The depiction of Able the gardener, a humble and devout Christian, in “Tom’s Midnight Garden” brought to mind the novels of Patricia St. John. Returning to “Rainbow Garden” and reading “Treasures of the Snow” and “The Tanglewoods’ Secret” for the first time, I was surprised that, contrary to my memory, there is really nothing subtle about St. John’s Christian themes. While some people would be put off by the overt religiosity, they remain exquisitely well-crafted stories. It is not every narrative that will inspire an 8-year-old to use the word “compelling” and express a sincere desire to be a more virtuous person after reading.
“Treasures of the Snow” follows two children, Annette and Lucien, in neighboring chalets as they grow up in beauty and hardship. The scenery is described sumptuously but the difficulty of the terrain and the challenges of the farming families is readily apparent. The story begins with the death of Annette’s mother, an event that leaves her in charge of her newborn brother.
Nearby, Lucien struggles to grow up well with his widowed mother and older sister. In melodramatic scenes the feud between Annette and Lucien escalates with tragic consequences. Through that drama, however, there arises a thoroughly believable journey for the characters who wish to improve themselves and do not know how.
There are some insightful passages in St. John’s writing about family life that go far beyond the scope of kiddie lit. In a description of Annette’s father, she describes his care and concern for the children, which he does not often express because of the pressing needs of managing the farm in order to feed the family. Because he is not able to talk with the children at-length, he relies on the grandmother living with them to have deeper conversations and help the children. Far from being unaware of their emotional state, however, he notices clues in how they move and talk, discerning that Annette has been terribly troubled and has found peace and relief. St. John describes him going about his daily work thinking about and praying for his children, gladdened when he notices that they have improved, not needing to know the details. This is just one example of insight into mother and father relationships that St. John captures well.
While “Treasures of the Snow” is dominated by the analogy of opening the door of your heart to Jesus, “The Tanglewoods’ Secret” has a heavy-handed development of the analogy of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. People unaccustomed to repetitive tropes may be quick to roll their eyes and lose patience with the lack of sophistication, but developing the patience to follow the narrative is richly rewarded. However contrived the analogies may seem at times, St. John attempts and succeeds at expressing the spiritual realities we find ourselves in, what it is like to struggle and to feel pain how we can learn to pray and to make progress, however halting.
I first came across the works of Patricia St. John through the blog Erstwhile Dear. I cannot find a specific post, so it may have been mentioned in her newsletter, which is often full of wonderful tidbits and recommendations for kids. As Rachel Ringenberg’s children enjoyed reading several of the stories, so have many other families. I paritularly like the review on Goodreads of “Treasures of the Snow” in which a woman recalls her mother reading one chapter a day each day of December leading to the finale on Christmas Day each year. It is that kind of endearing book that you can return to if you develop a childlike patience with narrative and a willingness to let innocence win the day again.
