Patricia M. St. John (1919–1993)

Patricia St. John was a single, Christian missionary to Morocco, where she worked in medicine. It was so refreshing to read a book that didn't declare raising children as the "best, highest calling" for a woman who desires to serve God!

In addition to her medical missions, she writes of her growing up years in England and Switzerland, and her brief stints in Lebanon, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

I did find the organization of the book a bit frustrating. The author jumped back and forth in time with various chapters and I much prefer chronological reading. For this reason alone, I'm unsure how much of the book will actually stay with me.

I'd never heard of St. John before picking up this book. I imagine it would be even more interesting to those who've read her other works (novels and biographies) and could learn about her inspiration for some of those stories.… (more)

Years ago, Mom read this book aloud to our family. More recently, we came across the movie from the ‘80s that is based on this book, and we had an enjoyable family movie night. After watching the movie, though, I was curious to see how it lined up with the book—and since it had been so long since I’d heard the book, I couldn’t remember what it was like. So I picked this book up recently and had a lot of fun reading it over the past few days.

This is a simple story, but the kind of story that delivers a powerful punch while still being age-appropriate for younger readers. I could strongly relate to Ruth—I saw my younger self in many of the things she did. She wasn’t always a naughty child, but she did manage to drag her brother into a lot of scrapes with her many ideas, and that was fun to read about. I also enjoyed the faith element of the story; it was very gentle, but an encouragement to me, even now as an adult.

This is a sweet, easy, fast read, one that I’d want to share with my siblings if they didn’t already know the story. If you enjoy faith-filled children’s fiction that has some depth to it, I’d highly recommend you check this book out! It’s a treasure to have on the shelf.… (more)

11-year-old Elaine is sent from London to the countryside while her mother takes a job in Europe. At first, Elaine resents her situation, especially being foisted off on a boisterous family with six other children who don't seem to want her there, but then she finds an abandoned garden that she decides to make into her own special place.

If this sounds a bit like a cut-rate Secret Garden, you're not entirely wrong, though the garden is only really important in the first half of the story. The main plot centers on Elaine's discovery of Christianity and the development of her newfound faith. It's all terribly earnest, as is typical of mid-century religious writing for children, though there's some adventure by way of a mountain holiday and a desperate robber toward the end of the book. I can see this book finding a place in a church library. My edition says it's been revised with more modern language, but I'm not familiar with the original, so I can't tell you what's been changed.… (more)