I've been recommending The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to young women for years. It contains such a wise and painful perspective on making hasty choices for a spouse based on appearance and feeling without weighing character and actions. Great recommendations as always, and love the obscure Monet paintings :)
Feminism as envisioned in Tenant of Wildfell is the kind I can get behind--one deeply informed by a Christian ethic. She nurses her husband in his final hours while still holding her boundaries? That's some heroic virtue. I love the Monet paintings you chose!
Also, Olivia's poem! Such a beautiful depiction of friendship. It reminded me of my friendship with my college roommate. "Laughter is a context we inhabit" Gorgeous.
I have both books on my too read and am excited to try them (soon hopefully? Maybe? Also have to prep for a new job this summer so we’ll see haha). I found the article ‘High Church Low Places’ fascinating. I’m going to my oldest friend’s wedding this weekend, who is an Episcopalian. For most of our friendship, we’ve been engaged in a constant conversation about faith coming from our different traditions, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the Protestant experience lately. And I loved the homeschooling article-we’re committing to a in person/at home hybrid right now that’s a classical Catholic curriculum and it has been going extremely well so far; but I have had that “high school anxiety.” It was nice to read an experienced Mom’s perspective on the male experience in particular with homeschooling (I was both a public schooler and had zero brothers, so as a homeschooling mom of a son, it’s all new to me!). And thank you for linking to the conference at ND; I can’t wait to listen (and am really bummed it didn’t happen when I was a student there haha). Love your compilations as always, and your offering resources to think about issues I care deeply about, and am so at odds with the rest of the world when it comes to them. Always good to know we’re not alone!
Love that Forrest Frank made it in this week! I haven't listened to a ton of his music but he's got some real bops and there's something very heartening to me that someone so wholesome is exploding the way he is. I have seen appreciative comments from people who have attended concerts on his current tour sharing how much his faith and desire to honor the Lord pervaded the entire show. (I must confess that every time I listen to "Drop!" and the beat changes right before he sings "Ain't how you start, it's how you finish", I get goosebumps).
Thanks for such kind words! It would be a dream to meet those women someday.
And your question made me laugh! I love the home culture you guys are cultivating. “Have you ever made rum drinks and enjoyed discussions on the celibacy of Catholic priests with your spouse on a Friday night?”
I was listening to Jess Ray for some comfort (thanks), and then I thought I’d check out this Forrest Frank guy, like maybe he was in a similar vein.
I couldn’t stop laughing, was not expecting that beat to drop in my calm space. Thanks for sharing from your multitudes.
“The dude was homeschooled with a musical family!” Who knows what the future holds for my children? I’ve been hoping church organist, I guess I should consider alllll the options as possibilities!
Oh I LOVE Jess Ray and will always come back to her music, and glad you’re enjoying her. We listened to some of her music on the way to the park this morning.
And…… this comment honestly made me laugh. Surprises abound in this newsletter.
I recently-ish discovered Sean Luke’s YouTube channel and saw just a little bit ago he posted a video on theology of beauty and said to myself, “Ah, a kindred soul.” Lol, excited to follow his work.
And through Brad East’s work I just recently came across Angela Franks myself. All of Leah Libresco Sargeant, Erika Bachiochi, Abigail Favale, and Kerri Christopher have been so helpful for me to hopefully have a robust and deep view of women, glad to look to start engaging with her work as well. Will definitely look to tab that conference for further learning and reflection.
I just read Tenant of Wildfell Hall last year. What a "make you want to go to confession" book! She was so humble and so patient that it makes me ashamed of how badly I suffer such little sufferings as I have.
When he burned the art supplies, I didn't think I could stand it. It so struck me that at the beginning she believed in universal salvation, even though that's not what she had been taught, and she thought it didn't make a difference. Clearly the theology you believe, which affects the choices you make, makes a *huge* difference! Don't marry someone irreverent towards God and think it won't matter!
