Weekend Musings #026

My unabashed endeavor to convince you, my dear reader, to read The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion.

About one month ago, I discovered the absolutely brilliant world of St. Crispian’s through The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower. There are eight volumes in the series so far; Beth has said there are plans for 25 (*cries happy tears*). I read all eight volumes in less than two weeks, and I am already re-reading them, enjoying them even more this second time through than I did on my first read.

What do I love about them? This little newsletter could not hold all the ways. It is, for one thing, the funniest series I have ever read. The number of times I have doubled over laughing while reading these books is probably concerning to my husband, who has no idea what I’m laughing over and only sees his wife with a book in hand, sinking to the floor while shedding actual tears from the hilarity of whatever bit she’s reading. My daughter, who has no idea what I’m laughing about, simply laughs along with me.

But the levity of the books is made all the more meaningful by the themes of grief, wrestling with loss, and friendship running underneath. There is a depth and gravitas to the series that is made absolutely, heart-wrenchingly beautiful by the hilarity of the unexpected scrapes the heroine—the aforementioned Emma M. Lion—finds herself in. For every laugh, there is a moment of profundity, as if you turn a corner and encounter it, and breathe, and tuck it into your heart for safekeeping.

The cast of characters is large and sweeping without being overwhelming—a rare feat, indeed. Even the most minor of characters add color to the world Brower has created, and the main characters are some of the most vivid, realistically human¹ characters I’ve ever read:

• Emma M. Lion: orphaned as a young teen, about to come into her majority and inherit her family home, Lapis Lazuli House in St. Crispian’s, London. Finds herself in the most unexpected scrapes and pulls herself through with her wit. The series is written from her perspective.

• Young Hawkes: the neighborhood vicar. Full confession, if I were not a devout Catholic and instead an Anglican living in 1880s London, I would want Young Hawkes as my vicar. Recites poetry alongside Scripture, mysterious background, selfless, seems to know when and where he’s needed without being told.

• The Duke of Islington: the neighborhood’s resident duke. How to describe him? When I read the books, I image Matthew Crawley from Downton Abbey, played by Dan Stevens. Well mannered, intelligent, good-hearted. Verbally spars with Emma in a way that (perhaps fittingly) reminds me of Mr. Knightley and Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen’s Emma.

• Nialls Pierce: war photographer and Emma’s tenant, living in Lapis Lazuli Minor, a portion of the house segmented off for renters. Talented photographer. Wrestling with a tragic past. Will do anything for his friends.

And that’s nothing to speak of the supporting cast!

• Archibald Flat: Emma’s ridiculous, morning-robe-obssessed cousin who lives in Lapis Lazuli

• Aunt Eugenia: Emma’s high society aunt who frequently demands Emma’s assistance in helping secure a match for her daughter Arabella (who is also a wonderful character)

• Agnes: the Scottish maid and cook at Lapis Lazuli House

• Parian: the manservant who hardly earns his keep

• Mary Barraige: Emma’s best friend from school

• The Roman: St. Crispian’s neighborhood ghost

• And so many more.²

These books, in addition to making me want to read and re-read them, contain so many references to classics and poetry and Scripture that I want to read Shakespeare—something I have never really desired to do other than a brief “oh, I want to be more well-read, perhaps I should pick up some Shakespeare” on occasion that usually leads me to read a sonnet, think it lovely, and move on. I have a desire to pick up Wordsworth and Plutarch. I want to read Jane Eyre. Nothing—I repeat, nothing—has made me want to read Jane Eyre since I read the synopsis and found it entirely disturbing to my sensibilities. Yet this book series has ignited a curiosity in me to read it!

I know I am not the only one who feels this way about wanting to read the books referenced in the series. In my eager anticipation for volume 9, which has no release date but should be out later this year, I have joined a rather large Facebook group of Emma M. Lion fans. There are many, many others who have been inspired to journey into the books referenced within the series. And I think it’s an absolutely wonderful, lovely thing.

Why do I write all this? To convince you, my dear reader, to read these books if you have not already.

I am a person who likes to go back to her old favorites: the Anne of Green Gables series, Little Women, Jane Austen novels, the Chronicles of Narnia, etc. Do I branch out sometimes? Yes, of course! But I always find myself going back to my old favorites.

