Tuesday 16 February 2010

Letters From The Manse -Review

I first heard about this book a few weeks ago at a Christian Women’s group.  I was interested in it mainly because the book is made up of letters that a new pastor’s wife wrote to her family just after moving to Prince Edward Island.

What is so remarkable about this book, is that Joan & her husband Blair, moved from city living in Ontario, where they had modern conveniences, to such a remote area of the island (they were seven miles from the small town of O’Leary) that they had no power, and they had to learn how to cook on a coal stove rather than gas.  Blair was pastor to 3 churches in the area, which lent certain struggles of it’s own.

She started writing her letters in 1949, just after moving to the island, and continued for the next year & a half until they had their first child & discovered that they just didn’t have the time for writing anymore.

I think the length of the book is perfect, it’s a rather short 130 pages, but the interest of it is the culture shock she experiences, and after awhile, as they adjust to rural living, it starts to lose it’s snap.

I’d recommend this book to any wives in the ministry, as I’m sure we can all relate to some of the tales she tells, and also to those who want to take a look back at what yesteryear on the Island looked like.

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