I know there's one miniseries, which I haven't seen, of Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but after reading it, I wondered why this book, which was popular in the past, is almost unheard of today, and only heard of in sentences covering "The works of the three Brontë sisters" (it's like Charles Williams only being mentioned today as "Tolkien, Lewis, *and friends* made up the Inklings"). My suspicion is that it's less popular today because you can't cut God out from this work as easily.
Jane Eyre adaptations cut out Rochester's conversion at the end all the time, so the story is still made and remade into movies. If you cut God and prayer out of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, then there's not much there, is there? Why wouldn't you leave an abusive marriage and illegally remarry or live together, but that you know God sees everything you do! It's like in A Man for All Seasons, "Not for the whole world [should a man give up his soul]... But for Wales?"
Also, I love the part where you're talking abt Bronte and you go off on a little rabbit trail abt the different waves of feminism + book recs about them, because that's so my mom coded (and me tbh) 😂 "This reminds me of this thing, which I have a book about, which also makes me think of this thing, which I have a book about..." But in some ways, that's kind of the whole Life Considered, tapestry of ideas, vibe
Your Tenant of Wildfell Hall mention is so timely because I was just going on a journal ramble yesterday about books that demonstrate how choosing your spouse carefully and wisely will so drastically affect your life... so obviously, I need to find my copy of it and read it. :)
Yes! I've never thought of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Kristin Lavransdatter together, but what a warning on choosing a spouse those two books give!! It changes your whole life forever! I look forward to reading what you write reflecting on these books.
I love how long, timeline wise, Kristin is, because most books end after only a short period in a character's life, but you get to see Kristin's decisions play out over her whole lifetime. How many of us at twenty seriously imagine how a big decision will impact us when we're old?
("Finns don't count" from Erlend has entered into regular usage at our house in various contexts (not the same one as in the book!), sarcastically. 😅)
I've been recommending The Tenant of Wildfell Hall to young women for years. It contains such a wise and painful perspective on making hasty choices for a spouse based on appearance and feeling without weighing character and actions. Great recommendations as always, and love the obscure Monet paintings :)
Feminism as envisioned in Tenant of Wildfell is the kind I can get behind--one deeply informed by a Christian ethic. She nurses her husband in his final hours while still holding her boundaries? That's some heroic virtue. I love the Monet paintings you chose!
Also, Olivia's poem! Such a beautiful depiction of friendship. It reminded me of my friendship with my college roommate. "Laughter is a context we inhabit" Gorgeous.
I have both books on my too read and am excited to try them (soon hopefully? Maybe? Also have to prep for a new job this summer so we’ll see haha). I found the article ‘High Church Low Places’ fascinating. I’m going to my oldest friend’s wedding this weekend, who is an Episcopalian. For most of our friendship, we’ve been engaged in a constant conversation about faith coming from our different traditions, so I’ve been thinking a lot about the Protestant experience lately. And I loved the homeschooling article-we’re committing to a in person/at home hybrid right now that’s a classical Catholic curriculum and it has been going extremely well so far; but I have had that “high school anxiety.” It was nice to read an experienced Mom’s perspective on the male experience in particular with homeschooling (I was both a public schooler and had zero brothers, so as a homeschooling mom of a son, it’s all new to me!). And thank you for linking to the conference at ND; I can’t wait to listen (and am really bummed it didn’t happen when I was a student there haha). Love your compilations as always, and your offering resources to think about issues I care deeply about, and am so at odds with the rest of the world when it comes to them. Always good to know we’re not alone!
Thanks so much for linking my article, Hayley.
Great to see some appreciation for the Tennant of Wildfell Hall - it's so underrated/less well-known than it should be.
Love that Forrest Frank made it in this week! I haven't listened to a ton of his music but he's got some real bops and there's something very heartening to me that someone so wholesome is exploding the way he is. I have seen appreciative comments from people who have attended concerts on his current tour sharing how much his faith and desire to honor the Lord pervaded the entire show. (I must confess that every time I listen to "Drop!" and the beat changes right before he sings "Ain't how you start, it's how you finish", I get goosebumps).
Thanks for such kind words! It would be a dream to meet those women someday.
