The Moon is Down and The Pearl by John Steinbeck
I loved that none of these women were perfect, they seemed to have the best and worst of us wrapped up inside them. I love that all three of these women took on the Nazi occupation with courage, fortitude, grit, determination, grace, and the weapons they had at hand—scissors, a pot of boiling water, and ear hair trimmers. One made sure her man was ready to be the leader he had to be, one used her kitchen to inspire people to get angry and stand up, and one used her mending tools to strike back at the ones who took away the man she loved. Let this be a lesson to all, go carefully around a woman and her tools. Don’t touch those they love.
Betsie and Martha
Have you ever thought, HearthKeeper, about how important color is? Have you ever thought that even what you wear might be as vital as bringing color to your prison cell? Reading this book made me far more aware of the importance of color. In fact, one of the expressions of hope is a bright blue sweater passed around from sister to sister as they endure their different harsh prison sentences. Beauty is one of the great themes brought out over and over and almost always associated with Betsie.
Three Different Tenders
Mrs. Weasley stands in contrast with Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia isn’t presented as a tender. She’s bony while Mrs. Weasley is plump. Aunt Petunia spoils her son to the point of ruin. Mrs. Weasley finds the balance between letting her children be themselves and building their character.
Stoneheart Review by Rachel Atterholt
Hope isn’t easy. Life isn’t easy. It can be hard, but it can be beautiful. Hope is tough with bloody knuckles and bruised smiles. It keeps going despite the hardships. It’s not an easy hope but a well-earned one. I’ve not had it easy, not had easy hope come on silver wings. Hope has had to pull me kicking and screaming through some of the worst of life. And here I am. Hearthkeeping is hard too, tending the fires of your church, your home, your family.
Psyche Sullivan
See, I think stories let us practice being brave before we have to be by giving us exaggerated situations. Will I ever pick up a gun to shoot a witch bent on eating my child? Um…doubtful. But I can take what happened to Psyche and beat a snake off my chicken without hesitation because I’ve practiced being brave through Psyche.
Dandelion Wine Review by Rachel Atterholt
But really it’s about homemaking. It’s about the wonderful magic of caring for your home. It’s about generations of baking, sewing, and cleaning. It’s about loving and serving others so much that you connect through time and memory.
Sophie Deveraux
Our world talks a lot about safe spaces while disregarding the very people who create acceptable safe spaces. It is impossible to make the world safe. But we can strive to make our homes safe places for our few people. We can create pockets of safe spaces, be it Sophie at Leverage Headquarters, Shaye Elliot of the Elliot Homestead, or just Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Smith down the road who you don’t know and will never hear about.
Damsel-in-Distress
What The End of Woman gave me, amongst many other things, was the ability to return to my love of damsel-in-distress stories. Growing up, I loved the damsel-in-distress.
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
If you are a sucker for books that wallow, swim, and soak in beautiful language, if you don’t need it to be a sprint from one point of action to another, if you love fairytales, and if you are willing to face dark things to get to the light at the end, I suggest Once Upon a River.
Anne of Avonlea and Auschwitz Lullaby
All the food, cooking, cleaning, mending, and tending are held in such high honor in this book. It is a balm to my world-weary soul and an encouragement to keep delighting in the simple things of life.
Sophie and Christiana
Here are two women, Sophie and Christiana, which can encourage us on our way. One is an anime that is secular, and one is several hundred years old now and written by a believer. Both are well worth the time to explore and enjoy.
Mina Harker and Lucie Darnay
Homemaking is often done quietly, out of view of the action and the obvious heroic acts, but it is no less heroic to tend our hearths with care, endurance, and faithfulness even if the world calls us dull.
Look for the Tenders
To give us our own heroines, to give us examples, and to infuse our labors with courage and hope, I present to you, the tenders!
The Last Unicorn, or Loving Molly Grue
I also often wear my HearthKeeper sunglasses. I look for and notice the tending and keeping being done by women. This is why I adore Aliens and even Fury Road and Eowyn (who became a happy HearthKeeper). I love women being women and not just being men in tight suits with boobs.
Hold on to this as I talk about my newest love: Molly Grue in The Last Unicorn.