The Book I read by Chance…..!!!!!

      I never in my wildest dreams fancied of coming across this wonderful novel and reading it. Not until my sister attended a friends party and came back with this book as a gift from a friend of hers’. I wasn’t reading anything these days so I asked my sister to lend it to me for a couple of days to have it read and done, which she agreed.

Let’s first get over with the boring part. This book, Fallen Angels, is written by an award winning author Patricia Hickman. It is a part of the Millwood series penned down by the same author.

Now coming to the interesting portion, the novel itself, which is indeed remarkable for its gripping story, mesmerizing and the ingredient that makes it different from the others is that it’s realistic!

The Author

The story is situated in the time of the Great Depression of 1930s. It tells the tale of three young children rather three Welbys (if one quotes their surname), namely Angel, Willie and Ida May whose father had left them to a fraudulent aunt as he himself was unable to carry the burden of his children due to depression-the economic slump. Similar case was with their mother, but she was the first to desert her children. Their aunt also left them high and dry, shelter less and companion less!

How the children fight this excruciating pain of being alone, especially when the eldest of them, Angel, is aged only thirteen. Here the character of this biggest (nickname given to Angel by the protagonist) is simply bound to inspire and attract anyone. She has enormous courage and the gift of the gab to carry her siblings through the streets of Snow Hill. One loves the way she tackles and is headstrong enough to wrap the enormous miseries into a storm in a teacup! She believes that she can take care of the siblings and has faith in God that everything would turn right.

Now fast forwarding, these four children meet a guy named Jeb Nubey who is wanted for murder, and get along with him to the town of Nazareth in the hope of finding bread and butter. How this happens I may not reveal but they manage to impose themselves as Reverend Gracie and family, with Jeb their father, and are highly respected by the people of Nazareth who had been waiting for a reverend, with the same name and family far too long. They get all the luxuries deemed for a reverend and family and manage to impose well, although Angel had to take the responsibility of making Jeb learn the Sunday sermons as he didn’t know how to read!!!!! (Imagine that)

For how long do they impose? And how well do they impose? Do they get caught? All these would only get answered if you read the novel.

There is one very important character of a school teacher, Miss Coulter Fern,  a woman par excellent, with a wealth of knowledge and charisma but who believes that Jeb is the real reverend and gets inspired from his masquerade. Despite his short comings she believes in him and finally they both fell in love. But would she love him, if the ploy is revealed? Jeb truly falls for her and she for him, but would they be able to unite? Would she accept a thoughtless man over her intellectuals?  What about the desire to have a man who could match her intellectuals?

Conclusively…….I personally learnt a lot from this book. I actually knew about this, before hand, what I am just about to write but then after reading this book I really got it testified from this female author. Women or girls 'may' wish their men to be of towering character, having flawless charisma, bravery, and enormous intellectual strengths. I hate to accept it that today only few men posses such characteristics and they actually obliterate the dreams of woman by not being so ……….but there also exists a dearth of women like Fern. Mind you am not picking up an excuse as I firmly believe that there still exist a lot of men who do want and are capable of to be a best companion a woman would have ever Dreamt of!!  

I am not fully satisfied by the end, but then it was alright. However I must acknowledge the understanding of the author for human nature, especially love as an abstract and lofty sensation!!