This series has earned a spot in my old favorites, an honor I have not bestowed on any book since reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last year (and that was an honor I hadn’t given a book in years³). I will be rereading these for years to come. And I hope you, my dear reader, will give this series a try. I have a feeling that you, too, will find a treasure in these volumes.

Fair warning: you may find the first volume to be a little slow. You may not, but in case you do—fear not. It is only about one hundred pages long, and if you continue onwards, you will be hooked very quickly into book two. And after that? Well, I suspect you’ll fall in love with the delightful, wonderful neighborhood of St. Crispian’s, and all it has to offer.

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What I’m Loving

1. I’ve been making these blueberry muffins on repeat these days. Truly such an easy recipe. As per usual, I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup, and I used frozen wild blueberries. Highly recommend having a bag of frozen wild blueberries in the freezer because tbh using wild blueberries is one easy key toward elevating blueberry muffins up in the direction of bakery-level status.⁴ If you use a stand mixer, don’t mix in the blueberries with it! Fold the blueberries into the batter with a spatula. Maybe I’m dumb and this is an obvious thing, but I just started doing it recently and my berries are now remaining intact and not staining the batter entirely purple. Though, I will admit, it is a fun look.

2. Last weekend, I went out to California with my friend Tara and we gave a retreat for music students at John Paul the Great University. The retreat went so well, and I’m still thinking about some of the things that were brought up during small group discussions. Tara and I also got some quality girls’ time in the day before the retreat, and we explored the coast right above San Diego. My husband kept our toddler home and they had an absolute blast having some quality daddy-daughter time. Truly a win-win-win weekend!

3. Working on my novel. I am so close to the halfway point (40,000) for my total word count goal (80,000). Truly, I believe I will hit that point before I leave for vacation later this week. If, that is, I can carve out enough time over the next few days to do it—and that’s always the challenge, isn’t it? Anyway, I recently wrote a Substack post with updates on how things are going. It’s a post for paid subscribers, but I give some basic (& fun) updates before the paywall. Consider upgrading your subscription to follow along in more depth!

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What I’m Reading

(Aside from the Emma M. Lion books, that is!)

1. How to Enjoy Your Toddler, by Pontificating In The Suburbs . I do genuinely enjoy my toddler on the whole, and I’m finding this toddler stage to be delightfully fun, but there are some hard moments! As a first time mom, I enjoyed reading this piece and found some helpful advice that I really appreciated.

2. Life Under the Parental Eye of Sauron by Katherine Martinko. I loved this essay! So many good points brought up. In full transparency, my husband and I do keep our locations on for each other, but he’s got a long commute and I like to know when to start dinner, y’know? However, with that being said, I am fully determined to not be a helicopter parent, so the title of this essay caught my eye. Katherine provides a lot of food for thought in the argument against tracking!

3. After reading Art + Faith by Makoto Fujimura, I’m now reading another book of his, Culture Care: Reconnecting with Beauty for Our Common Life. It is incredible so far! I have a feeling this is going to be another book I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone seeking to live a beautiful life.

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Recent Essays:

1. Things I’m Learning While Writing a Novel, Part II (paid)

2. The Healing of the Rupture (paid)

3. Weekend Musings #025 (free)

1. I feel like a lot of times, characters that are meant to be realistic often end up being morally gray in angsty ways. These characters are just normal. Ordinary and yet extraordinary all at once. Isn’t that how we are as humans?

2. Roland! Jack! Saffronia March! Ben Chambers! The Brookstone twins! Professor Fletcher! Truly, I could go on and on.

3. Though, in all fairness, I did go through a spot where I was reading primarily theology books, which is great but not in such heavy doses as I succumbed myself to, unless one is doing a theology degree, in which case, the more the merrier. And before that I was mostly reading for college, though I did try to have one book per semester for pure entertainment. And before that, I was too busy in high school to do much leisure reading. Really, since having my daughter, I’ve done more leisurely reading than I’ve done since middle school! And I thought I’d never read for fun again. Don’t listen to the things you tell yourself whilst pregnant! They are most likely untrue!

4. Baking in bigger muffin tins and adding a crumb topping are the other two keys to leveling up to bakery status.