Book review -- 'An Honorable Deception'

  I never hesitate to recommend Roseanna's books, even if I haven't read them yet.  Here again, we have no exception.  But every now and then, an author writes something extra special that just hits perfectly for you...and that's what happened with An Honorable Deception for me!

  I've greatly enjoyed reading through each of her books over the years, and love the variation in the different series, the different types of characters, sometimes living in extremely significant moments in history.  For me, mystery and espionage mixed with history are at the top of my list of favorite subjects in novels, and Roseanna's nearly always supply exactly that in spades.

  I first began reading her work with 'The Lost Heiress' not long after it released (in 2015?! Gosh time moves fast!), and immediately just loved the way she wove the mystery, slowly unfurling and layering things, ever making the characters walk a tighter rope as the tension built until the fulfilling (though not always happy) conclusions clicked together, one piece at a time.  Usually racing some very cunning villains until the last second!  And all the time, I actually liked the characters as people, with their own thoughts, problems, joys, and honest humor sprinkled so well throughout even the most serious stories.

  As if that weren't enough, her well-worded prose, the unique real-ness of each character, the comfortability with which the stories sat in their historical context, the different perspectives, the plots, and the true-to-life-ness of the subjects and moments, were all enormous bonuses as well.  But it was the mystery and the really loveable characters that pulled me in hardest.

  All that to say, 'An Honorable Deception' has felt like the most enjoyable and beloved returning to that first-reading experience I loved from 'The Lost Heiress', so many years ago.  I've been enchanted with 'An Honorable Deception', and since Yates and Lavinia were already side characters I loved most from the rest of the series, I especially enjoyed a tale they got to really shine in!

  I do try to steer as far from spoilers as possible...but I really would love to go on and GUSH about how much I enjoyed this finale to The Imposters. (not to mention the gorgeous colors in its cover!)  If you've not read Roseanna before, this series would be an excellent start.  But honestly, I'd recommend ANY of her series; just join me in all the adventures she takes us all on!

Get your own copy of 'An Honorable Deception' HERE --------------------->  purchase An Honorable Deception 

  Disclaimer:

  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone.

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About the Book

As the leader of elite private investigative firm the Imposters, Lord Yates Fairfax has made an art of concealing his identity. But when his newest client, the beautiful Lady Alethia Barremore, is shot while leaving their meeting, he throws caution to the wind and rushes to her aid. Though Lady Alethia thought she was only looking for her missing former nanny, she has clearly stumbled upon dangerous secrets. Lady Lavinia Hemming suspects there's more to her oldest friends than they're willing to admit, and when she stumbles upon the truth that they're the Imposters, she recruits herself into the firm. Happy as she is for the distraction of an investigation, Lavinia's own family secrets continue to haunt her. And the one thing to bring laughter back into her life--her friendship with Yates--lands her squarely on the bad side of her best friend, his sister. Tormented by a past that she doesn't dare to voice aloud, Lady Alethia does what she can to help her handsome host, her new friends, and the investigators. But as clues lead them deeper into the darkest of society's secrets, Alethia, Yates, and Lavinia soon learn anew that the gentry isn't always noble . . . and truth isn't always honorable.

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

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An Honorable Deception (The Imposters, book 3) available HERE 

Book review -- 'A Beautiful Disguise'

 

  Another grand adventure has arrived, from the pen of the talented Roseanna M. White!

  At this point it's become a tradition for me, so I'll just say right off...  It's dang hard, especially with Roseanna's books, to write a review that doesn't give anything, even something small, away (NO spoilers here!).  So I just try instead to highlight a few things I liked briefly, and tell you just to GET THE BOOK and join me on the adventure! 

  Set in Edwardian London, this book takes a turn back towards Roseanna's past location settings.  And I am all the way here for it!

  While I've very much enjoyed the wartime novels Roseanna has focused on for a while -- the intrigue, the atmosphere of the eras, the complications of relationships of all types in wartime, the heightened threat of foreign enemies sneaking in to sabotage from outside -- it has been equally as fascinating to get back to a more society-drama setting for this new series (The Impostors).

  I was already predisposed to like the heroine of this story, Marigold Fairfax, as she's quite a costume-builder, and half of my own life is as a costumer by trade for both stage and film.  It's such fun to see bits of actual considerations I make in my job as a costumer, coming to light on the page.  Though I'm not in a type of espionage myself (fortunately...?), I too take into consideration things like what the trimmings on this gown or that hat will say to onlookers about who this person is, and so on.