And your question made me laugh! I love the home culture you guys are cultivating. “Have you ever made rum drinks and enjoyed discussions on the celibacy of Catholic priests with your spouse on a Friday night?”
I was listening to Jess Ray for some comfort (thanks), and then I thought I’d check out this Forrest Frank guy, like maybe he was in a similar vein.
I couldn’t stop laughing, was not expecting that beat to drop in my calm space. Thanks for sharing from your multitudes.
“The dude was homeschooled with a musical family!” Who knows what the future holds for my children? I’ve been hoping church organist, I guess I should consider alllll the options as possibilities!
Oh I LOVE Jess Ray and will always come back to her music, and glad you’re enjoying her. We listened to some of her music on the way to the park this morning.
And…… this comment honestly made me laugh. Surprises abound in this newsletter.
Gonna go read the Brad East piece all the way through, but after a peek, I'm probably glad to have a glass of wine to hand.
I recently-ish discovered Sean Luke’s YouTube channel and saw just a little bit ago he posted a video on theology of beauty and said to myself, “Ah, a kindred soul.” Lol, excited to follow his work.
And through Brad East’s work I just recently came across Angela Franks myself. All of Leah Libresco Sargeant, Erika Bachiochi, Abigail Favale, and Kerri Christopher have been so helpful for me to hopefully have a robust and deep view of women, glad to look to start engaging with her work as well. Will definitely look to tab that conference for further learning and reflection.
I just read Tenant of Wildfell Hall last year. What a "make you want to go to confession" book! She was so humble and so patient that it makes me ashamed of how badly I suffer such little sufferings as I have.
When he burned the art supplies, I didn't think I could stand it. It so struck me that at the beginning she believed in universal salvation, even though that's not what she had been taught, and she thought it didn't make a difference. Clearly the theology you believe, which affects the choices you make, makes a *huge* difference! Don't marry someone irreverent towards God and think it won't matter!
I know there's one miniseries, which I haven't seen, of Tenant of Wildfell Hall, but after reading it, I wondered why this book, which was popular in the past, is almost unheard of today, and only heard of in sentences covering "The works of the three Brontë sisters" (it's like Charles Williams only being mentioned today as "Tolkien, Lewis, *and friends* made up the Inklings"). My suspicion is that it's less popular today because you can't cut God out from this work as easily.
Jane Eyre adaptations cut out Rochester's conversion at the end all the time, so the story is still made and remade into movies. If you cut God and prayer out of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, then there's not much there, is there? Why wouldn't you leave an abusive marriage and illegally remarry or live together, but that you know God sees everything you do! It's like in A Man for All Seasons, "Not for the whole world [should a man give up his soul]... But for Wales?"
The Other Greedy Jobs piece was fantastic.
Thanks for the poem shoutout!
Also, I love the part where you're talking abt Bronte and you go off on a little rabbit trail abt the different waves of feminism + book recs about them, because that's so my mom coded (and me tbh) 😂 "This reminds me of this thing, which I have a book about, which also makes me think of this thing, which I have a book about..." But in some ways, that's kind of the whole Life Considered, tapestry of ideas, vibe
Your Tenant of Wildfell Hall mention is so timely because I was just going on a journal ramble yesterday about books that demonstrate how choosing your spouse carefully and wisely will so drastically affect your life... so obviously, I need to find my copy of it and read it. :)
I hope Kristin Lavransdatter was in your journal ramble
It was in fact the impetus for the ramble! I just finished the final book in the trilogy and had to get some thoughts out lol.
Yes! I've never thought of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and Kristin Lavransdatter together, but what a warning on choosing a spouse those two books give!! It changes your whole life forever! I look forward to reading what you write reflecting on these books.
I love how long, timeline wise, Kristin is, because most books end after only a short period in a character's life, but you get to see Kristin's decisions play out over her whole lifetime. How many of us at twenty seriously imagine how a big decision will impact us when we're old?
("Finns don't count" from Erlend has entered into regular usage at our house in various contexts (not the same one as in the book!), sarcastically. 😅)