famous author is found murdered in the abbey, Sir Frederick begins questioning staff and guests and quickly discovers that several people held grudges against the man, including Miss Lane and her brother. Haunted by a painful betrayal in his past, Sir Frederick searches for answers but is torn between his growing feelings for Rebecca and his pursuit of the truth. For Miss Lane is clearly hiding something. . . "

My Review: I used to devour Christian fiction books --- two or three to a weekend, two or three during the week. The past six or seven years, though, I've really struggled as they've seemed more and more shallow and juvenile. This book is one of five that I've chosen to read through over the next couple weeks in an attempt to see if Christian fiction has improved since I decided to give up on it. After reading this first book, I'm wondering if the problem isn't so much the genre as it is the depth. Perhaps I've moved on to a season where I thrive on more literary material. In any case, I'll report the results on my YouTube channel, Belle's Library. 

 Style wise, I found the writing frustratingly filled with fills, fillers, and fillings. The “action”, a term that is relative and questionable in this case, doesn’t show up for 150 pages. I was bogged down by the many characters introduced too quickly and quite frustrated by the extremely slow start. At over 250 pages, I noted that I definitely would have DNF'd the book by that point if I hadn't already committed to reading it for my project. 

 For an author that often claims to be inspired by Jane Austen, I found it ironic that the story contained several elements that Austen actually would have parodied. The "nervous table napkin" of page 48, the maid being so ready to let someone pose as her and risk losing her needed position of employment, the coincidence of the nuns which began in chapter 20. Even a character hangs a lantern on the idea that it'd be unlikely there'd be two nuns running around. Most of all, though, is the use of made up sanitized Regency Christian curse words. “Thunder and turf!” Who says that??!! No 18th or 19th century story I've read uses such ridiculous terms. I can't honestly believe these are authentic curse words. They used the same words we do. I'm going to guess these come purely (a little too purely) from Georgette Heyer's imagination. This is probably a pet peeve --- but it's a huge pet that flings its nasty slobber around the room every time it shakes its overgrown head. 

 My final complaint comes about 300 pages in when I start to think maybe the story is growing on me. Then Rebecca responds to her brother and his sin in a way that is so lenient and not normal, promoting dangerous toxic relationships even. I don't know if this is a common trope now in this genre, but it's not the first time I've been disgusted by this over-extension of grace. (Talking to you Jaime Jo Wright!!) 

 One huge plus for this author is the way she handles differences in mental illness well, making a distinction between those who are certifiably insane and need life-long supervisory care vs. those who are dealing with heavy depression or trauma and need temporary care. I believe her solutions for depression are Biblical and I was happy to see those promoted. 

 The majority of this story annoyed and bored me; though the last 40 pages or so wrapped up to a satisfying, if not easily discerned, ending. Many of Rebecca's thoughts and decisions irritated me; though when I tried to look at her situation with more grace and less logic, I found that she did eventually summon the strength to make the decisions that were best for everyone and I admired that strong finale. 

 

One of the questions I'm asking myself during this project is, what makes a book considered to be Christian or inspirational fiction in this generation? Is it put on that shelf in the bookshop because of its lack of content or its inclusion of content? Is it just clean or is it specifically Christian? In the case of this story, I would argue it is specifically Christian. We see flaws resolved based on Biblical principles. We see honor given to YHWH as the only God. The two terms I throw around for this genre, "contrived" and "preachy" did not so much apply to this story, when considered as a whole. While some scenes came together just a little too easily, overall I see this as a simple, solid story.

The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff -- Book Review

 

The story of the Salem witch trials has intrigued me since I was an adolescent. Knowing my family was from New England, but not having much information of the exact colony, I wondered if any of my ancestors were involved in this practically mythical period of "ancient" history. Through my 30s and now 40s, I have tailored that interest toward a more precise study of religious hypocrisy, looking mainly to the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This potentially intimidating study of the time peaked out at me from a shelf of American History studies in a quirky bookshop I found while on vacation at Lake Michigan earlier this month. Though I hesitated at its not-so-beachy-read status, I succumbed, nonetheless, and am quite happy that I did.

From the first page and a half, I was taken in. The author hooked me with the idea that there were some age-old myths to dispel regarding the goings on of late 17th century Salem. She made the case that much of what we believe about the Salem witches, as well as their accusers, was handed to us by those who fictionalized and sensationalized the truth --- much of which is no longer within public, and probably private, record. She goes on for several hundred pages to very intricately lay out the details of the year and a half of witch hunts and ends with several motives for accusations, confessions, and convictions. Summing things up, she gives a brief look at how these events inspired future witch crazes, as well as literature and film.

I got the impression the author was trying to make the case that witches are imaginary, sometimes making it sound like they’re something that post-medieval religion made up. Perhaps that's true for black hats and broomsticks, but sorcery is an ancient thing and I think some of those who were involved had good intentions of ridding their communities of what they perceived to be satan's influence. Do I believe all or even the majority of the accused were witches? Of course not. But I do think there was some kind of demonic possession going on in those who accused and put themselves into states of convulsions and more. Let's just be honest --- anyone who would falsely and repeatedly accuse a neighbor, mother, wife, or anyone of a crime punishable by death has got to have something evil going on inside. All the stories of bewitched people seeing things that others were blind to sounded like the story of <i>The Emperor's New Clothes</i>. This kind of political witch hunt (literally, in this case) is nothing new. It's still going on today. In fact, I recognized many parallels to what's going on politically in the UK and the US this very month.

While I found much to praise this author for in terms of research and an engaging writing style, she is often sarcastic and it was not often easy to tell whether she was relating someone’s personal account or testimony or whether she was describing what a third party wrote about the situation. Most of the footnotes, rather than clarifying information to the average reader, allude to obscure things. For instance, she uses some plays on words in chapter five regarding the text of the Biblical <i>Lord's Prayer</i>. However, without an understanding of the actual text and meaning of the verse, compared to what the accused wizard had uttered, her footnote serves to cause more confusion when it could have, instead, been used to clarify the reference.

These minor annoyances aside, I really engaged with this well-researched book. It contains all kinds of study helps like a list of characters, a plethora of notes, an index, and a tempting bibliography. I've already made a note to look for more from this author as she has several other works of this type on the shelves of my local bookstore.

2024 Reading Challenges -- Or Lack Thereof

 

Happy 2024!!

Every year I update this graphic and make a post listing all my fun reading challenge plans for this year. Therefore, I felt like it just wouldn't be January 1st if I didn't do that for 2024! 

However, I've decided I'm going to change up my plan for reading challenges this year. 
Because this, my friends, is going to be a no-obligation reading year!

This is not to say I won't participate in any challenges at all. But rather than joining year long reading events that I may be in the mood for now but won't be in three months, I'm just going to join monthly stuff. That way I can be a little more choosy, depending on my interests and schedule each month. I'm also going to keep up with my lifetime challenges of reading from the 1001 list, as well as the Classics Club, 100 Best in 1899, and Children's list.

I've set my overall reading goal at 80 books for the year and have these loosely defined genre goals:

*Read more American history

*Read from 10 poets (In the past, I've really despised poetry)

*Read 1 play (almost or maybe as or maybe worse than poetry)

*Read more short stories, fables, and fairy tales

I would also like to quit books faster that aren't meeting my standards or that I'm just not enjoying and I'd like to listen to more audiobooks, rather than just meaningless videos. 

So that's what I'm settling with this year and it's gonna be good. 

Happy New Year!!