  In addition, the aspect of Marigold and her brother Yates having past acrobatic and circus-related training is really interesting and a riot to watch unfold, combining with their fairly new work as private investigators.  What a fun angle this has proven to be! 

  Now, just like his rather secretive initial persona, I don't think I can say very much about the story's hero, Sir Merritt Livingstone, without his secrets leaking out...  So, suffice to say, I like him.  I actually really liked his suspicions about Marigold, for some reason; how she comes across much of the time vs. who she actually is and why.  Maybe it's just remarkably refreshing to see a character with good questions, not silly ones and suspicion for suspicion's sake that many an author often throw in to try to add drama to relationships.  (insert an eyeroll here...)  It's good to see a hero have a solid head on his shoulders, especially when it comes to the girl they're interested in, without taking it to the extreme of fake concerns for tension's sake.  (more eyerolls)

  But then, that's never Roseanna's style, and I appreciate it.  She takes the time and effort required to create plausible people, not caricatures or archetypes or silhouettes.  She creates worlds to put them in with life and dust and dirt and jokes and joy and complications.  And she creates scenarios and people I'm more than happy to climb aboard with and follow on any sort of adventure.  Just like this one, full of beautiful disguises.

  I'll wrap this up with a couple of quotes I love from this book:

'The truth isn't always pretty.  But I like to think it's always beautiful.'

'Maybe we'd all be wiser, maybe fewer people would be hurt, if we questioned 

more.  If we didn't think that closing our eyes to darkness meant 

it didn't exist.

As if by closing them, we didn't just create more darkness.'

Get your own copy HERE ---------->  purchase A Beautiful Disguise 

  Disclaimer: 

  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone. 

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About the Book ­

1909 Left with an estate on the brink of bankruptcy after their father’s death, Lady Marigold Fairfax and her brother open a private investigation firm marketed to the elite . . . to spy on the elite. Dubbed The Imposters, Ltd., their anonymous group soon becomes the go-to for the crème of society when they want answers delivered surreptitiously. But the many secrets Marigold learns about her peers pale in comparison to her shock when she and her brother are hired to investigate her best friend’s father as a potential traitor.   Sir Merritt Livingstone has spent a decade serving the monarch in the most elite guard, but when pneumonia lands him behind a desk in the War Office Intelligence Division just as they’re creating a new secret intelligence branch, he’s intent on showing his worth. He suspects a man of leaking information to Germany as tensions mount between the two countries but needs someone to help him prove it, so he turns to The Imposters, Ltd. No one knows who they are, but their results are beyond compare.   Lady Marigold is determined to discover the truth for her friend’s sake, and she’s more determined still to keep her heart from getting involved with this enigmatic new client . . . who can’t possibly be as noble as he seems.

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   About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

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A Beautiful Disguise (The Impostors, book 1) available HERE 

Book review -- 'Yesterday’s Tides'

 

(No spoilers here!)

I’m not much for split time novels myself...  But this sort of multi-generational novel that doesn’t force me to spend half the book in the modern present...is much more my cup of tea! 

The newest book from Roseanna M. White, Yesterday’s Tides, is set during both WWI and WWII, so sort of split-time in that sense.  But what a great combo it is, tying together what really should be connected far more often; so many things affected one another between these two enormous world events. 

...On a side note for this one, I love the cover art; the colors, the quiet storminess in the clouds and the imagery, and a person with face not really visible so your imagination can work (my personal favorite).  Beautiful.  And real. 

Evie and Sterling are some of my new favorite characters Roseanna has introduced to us.  I love their interactions and personalities and understanding the time through their responses to what's happening in their world.  It's hard to say a lot without giving secrets away... So... I'm enjoying them.  Ahem.

The vocations of Roseanna’s characters further help highlight the atmosphere of the times she sets these people in.  While this surely takes large amounts of mental weight-lifting on her part, it really sinks her readers in the real life, everyday mindsets that help us understand the where, the who, the when, and almost the /scent/ of the places she sends us. 

