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Chautona Havig

Chautona Havig

Using story to connect YOU to the Master Storyteller

What Happens When an Author Mashes Two of My Favorite Books?

by Chautona Havig · 10 Comments

If anyone asks me, “Where should I go to find a good book to read,” you might assume I’d say, “Um, the library” or “a bookstore, duh!” Even, “Amazon,” would suffice, right?

Nope. I say, “Check out Avid Readers of Christian Fiction on Facebook.” Why? Because that place has seriously good book recommendations. I see it every day, “I’d like something set in the 1930s.” A dozen… or two… or five suggestions appear.

Another person asks for books about foster kids. Insert about fifty other suggestions.

“I’m looking for a book set in Zimbabwe with Irish settlers who only speak sign language. What do you suggest?”

No, I haven’t seen that request yet, but let me tell you. If someone made it, someone would have a suggestion.

But some books get mentioned over and over—in waves. Sometimes they follow new releases. That makes sense, of course. Other times, though. You know it. The book has to be good because for months, every time someone asks for another “good read,” you see the same book—even older ones.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. Someone suggests it at least once a week. The House on Foster Hill. That one makes every list it can possibly fit in. Then there’s a sequel coming, and the recommendations are already flying—by those who haven’t even read it yet!

And one other book that I kept seeing in an almost perfect parody of a scene from Miramax’s adaptation of Emma. The entire community, all 10K readers of it, seem to shout, “It left us speechless, quite speechless I tell you, and we have not stopped talking of it since.”

That book? Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay.

Dear Mr. Knightley -What Happens When an Author Mashes Two of My Favorite Books?

Note: links may be affiliate links which means I’ll receive a small commission but it won’t cost you anything extra.

What Happens When an Author Mashes Two of My Favorite Books?

Okay, it’s more than these two. Ms. Reay manages to crawl into my head and heart and pull out some of my favorite quotes from many books. But better than that, she pulls out the characteristics of characters from those books. Still, no one would argue that Ms. Reay has definitely improved her mind (and now ours) “by extensive reading.”

Daddy Long LegsThe adventure begins with the delightful epistolary style of the book. Instead of Jerusha a.k.a Judy from Daddy Long Legs, we get Sam(antha) Moore. Both are college students, both have seriously sad pasts, but Ms. Reay didn’t just copy the book idea bit by bit. She kept just enough similarities to make it a recognizable story but gave her characters their own lives.

The complexity with which she layers each character in Dear Mr. Knightley shows keen insight into humanity as well as a commitment to make this story her own. It would be tempting, in a project like this, to take the familiar, just rehash it in modern situations and ideas, and call it good.

And with Katherine Reay’s writing skills, it probably would have been.

But she went beyond that. Instead, she used the potentially familiar to give lovers of Jean Webster’s work extra foreshadowing while not leaving the clueless, well… clueless. And she did it with characters instead of mirrors. *nod to Agatha Christie… check!*

The spiritual element of the book surprised and delighted me. I’ll admit that when I saw none at first, I wondered if it was truly “Christian fiction.” Oh, me of little faith.

In some ways, the spiritual element is where this book shines the most. Not because it announces it in that silent way that Mrs. Walker flashes her superiority and disdain, but rather as Mrs. Muir shows her quiet support during a difficult conversation. And if you want to know what all that meant, you’ve got to read the book.

And you do.

Have to read it, I mean. Because every element is so beautifully placed that one can’t help but want to gaze at it as if enjoying a display in an art gallery. No… no, that’s not it. That’s too pretentious for a book as down to earth and real as this one. It’s funny. This book’ll tear out your heart, and it’ll help build it back together again.

Stronger.

And long after the book ends, while you’re sitting there in the biggest “book drunk” imaginable (and how could it not be? You just inhaled a new book, written with a similar plot to another, with an element of a third, and quotes from some of the best books ever written….), you’ll rehash bits you didn’t have time to with the first read.

You’ll go find favorite parts—quotes that stay with you long after you’ve passed that page. Quotes that make you return and flip through the book, page by page until you find it. Not that I did that or anything. Ahem. Quotes like (in context of a group of rather shallow bridesmaids): Their conversations and concerns never dipped below the packaging.

So good. Dear Mr. Knightley is so very good.

Some characters will make you cheer. Others’ll make you weep and for opposite reasons.

And even if you’re a cold-hearted, unromantic, calloused old hag like me, you might even swoon a time or two.

Even better than that, you’ll walk away from this book feeling like you have new friends who will be part of your life forever—just like Anne Shirley or Elizabeth Bennet. Just like little Judy Abbot.

There are a few things to note—things that people may take offense at.

One subplot includes the assumption that she will sleep with her boyfriend. It seems a given. Without utterly spoiling the whole thing, I will say that there is a point to this, and I believe she treats the subject well and Biblically.

Additionally, there were two words I personally would have preferred not be in there. The first (if I recall position correctly), isn’t offensive in America, but Brits tend to think it’s pretty nasty. I don’t know why, and I really don’t want to. The second is not considered a foul word by about half the Christians I know. However, the other half, like me, avoid it.

