Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood

The Marshmallows Trilogy #1

by George MacDonald

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Classics, Christian, Christianity, Romance

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1867

About the author

George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow-writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of spiritual wisdom and the life of Christ, even more than most others by MacDonald that I have read. It is somewhat like taking Baxter's The Reformed Pastor, and casting it into fiction. My dear friend Len Pine, pastor of the Bible Presbyterian church in Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, read it upon my recommendation. He wrote me afterward with gratitude, "rarely have a I read a book that has brought such pleasure to my heart and insight to my mind all at the same time. " I wholeheartedly concur with my brother in this.

[ian nix · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's gonna take me a while to finish this one, because it's one that I love to move through slowly. MacDonald puts into words not one or even a few, but several of the concepts that often fly around my brain, and that's just... pleasing.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely Victorian classic, about a vicar finding his way in his new parish. Book one of three. Dan Hamilton did a wonderful job of simplifying some of MacDonald's verbosity without losing any of the beautiful language.

[Jen Ebers]

I just love MacDonald’s gentle and wandering yet profound voice.

[Charlotte Gunther · Rating 3 out of 5]

MacDonald tells his stories so that his readers might understand God's love and mercy. But the unquestioned rules of class in 19thC England seem greater than biblical admonitions. One's station in life is determined by birth and heritage, and it is one's christian duty to maintain that place. But excellence in godliness and spirituality is possible for anyone, no matter the circumstances of his birth. In this story we see the struggles of a village parson (who is grateful for his status as a 'gentleman') as he persuades by word and deed to bring his flock to godliness. There is godliness in the most humble of his people and wickedness among those who are high-born. Polite direct speech rules in every conversation. Good story, good talk, and concepts about God that are worthy of contemplation and practice.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. The story held my interest and I feel like the author had a good understanding of people. He is a bit too preachy. I love wise tidbits, but when you start copying out whole sermons into your novel... Well, maybe it's time for a bit of careful editing.

[Paige Sagach · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

"For I thought if I could get them to like poetry and beautiful things in words, it would not only do them good, but would help them to see what is in the Bible, and therefore to love it more. For I never could believe that a man who did not find God in other places, as well as in the Bible would ever find Him there at all. And I have always thought that to find God in other books enables us to see clearly that He is more in the Bible than in any other book, or all other books put together."

It’s a slow but rewarding read.

[Courtney Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

George MacDonald's novels are often a mixture of sermon and story, and usually quite devotional. In this book the sermons were more interesting by far than the story.

[Elizabeth Tuecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

best narrative voice ever to be written
(but a little wordy & wandering, so let's give it 4 stars 👌)

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*
There was something very comforting and reassuring about this book. Following this man as he moves to a new parish, meets his people and gets to know their troubles - living inside his mind for a while - it lifted my spirits. Here is a sincerely caring person living out his beliefs, making mistakes, having to apologize, learning from the people he serves. Not heavy on plot, but a soothing, if slightly sentimental story about what it's like to be a minister in a old country parish.

[Chelsea Lane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would describe this novel as part Jane Austen (exploring relationships in a small country parish), part gothic romance (creepy old ladies, mysterious old buildings, people of unknown origin), and part Unspoken Sermons (sooo much biblical and spiritual insight from MacDonald sprinkled throughout). The last part being the best part, IMO.

I loved this book. I can’t believe I’ve never heard it mentioned as one of MacDonald’s notable works. So glad I stumbled upon it.

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful novel of a new parson, Harry Walton in the parish, in the traditional style of George MacDonald. Here, he meets the parishioners of Marshmallow, makes some friends among them and finds a woman to love. It is a very interesting town of people.
I have moved on to the next novel in this series The Seaboard Parish.

[Tiffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far, this is my favorite George MacDonald book. Great insight into thoughts and motivations of everyday people. This book has helped me give context to his other Christian writings that are not in story form (Unspoken Sermons, The miracles of our Lord, Hope of the Gospel).

[Faith Shelton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful vacation read. This reminded me of Cranford with a plot (and a sermon or two). I grew to love the villagers and their quirks and wished the book could have continued.
The editing was well done and it was still a charming story.