This is a large part of why I never hesitate to recommend Roseanna’s books, even if I haven’t read one yet.  I know her characters will be vivid, real, and honest about the world they live in (even if they’re sometimes dishonest with themselves).  The times and places will be alive and lived-in, not a cardboard backdrop for drama.  The drama of the story will be fitting and have gravity to it that matters to the story and the people in it.  And I feel like Roseanna always is invested in the lives and eras she’s painting; and certainly if she cares, her readers feel that, and we quickly are absorbed as well. 

All that said, go find and enjoy this beautiful book about a stormy season of world history.  Let me leave you with a beautiful line from Yesterday’s Tides:

‘She was one small grain of sand squaring off against a hurricane. 

But each grain of sand played its part.  She drew her tools to her, turned her heart to prayer, and prepared to do hers.’

Disclaimer:

  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone.

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GET THE BOOK HERE ---->  purchase Yesterday's Tides 

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In 1942, Evie Farrow is used to life on Ocracoke Island, where every day is the same--until the German U-boats haunting their waters begin to wreak havoc. And when special agent Sterling Bertrand is washed ashore at Evie's inn, her life is turned upside down. While Sterling's injuries keep him inn-bound for weeks, making him even more anxious about the man he's tracking, he becomes increasingly intrigued by Evie, who seems to be hiding secrets of her own.

 

Decades earlier, in 1914, Englishman Remington Culbreth arrives at the Ocracoke Inn for the summer, but he doesn't count on falling in love with Louisa Adair, the innkeeper's daughter. When war breaks out in Europe, and their relationship is put in jeopardy, will their love survive?

 

As Evie and Sterling work to track down an elusive German agent, they unravel mysteries that go back a generation. The ripples from the Great War are still rocking their lives, and it seems yesterday's tides may sweep them all into danger again today.

 

Bestselling and award-winning author Roseanna M. White whisks you away to two periods fraught with peril in this sweeping and romantic dual-time tale.

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About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Blog: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/

Newsletter: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/newsletter-signup

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite

Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

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Book review -- 'Worthy of Legend'

 This is the final book in the 'Secrets of The Isles' series from the fantastic Roseanna M. White, and 'Worthy of Legend' did not disappoint! 

(There won't be any spoilers here!)

I've mentioned in past reviews that I appreciate how individual and unique Roseanna makes all her lead characters.  This one is no exception.

Bram Sinclair might admit he's... "a trifle overprotective"... But he'd like to think that's maybe the worst of him.  Well we, as the audience, haven't exactly seen him as warm or...much else in the previous books, so we're gonna take some convincing.  But Roseanna's up for the task!

By contrast, passive and rather timid Lady Emily Scofield has seemed just that as far as we've seen.  And between the two unfolding personalities, and more treasure waiting to be found that may be linked to tales of King Arthur...  A thrilling, wild island adventure certainly lies ahead!

My nerves were certainly on alert with this one; the antagonistic forces seemed fairly distant in the first one, and were certainly scaled up in the second.  Well they're ramped up quite a bit and are close and personal in this third and final book.  Yikes. (in the best possible way!)

As with all series conclusions, this one had quite a bit to tie up, while still feeling like it stands alone, too.  This one does a great job with that.  This 'Secrets of The Isles' series feels a little more episodic than many of Roseanna's, but nothing at all wrong with that.  I like both styles for a series, and can't really choose a favorite way.  But the episodic feel really fit the setting and treasure-hunting themes tying the three books together.

I felt like this showcased one of the skillful ways Roseanna chose to make the Isles of Scilly a background character on their own.  Setting is definitely a major feature, while descriptions never carry on and bog down the story.  A really lovely combination, and it really leaves a lovely feel overarching the stories all the way through till this last one.

It's awkward to try to end a non-spoiler review like this every time...  Well, this series was a wonderful one, full of peril, clashing personalities, rumors and searching for treasure, and a beautiful foggy, windswept setting.  Start yourself with 'Nature of A Lady' and 'To Treasure An Heiress', and work your way to enjoying this lovely third installment, 'Worthy of Legend'.  Happy reading!

Disclaimer:

  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone.

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GET THE BOOK HERE ---->  purchase Worthy of Legend 

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1906

 

After a summer of successful pirate-treasure hunting, Lady Emily Scofield and her friends are forced to hide the unprecedented discoveries they’ve made, thanks to the betrayal of her own family. Horrified by her brother who stops at nothing to prove himself to their greedy father, Emily is forced to take a stand against her family—even when it means being cut off entirely.