My dilemma is which of Ms. Reay’s books to try next…

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Comments

  1. Mary says

    February 13, 2019 at 9:14 pm

    I read this last year and liked how it was handled, and I just finished Lizzy and Jane. I got about forty pages in and was about to return it. The main character picked on her hurting sister in cancer treatment, treated everyone as beneath her, and generally got on everyone’s nerves, mine included. I decided to stick with it because I heard good things about this book, and I saw Lizzy change, really change, and realize that food is a medium, not an object, and mend fences. I went from almost hating it to loving it, and Andy had something to do with that.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      February 13, 2019 at 10:32 pm

      OOOH! I am going to go order that right now!

      Reply
  2. Rebekah Deedrick says

    May 24, 2018 at 3:40 pm

    I can only handle her Mark of the Lion series. And only books 1-2. And only just handle. I just am not a fan. So I guess I am a heathen too. ?

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 24, 2018 at 4:35 pm

      It does help to know I’m not alone…

      Reply
  3. Annie Anderson says

    May 24, 2018 at 11:17 am

    THIS. BOOK. I absolutely loved it and have since read it 4 times- I love Emma and Daddy Long-Legs, so when my mom recommended this novel I ate it up! The characters’ developments were the best I have seen in a long time. Thanks for this review! ??

    Reply
  4. Darlene Case says

    May 24, 2018 at 9:49 am

    See, right here …that’s why I don’t get to the books I already have (thanks, Chautona!) Now I have to go see if I can afford this one because it sounds fascinating! Off to check!

    Reply
  5. Gretchen Louise says

    May 24, 2018 at 8:45 am

    I am so very delighted that you have discovered this book and this author. Everything she writes is surprisingly different and yet absolutely delightful.

    Read her books in the order she wrote them. That’s how I did it, so of course, it’s how I recommend doing it. But seriously–you’ll love watching her writing change and grow.

    However, I think that Dear Mr. Knightley will probably remain my forever favorite of hers–especially because of its epistolary nature.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 24, 2018 at 2:18 pm

      It made me want to revive my own epistolary novel idea. Every time I read one I get that way.

      Reply
  6. Florence Wright says

    May 24, 2018 at 8:10 am

    I have had so many people tell me about Redeeming Love. I feel like I need to read it. I think my Mom has a copy somewhere, I’ll need check out her book piles. I have had women who said they hated reading tell me they loved the book. And House on Foster Hill is floating on my “to be read” list. Thanks for the other recommendations.

    Reply
    • Chautona Havig says

      May 24, 2018 at 2:17 pm

      I did NOT like Redeeming Love. Then again, I just don’t like Francine Rivers’ work. I’m probably a heathen for saying so, but… *blush* it’s true.

      Reply

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Episode 161: A Chat with Christian Women's Fiction Robin W. Pearson
byChautona Havig

Nothing says good, Southern women’s fiction like a feisty granny or a family secret, and Robin W. Pearson’s got you covered on both fronts. Stir in a pot of faith, and well… you’re bound to find a story you’ll never forget. And isn’t that a blessing? Award-winning, bestselling, and aspiring yodler on the other side of the Rockies, Robin writes stories of faith, family, and it sounds like some seriously delicious food.

Note: links may be affiliate links that provide me with a small commission at no extra expense to you.

What’s Better Than a Great Women’s Fiction Novel on a Summer’s Day?

New-to-me (or she was!) women’s fiction author, Robin W. Pearson writes God-centered, family-focused fiction. Robin is a delightful homeschooling mom of seven and if that wasn’t job enough, her debut novel won a Christy award! I mean, that takes some serious skills! Not to mention, it has a killer kick-off synopsis on Amazon. I was hooked from the first paragraph.

Robin says she wants people to see love in her books–how to love well even when we don’t know how. How to see each other as God does.  I think that sounds pretty amazing.

Her debut novel, A Long Time Coming, is more than just a great-sounding book, it really deals with family issues and I’ll just say I fell in love with the narrator of the audio.

The next book, Till I Want No More, rips your heart out with the synopsis, stomps on it, and says, “There. Now what’ll you do about that?  Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, other than read it of course!

And her latest novel?  Oh, my gravy. It released just last week and it’s amazing.  Well, the part I’ve read already is. Walking in Tall Weeds promises to keep your heart on tenterhooks as it takes you through a family’s pain and trauma.  And what more could you want?

Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson

From award-winning author Robin W. Pearson comes a new Southern family drama about one family who discovers their history is only skin-deep and that God’s love is the only family tie that binds.

Paulette and Fred Baldwin find themselves wading through a new season of life in Hickory Grove, North Carolina. Their only son, McKinley, now works hundreds of miles away, and the distance between the husband and wife feels even farther. When their son returns home, his visit dredges up even more conflict between Fred and Paulette.

McKinley makes it no secret that he doesn’t intend to follow in his father’s footsteps at George & Company Fine Furnishings or otherwise. Fred can’t quite bring himself to accept all his son’s choices, yet Paulette is determined McKinley will want for nothing, least of all a mother’s love and attention—which her own skin color cost her as a child. But all her striving leaves Fred on the outside looking in.

Paulette suspects McKinley and Fred are hiding something that could change the whole family. Soon, she’s facing a whirlwind she never saw coming, and the three of them must dig deep to confront the truth. Maybe then they’ll discover that their history is only skin-deep while their faith can take them right to the heart of things.

You can learn more about Robin W. Pearson on her WEBSITE.

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