Patricia MacLachlan (1938–2022)

This a quick, beautiful read, a little gem of a book. Teddy is an Irish wolfhound whom Sylvan, a poet and poetry teacher, rescued from a shelter. Teddy can successfully speak in a quiet, thoughtful voice to poets and children - being able to talk to Teddy is a sign of having achieved poet status. He's a wise fellow, but at loose ends when Sylvan unexpectedly becomes sick and passes away. "And he closes his eyes, his hands still on my neck. By the time Ellie gets there he is still. show more Silence”.

Sylvan has left him a house in the woods, with someone to stop in and take care of him. In a blizzard, Teddy rescues two lost children, and they all pull together in the house to survive the storm. They talk to one another about being left behind and being rescued, and Teddy tells the children about his beloved time with Sylvan. It feels timeless in the cozy house together, but the storm will pass, and what will happen then? The resolution is true and satisfying, and this is a magical little book. Madame MBH and I loved it. show less

A beautiful story, poignant and heartwarming. I liked the character journeys, and I thought the siblings and grandmother were surprisingly well-developed for so short a story. I also liked the realism; this story lacks so many cliches that abound in Christmas literature. Here, there are no outlandishly tragic circumstances, no misers-turned-saint, no dead parents, and no miracles. And yet, despite this, all the beauty and heartache of the holidays is captured in this straightforward and show more unexpectedly moving tale. A joy to read. show less

Told from the voice of the child who is leaving the prairie with her parents, Everything there is familiar and special and the little girl defiantly notes that she could tell Mama and Papa She won't go; She will stay!

She doesn't want to go somewhere where the land is not familiar. The girl has a baby brother and she thinks about all he will not know when he leaves. She feels an obligation to take things from the prairie so that she can show him what it was like living there, where the snow show more was high and drifts high against the fences as the horses breathe the cold air in and exhale puffs of clouds in the air.

This is lovingly written, and I am a fan of this author. There is such a depth of feeling in this book that the reader can feel the sadness of the little girl who wants desperately to stay. As she notes familiar things and people, the reader understands why she wants to remain.

Her father tells her that what you first know, stays with you. And she notes she will take some prairie dirt, a twig from the cottonwood tree. She will try to remember the songs Uncle Bly sings on the porch of his house by the river, and the feel of the soft ear of the cow, the sound of the rooster and so many things that she will hold in her heart.

I loved the slow feel of this emotional tale and the sheer beauty of the writing. show less

This is a slight book, an hour or two's read at most, yet it's deeply-moving and addresses the existential problems of life in a straightforward way.

The book is as plain as Sarah, but neither the word "plain" nor Sarah's beauty or lack of it are ever defined. Does 'plain' mean not-goodlooking, not beautiful on the surface or does it mean unadorned, without unnecessary ornament, both in looks and her character. In the context of the book either way makes perfect sense.

The story has but a show more small plot, a dead mother, a child who misses what he's never known, an older sister who is bored with comforting her younger brother, a father who does his best but is overwhelmed and lonely as the only adult holding his family together. And then comes Sarah. Answering an advert for a wife, we never learn why she never married and was willing to leave her home for an unknown man, hard work in a deeply rural setting and a ready-made family. Problems are presented, solutions suggested but most important in this book, are the feelings engendered by the meeting of this lonely family and this lonely woman and how they all bond, tentatively at first, into a beautiful family with a future expanded by love.

The most interesting part of the book for me was Sarah. Who was she? Who was this lonely, capable woman who was homesick for a life that is never described? In the same way as the mad woman in the attic in [b:Jane Eyre|10210|Jane Eyre|Charlotte Brontë|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-Atpe8kVL._SL75_.jpg|2977639] has her story unfolded in the [b:Wide Sargasso Sea|829372|Wide Sargasso Sea|Jean Rhys|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178739252s/829372.jpg|142647], I feel a book that tells of Sarah and what there was in her life that drove her to reply to an advertisment for a wife and mother in a place very far from home is a story waiting to be told.

The writing is simple, ideal for a child, but the book, the central mystery of Sarah, makes it just as interesting for an adult.

I loved this little book. show less