 

Bram Sinclair, Earl of Telford, is fascinated with tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table—an interest he’s kept mostly hidden for the last decade. But when a diary is unearthed in the islands that could lead to a secret artifact, Bram is the only one able to piece the legends together.

 

As Bram and Emily seek out the whereabouts of the hidden artifact, they must dodge her eager family and a team of archeologists. In a race against time, they must decide what makes a hero worthy of legend—is it fighting valiantly to claim the treasure . . . or sacrificing everything in the name of selfless love?

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About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Blog: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/

Newsletter: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/newsletter-signup

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite

Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

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Book review -- 'To Treasure An Heiress'

 The 2nd in the Secrets of the Isles trilogy, I am unfortunately behind in reviewing this one... But first, wow, do I love the cover!

(No spoilers here, by the way!)

I’ve loved getting to know spunky Beth Tremayne, who wants nothing more than to do what she’s planned, and in /her/ way, thank you very much. Juxtaposed with the hilarious peeps inside Sheridan’s jolly cluttered-but-honest mind, the complimenting contrast is so much fun. Sheridan is obviously quite taken right off the bat with Beth (ahem, /Elizabeth/), and I thoroughly enjoyed his little mental score-keeping on how he guessed his standing was in Beth’s eyes at any given moment.
Ah!  A good half-step forward!
Oh, nope, that’ll be back two steps...
Really endearing. I loved seeing that he’s not really the bumbling, wealthy aristocrat with a simple mind that he originality played himself off as.

He and Beth are so similar, really; both want what they want, and initially don’t take much account for how something they do or how they respond will affect others around them. The journey to learning to look beyond their own agendas —really, both for the same thing: that lost treasure— is the driving force they both have to relent to, albeit reluctantly, and in slightly different ways. These two quickly became some of my favorites among author Roseanna M. White’s many fantastic characters. She is a master of making all her characters unique and feel individual; no cardboard stock characters here.

She’s also one rare author that I feel does dual character lead-sets well. Senara and Rory felt...different but the same in all the right ways from the secondary couple in the previous book. Similar roles and similar-but-different struggles, but while being completely their own people, and not at all slipping into becoming placeholders for a warm body to move the plot along. But then again, they and their stories never overshadow the main plot or the main leads. Really deft character waltzing on Roseanna’s part. (Love Senara’s name too, by the way.)

Maybe I say it every time, but figuring out how much to tell and when to stop so as not to give the story away is a struggle.

So I’ll just wrap up by saying that this main story thread picks up the faint one started in the first book, since the first (The Nature of A Lady) was primarily about the mixup with the two Beths, and the unraveling of what was happening there as the Libby-Elizabeth got dragged into the Beth-Elizabeth’s ancient treasure hunt. This one lets Beth’s pirate treasure and its troubles take center stage, while she and Sheridan unwittingly help and hinder each other in going after the same thing for their own reasons.

Suffice to say that if well-written characters, a vivid, wild yet quaint location, hunts for mysterious pirate treasures, searching out clues, and a lovely historical setting that the author understands well are your cup of tea... or you’ve never tried this kind of tea before, you should absolutely give ‘To Treasure An Heiress’ a read.

And enjoy its gorgeous cover, while you’re at it!

Disclaimer:

  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone.

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GET THE BOOK HERE ---->  purchase To Treasure An Heiress 

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1906   Beth Tremayne has always been drawn to adventure. During her childhood, she fed that desire by exploring every inch of the Isles of Scilly. As an adolescent, she dreamed of love in London’s ballrooms. Now, stumbling across an old map on her family’s property, she’s found more adventure than she ever dreamed in the hunt for pirate treasure. Unfortunately, Beth can’t escape the attentions of her family’s guest, Lord Sheridan.   Sheridan has spent years pursuing whatever archaeological interest caught his imagination. And when he discovers that Beth’s search connects with one of his favorite pirates of history, he can’t help getting involved. Plus, he finds her irresistible, even though she insists he stole a prized possession of hers.   As they work together following different clues and drawing closer to danger, they start to piece together a story of tragic love and piratical adventure. But the true surprise is the treasure they discover in one another.

