Visitation When Mary stepped into the house a strong wind came with her lifting the red ribbons that Elizabeth had hung near the door to catch the breeze and delight the eye. They hung about her head like dancing flames, like a crown of fire, and, as she stepped into Elizabeth’s arms, the wind also […]
Cecil picked out a little flat box and opened it. Inside was a circle of wax. There was an impression on it but the wax, held together by a frame, was broken across. It looked like an animal with a stick between its hoofs. “What’s this? she asked. Ambrose Morne screwed in his eye-glass. “I […]
A friend asked for suggestions for beautiful books about the Middle Ages that don’t make it sound like a sad, terrible time for humanity with no ideas or beauty, only darkness. And I realized when I was trying to find suggestions on my blog that it’s time to update my book list. We’ve discovered some […]
Dawn Wind by Rosemary Sutcliff is a historical novel that takes place in the years after the British have lost a decisive battle to the Saxon at Aquae Sulis. The novel ends as Aethelbert consolidates his power as king of the Saxons in the south and the monk Augustine arrives as a missionary from Pope […]
A note to the reader: these novels are sadly out of print, but are available for cheap on Kindle. I have acquired some of them from used book sellers, but they are hard to find. Previously I compared the Warstowe Saga to Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances. Now, Meriol Trevor doesn’t come across as the meticulous […]
When I was in college my best friend Stephanie introduced me to Georgette Heyer. I wasn’t at all interested in romance novels, but I was on holiday and like many intelligent readers I’ve since met, I let myself get swept away. I found Heyer’s historical romances sparkling and witty, sometimes a bit formulaic, but never […]
Mother and Child I In the red cradle she is finally asleep— innocent, serene— as if she’s always been. The hand clutching the cradle tells a different story, resting, limp, protective, above the upturned head. The baby now quiet, mother has slipped into dark, grey forgetfulness. Her head rested— just for a minute— on the […]
A follow up to my masking post. Sikh doctor chooses to shave ‘in this time of need’ “It was an extremely difficult decision for us, but one that we felt was absolutely necessary in this time of need,” Singh-Saluja says. “It’s a decision that has left me with much sadness. This was something that had […]
My friend Erin at Bearing Blog has a good post up, pondering a quote that my sister had posted on Facebook: Bearing Blog:Correction, and the damaged icon Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by […]
I was very resistant to wearing a mask. I don’t like the feeling– I’m asthmatic and anxious. I can’t breath. Last time I had to wear a mask at the doctor, I almost had a panic attack. I had to take it off. But even before our town’s health department made it a local ordinance […]