Everlasting Place
  • Home
  • One way
    • Proof
  • Sadie Sparrow
    • Sadie Sparrow Excerpt
    • Author Chat
    • Articles
    • Book Reviews
  • Memoir
    • Memoir Excerpts
    • Reviews, interviews & endorsements
  • Blogs
    • Eternal eyes: a blog about forever
    • Golden years: a blog about the elderly
  • Old folks
    • Planting tips for Christians
  • Messages from Chris Carrillo
  • Library
  • Bookstore
  • Contact

A glimpse into my friends' worlds

8/22/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
For the last few years, I’ve been spending some time before bed with novels published in the 1920s or ‘30s. That means, for the most part, slowly devouring the novels of Kathleen Thompson Norris, the best-selling female author of the first half of the 20th century and my mother’s favorite writer.

Most of Norris’s books were billed as romances, which is not a genre I’ve ever enjoyed. But they’re nothing like today’s romances. There is no sex, for one thing, no divorce or adultery or violence. Instead, character development and moral awakening reign. Although these stories are not overtly Christian, they rely heavily on Judeo-Christian values: Bad behavior is invariably punished, while good behavior is ultimately rewarded. And interestingly, although each heroine’s eventual love interest may claim a share of her thoughts, she’s rarely obsessed with him; she has other things to worry about, from family responsibilities to paying next month’s rent.

In fact, money – or a terrifying lack of it – is usually a major theme in these books.

I’d heard about the grinding poverty of that era, of course. For example, both my parents lived in rented rooms when they were in college in the heart of the Great Depression, and both made it through school entirely by the grace of God, my mother insisted. But Norris does an amazing job of conveying what it was like to actually live under such circumstances. And she shows the other side of economic reality as well – usually demonstrating that money cannot possibly buy happiness.

One of the reasons I love these books is that they give me a glimpse into the lives of my nursing-home friends during their formative years. I now have an inkling of  what it must have been like to trust one’s parents implicitly, for instance, even as the money was running out – and to feel those first pangs of doubt that relief was really awaiting them next week, or next month. And I have a better understanding of the factors that influenced their most important life decisions, from choosing a husband to caring for their own aging parents.  

And because I’ve browsed through so many of my elderly friends' photo albums from that era, my reading is greatly enriched: When I read Norris’s often lengthy descriptions of people and places, I can easily picture the characters’ clothing and carriages, homes and furnishings. I can see, in my mind’s eye, the room that an entire family shared while Papa sought work, and picture a garden bursting with the blooms of old-fahioned lilacs and spirea and other shrubs long forgotten by us oh-so-sophisticated modern gardeners. 

I recently dove into a 1927 book by my mother’s second-favorite author, Anne Parrish. It’s called Tomorrow Morning, and so far it’s a lovely description of what it was like to be the happiest of homemakers a century ago. But trouble looms: the young heroine’s husband is very ill, and it’s apparent she will soon be a widow. How will she survive, with a little boy to raise on her own, no readily marketable skills, and no government programs to fall back on? I’m looking forward to finding out – and to comparing notes with a dear 95-year-old friend whose own mother experienced precisely these challenges in the years leading up to the Depression.

If you’re interested in discovering such literary gems for yourself, be sure to look for early editions. Many of these novels have been reprinted in recent decades, and rumor has it that they’ve been “updated” to suit modern tastes. I shudder to think what that might mean. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Kitty
    Foth-Regner

    I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a freelance copywriter, a nursing-home volunteer, and the author of books both in-process and published -- including
    Heaven Without Her.

    Archives

    December 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

    Care to subscribe?

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from Anas Qtiesh, quinn.anya, skippyjon, gagilas, ulrichkarljoho, Schleeo, djpoblete09, 00alexx, NathanPeck, Riccardo Palazzani, MaartenEyskens, jfinnirwin, romana klee, bundesinnung_ha, theglobalpanorama, Street Photography Addict, StockMonkeys.com, Robert Agthe, Genista, Neillwphoto, frankieleon, RamónP, National Eye Institute, Pink Dispatcher, Tony Webster, quinn.anya, Peter23394, anna gutermuth, neovain, Keith Allison, lewisha1990, Phú Thịnh Co, byzantiumbooks, avlxyz, eastmidtown, 593D ESC, simpleinsomnia, mcohen.chromiste, Pictures by Ann, Stampendous, loop_oh, tedeytan, TipsForComputer.Com, ssilberman, pedrosimoes7, forayinto35mm, Never Edit, GlasgowAmateur, weiss_paarz_photos, Borya, The Graphic Details, robynejay, allenthepostman, quinn.anya, u.hopper, fallingwater123, Alyssa L. Miller, Vincent Albanese, homethods, ponyQ, Braiu, CNE CNA C6F, oakenroad, Tim Evanson, medisave, irinaraquel, Steve Ganz, Nieve44/Luz, roscoland2, One Way Stock, Film Star Vintage, ulrichkarljoho, anieto2k, meaduva, Homini:), campbelj45ca, Nicolas Alejandro Street Photography, Hades2k, Alyssa L. Miller, Carlos Ebert, @Tuncay, kms1167, Petful.com, m01229, jonrawlinson, Brian Smithson (Old Geordie), Blogging Dagger, fechi fajardo, SurfaceWarriors, Leah Abernathy, evans.photo, brianna.lehman, mikecogh, Ejuice, christine.gleason, Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca, Derek Bridges, ulrichkarljoho, One Way Stock, Matt Cunnelly, nandadevieast, cathyse97, quinn.anya, faungg's photo, Lars Plougmann, C Jill Reed, johnthoward1961, mcohen.chromiste, hardeep.singh, physiognomist, ulrichkarljoho, 401(K) 2013, Very Quiet, BromfordGroup, garryknight, Official U.S. Navy Imagery, acasasola, mrbillt6, simpleinsomnia, johanSisno, GollyGforce, Jo Jakeman, Mire de rien, Chris Mower, lotopspin, Marlene Rybka Visualizing & Photography, RLHyde, jez.atkinson, orionpozo, quinn.anya, global.quiz, Public Places, alubavin, drs2biz, espensorvik, ♔ Georgie R, h.koppdelaney, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, Images_of_Money, ttarasiuk, TheArches