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About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

Blog: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/blog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RoseannaMWhite/

Newsletter: https://www.roseannamwhite.com/newsletter-signup

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/roseannamwhite/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roseannamwhite/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoseannaMWhite

Website: https://www.roseannamwhite.com

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Book review — ‘The Nature of A Lady’

  I always love a good mystery...  And this new release, 'The Nature of A Lady' from fantastic Roseanna M. White, is chock FULL of them!  I had no idea when I first heard the synopsis how fascinating and full-of-adventurous-situations this would be!  (...And as a bonus, I mean, just LOOK at that gorgeous cover art!!)  As this is the first in The Secrets of the Isles series, I look forward to seeing what other lovely covers and surprises await in future books.

  What I was expecting was Roseanna’s signature lovely, unhindered, bright writing style, her fully human, varied and interesting characters, her ever-twisting plot, and the skill with which she deftly drops little hints and clues and details that you'll hardly notice until you need them.  And I was not disappointed in the least!  She handles mysterious circumstances with such skill, and I hope this exceptionally layered mystery is the first of many more mystery-heavy novels from Roseanna.  I for one will eat them all up in a moment, right alongside any of her other stellar historical tales.  (...pardon how many times the word 'mystery' came up in that last paragraph... It's truly the best word for the situation!)

  The locations in this one in particular are really vivid and memorable.  It beautifully fits in with the way the islands act almost like their own characters in this story, and adds a wild element that magnified all the strange circumstances and events that pepper throughout the story.  Matched with her always well-established sense of the time in yesteryear when her tale is set, these are some of the biggest reasons I come back to Roseanna time and time again, eager to immerse myself in another place in another era.

  Another thing I love about Roseanna’s books is seeing clearly through the eyes of people who are completely different from myself.  Often, these people are villains or anti-villains, hiding in the shadows, giving the reader an uneasy feeling of what’s impending; you are seeing events from both sides, but often  unsure how close the protagonists are to this hidden danger.  And sometimes, as in ‘Number of Love’, you’re seeing through the eyes of a mathematical genius like Margot, or in this book, a heavily scientific natural mind that thinks in Latin definitions and ways of cataloging like  Libby.  I’m not even partly similar to Libby in...almost any way, but Roseanna makes a clear path into her style of thinking and understanding that is both fascinating and still understandable to any of us who don't think that way.

  Melbenna in this story was another fascinating character; with her stubborn streak, her free-roaming island ways, and her determination to stick with what she’s decided is best and not allow herself to examine uncomfortable things too closely.  Hers and Libby’s growth really parallel each other’s, while being completely unique and seeming opposite at the same time.  It makes for really stand-out interactions and intertwining plotlines.

  All that, backed with an overarching mystery that has more loose ends than...something with a ton of loose ends...!...makes for a compelling constant build of all the things that need to be answered, and left me with several anxious moments where I was certain there just weren’t enough pages to resolve it all!  But as she does so well, Roseanna tied up just what was needed, when it was needed, and not a moment sooner.  And with her usual delivery of a satisfying explanation, but not often in the ways we expect.

   And as a final note, I always appreciate that any romances she writes will be sweet and clean in content, but never without difficulties that differentiate them from simple (and so often glorified) shallow infatuation.  So you can actually be happy for the couple at the end, instead of wishing they’d look just a little past the emotion of a moment.

  With an effort to keep avoiding spoilers, here is where I will just encourage you to pick up ‘The Nature of A Lady’ and embark on a fantastic adventure in the year 1906, of lost people and things, mysterious happenings and findings, rumors of pirates and dangerous treasures seekers-- all on a wild and lovely set of islands just off England’s shores.

(...And you’re gonna want a kitten aftwards, fair warning...)

  A great place to find yourself a copy ------>  The Nature of a Lady -- landing page 

Disclaimer:

  I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publishers, and was not required to leave a positive review.  All views expressed are mine and mine alone. 

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About the Book

The Nature of a Lady

1906 Lady Elizabeth "Libby" Sinclair, with her love of microscopes and nature, isn't favored in society. She flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles into the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage's former occupant, also named Elizabeth, who mysteriously vanished.   Oliver Tremayne--gentleman and clergyman--is determined to discover what happened to his sister, and he's happy to accept the help of the girl now living in what should have been Beth's summer cottage . . . especially when he realizes it's the curious young lady he met briefly two years ago, who shares his love of botany and biology. But the hunt for his sister involves far more than nature walks, and he can't quite believe all the secrets Beth had been keeping from him.   As Libby and Oliver work together, they find ancient legends, pirate wrecks, betrayal, and the most mysterious phenomenon of all: love.

