Learning Contentment in Home Life: Late Summer Reading

A beautiful image from Graphics Fairy

I am reading a free Google book called  "He Fell in Love With His Wife"  (just click on the book title to take you to the place where you can print out or read the book,) written in 1886, which I have printed and put in a spiral binding, making it much easier on the eyes to read than the screen.


This story is full in interesting characters and references to things I used to hear about a lot, referring to things like "protracted meetings" and the "meeting house," as well as using the word "famous" as an expression, somewhat like the word "capital!"Several of my friends have ordered the printed novel from ebay, because the cover looks so nice.


The online version has some typing errors, but it does not interfere with the beautiful language and the sweet descriptions of places and feelings.  If you are reading it and thinking it would make a good movie, well, it was made into a silent film, but I believe it would make a wonderful movie.


The story begins with a widower's problem of looking after his business while trying to save his house from decay and ruin. He hires numerous housekeepers and cooks, all with problems of their own, and some who bring in extra people who add to the destruction of the house.Eventually he marries a woman who has looked after an invalid mother until her death. 


This woman is exhausted by the work she has done, and then goes to the man's house, which has endless possibilities for work. Eventually though, through adequate rest, and small efforts, she creates a feeling of contentment for her farmer and gives him the kind of home life he needs in order to conduct his business.

Her husband wants her to feel at home in his house, so he says,

"I will let you wash a few dishes, if it will make you feel more at ease," and the wife thinks upon how that small effort gave her a feeling of belonging.


The book  brings to life the attitude of contentment and shows the sensitivity of the wife to the details of life, such as the kind of light that appears when she first awakes, or the flowers she puts in a vase for the table, which she found by the road, and of course the food she prepares and the atmosphere she creates for their home.

It is written in the wordy descriptions of the writing style of the time, requiring careful reading. If  you are an impatient reader, this is not for you, and if you have a picky attitude about some of the practices of the times (for example, the husband fierce opposition to some hooligans who come to bad-mouth his wife, or the incident where he was found smoking a pipe, or the unusual circumstances of the woman's life and the circumstances surrounding their agreement to enter into marriage, ), you will not enjoy this book. It is has a rugged man and a soft, feminine but determined woman in it, and it shows how the two combine to make a success of their marriage. If you do not like the women being in the home, you shouldn't bother to read this book.


Although the story is full of action, the story still has detailed descriptions of the thoughts and observations of both the farmer and his wife. Something as simple as the weather or the day's work can take an entire paragraph as the details are listed.  It will take a patient reader, but I think the story has enough strange characters in it that it will make you smile enough to keep reading.

Some of the phrases in this book are worth noting:

"Some men are chilled by public disapproval and waver under it, but Holcroft was thereby only the more strongly confirmed in his course."


"Every hour added to the beauty of the season without. The unplowed fields were taking on a vivid green."

"A burst of song from the lilac bush  under the parlor window drew her eyes thither, and there was the paternal redbreast pouring out the very soul of ecstasy. From  the nest beneath him rose the black head and yellow beak of his brooding mate. 'How contentented and happy he looks,' Alida murmered, 'how happy they both are! And the secret of it is, home."

"The desperate view she had taken of her misfortunes troubled him, and he had thought it possible that she might sink into despondency and something like invalidism; but that involuntary bubble of laughter re-assured him. 'Quiet, wholesome, cheerful life will restore her to health,' he thought, as he put his favorite beverage and sputtering steak on the table. 'You can pour me a cup of coffee."


"Holcroft would have been blind indeed had he not observed changes for the better in her. The old sad, troubled expression was passing away from her eyes. Every day it seemed easier for her to laugh, and her step grew more elastic. It was all so gradual that he never questioned it...there was a new atmosphere in his home---a new influence, under which his mind was awakening in spite of his weariness and absorption of the interest of the farm. "

In general I found neither of them to be critical of the other, and that was the key, in my opinion, to any difficulties that came their way. The plot may seem far-fetched and romantically impossible in today's world, but things were not so regulated in times past. If you read "Anne of Green Gables" or anything written by Jane Austen, or the book "Pollyanna," you will probably enjoy this summer reading project.  Keep in mind that people of the era in which this was written read literature like Shakespeare's plays and Washington Irving ("The Wife"), which may have colored the plots and descriptions in their own writings.

Another Free Book for High Summer Reading: Coelebs In Search of a Wife

Mrs. Y., an email friend who is quite keen on reading old books, has kindly suggested an even better book from the Gutenberg Project (free online books that have outlived their copyright), called "Coelebs In Search of a Wife."  She writes, "Hannah More's book has a spectrum of characters but they are for the purpose of teaching about Christian living, and her views on raising children are relevant today. The words "timeless truths" comes to mind concerning what she wrote."  Although "He Fell in Love With His Wife" has references to the Christian life,  "..In Search of a Wife" may be the kind of thing that you are looking for, for a pleasant read in the high summer season.