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About the Author

Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.

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N.D. Wilson, on Stories as food for souls

  So many things have happened over the last months.  I hope to write out some reflection of it in how I’ve been thinking of the situations, of the season I've just come out of...but that’s going to take some time.

  Right now I wanted to share something that deeply watered my soul today.  Something that was talking about the fact that our souls need food just the same as our bodies do, or they’ll starve. 

  I listened to the inaugural podcast in a new series just today, and oh my GOODNESS.  I just about cried and shouted hallelujah.  I don’t know if it would mean nearly as much to you as it did to me, (and I hope it’ll stay up on the platform a long, long time so you can at least listen!), but there’s so much meaty TRUTH in it for absolutely anyone to glean from. 

Here’s the link to the inaugural episode of the 

      Stories Are Soul Food podcast, Episode 1 

                                               with Brian Cole and N.D. Wilson

  I wish I could find the words to summarize all of what was said, and just gush over all that I appreciated, how each bit encouraged me, how I’ve tried to express it in the past, and on and on and.....  But I’m still thrilling over how much it encourages me, and I just done feel like I have the words.  Plus, it meant what I needed and what I’ve spent so many years mulling over, so maybe I could touch that and explain a bit... but I’m not sure I could ever really pin it all down in even a series of posts. 

  So I'll just say that it felt like all the difficult gardening of convictions and understanding I’ve been building since I started writing stories back in my early teens, all the conversations I’ve had with people over the years, all the storytelling worldview I’ve come to and shared with others, all the ways the uses the storyteller in me throughout my life.....was all just said so beautifully in this episode. 

It was like someone just opened a window that has been stuck shut, and the air  really /is/ fresh and wild, the sky really /is/ blue, and the trees really /are/ tall and varied and green like I knew they just had to be. 

  I’m so excited and thankful for more of this podcast to come. 

  And follow it up with a couple quotes from the podcast;

“Souls need food.  Imaginations need food.  Especially young ones.”

~~~~~

“Any human, and any child, is going to eat.  And they are going to eat with their imaginations as well as with their bodies.  Or they’re going to cease to be.  If you don’t feed your kids, they stop being your children; they stop being, period.  But the same thing exists with their imaginations, with their souls; you HAVE to tell them stories.  If you don’t, someone will.  They’re going to feed somewhere. 

...They’re going to consume whatever they find.  ...They just are an indiscriminate vacuum cleaner.  ...They’re looking for food; they’re looking for food that challenges their imaginations. That shapes and molds their imaginations.  ...They WILL be filled [from somewhere].”

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“Christians shouldn’t be the sort of people to just open any book or go into any theater and just settle down and go, ‘Oooo, I love it.’  That’s not really our attitude. ...[So] what is our attitude when we approach a new book? ...How does one go about culturing our palate?”

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“We understand this when it comes to other things.  So if somebody told you, ‘I love food. I love ALL food.’  And you said, ‘Well, I’ve got this lousy 3-year-old TV dinner’, and they’re like, ‘HIT me; I love it! As long as I’m eating, as long as I’m putting stuff in my mouth, I’m happy.’  We all know to be deeply concerned. 

...But if somebody says, ‘I love reading’, those alarms don’t go off.  We don’t wait and say, ‘Reading what?’ before we pass judgment. 

...So, as we try to develop palates, we have to realize that it’s going to ruin a lot of stuff for you.  And so, the reason that parents and readers don’t do this a lot is, it takes the buzz away.  Because you have to stop being an alcoholic and start actually being a connoisseur. You have to start tasting and seeing, then passing judgment on stuff. 

So if you’re just, ‘I love reading’ or ‘my kids will engulf any stuff...ever’, that’s a problem.  You have to train them to throw a book away.  You have to stop reading, show them where the breaks are; teach them how to throw a book across the room. 

And also to say ‘Why?’  As they’re reading, they have to be thinking to themselves, ‘What is this saying? What is this doing to me? What is this food doing to my imagination? Where is it taking me? And is it true, good, and beautiful?’  And if not, spit it out, stop now.”

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