[Summer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like the title states, a quiet book. People really don't make books like this anymore, or if they do I haven't found them. It sort of reminds me of the Little House on the Prairie TV series, but quieter.. I enjoyed how much Spenser and Dante were mentioned.

"How often do we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. "

"'Of course it seems to me better that you should not believe God had done a thing, than that you should believe He had not done it well!'"

"I would answer:'Of all children how can the children of God be old?'"

"'Auntie, I think I should like to be a painter.'
'Why?' returned his companion.
'Because, then,' answered the child, 'I could help God to paint the sky."

"Did God care to paint the sky of an evening, that a few of His children might see it, and get just a hope, just an aspiration, out of its passing green, and gold, and purple, and red? and should I think my day's labour lost, if it wrought no visible salvation in the earth?"

"Upon such instances men seize and call them providences. It is well that they can; but it would be gloriously better if they could believe that the whole matter is one grand providence."

"Beside him stood his old woman, in a portentous bonnet, beneath whose gay yellow ribbons appeared a dusky old face, wrinkled like a ship's timbers, out of which looked a pair of keen black eyes, where the best beauty, that of loving-kindness, had not merely lingered, but triumphed."

"It is a principle of mine never to push anything over the edge. When I am successful in any arugment, my one dread is of humiliating my opponent. Indeed I cannot bear it. It humiliates me. And if you want him to think about anything, you must leave him room, and not give him such association with the question that the very idea of it will be painful and irritating to him. Let him have a hand in the convincing of himself. I have been surprised sometimes to see my arguments come up fresh and green, when I thought the fowls of the air had devoured them up. When a man reasons for victory and not for truth in the other soul, he is sure of just one ally, the same that Faust had in fighting Gretchen's brother- that is, the Devil. But God and good men are against him. So I never follow up a victory of that kind, for , as I said, the defeat of the intellect is not the object in fighting with the sword of the Spirit, but the acceptance of the heart. In this case, therefore, I drew back."

"You know the Fairy Queen. Think how long the Redcross Knight travelled with the Lady Truth- Una, you know- without learning to believe in her; and how much longer still without ever seeing her face. For my part, may God give me strength to follow till I die. Only I will venture to say this, that it is not by any agony of the intellect that I expect to discover her."

"(He to whom the eternal Word speaks, is set free from a press of opinions.)"

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read most of the book. At about 70% into it, I got impatient with the Vicar and the plot and skipped to the last few chapters. The book was published in 1876 and I guess it is amazing that it is still of interest. I can sense the autobiographical elements in that MacDonald left the church to become an author and thus has very strong ideas of just what a vicar should be. The vicar is impatient with those who discriminate or are condescending to ordinary folk. A quote--"It is the vulgar mind that looks down on the earning and worships the inheriting of money." In that opinion, MacDonald may have been ahead of his time. In his chat with a woman with a child and no husband, he has the vicar give her blame for not resisting. I almost quit the book at that point. I don't think I misunderstood his reprimand.

I'm not sorry I read the book having heard about MacDonald's influence on the Inklings of Oxford--CS Lewis, Tolkein, and others. I bought the download for 99 cents but I think it is available free through Google.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think my version (edited by Dan Hamilton) was abridged and took out a little more content than it should have, as the plot was jumpier than I'm used to expecting in a MacDonald book. Still, some enlightening material.
Most memorable segment: “and between the dances I read two or three of Wordsworth’s ballads to them. For I thought if I could get them to like poetry and beautiful things in words, it would not only do them good, but would help them to see what is in the Bible, and therefore to love it more. For I never could believe that a man who did not find God in other places, as well as in the Bible would ever find him there at all. And I have always thought that to find God in other books enables us to see clearly that He is more in the Bible than in any other book, or all the other books put together.”

[ValeReads Kyriosity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Annals of quiet neighborhoods are just the sort of books I like, but my goodness the Rev. MacDonald needed an editor! Who was that fellow who did a bunch in the '80s? Phillips? I've no idea if he did a good job, but I suspect he cannot have done otherwise but to improve them. If I won the lottery, I wouldn't tell anyone, but there would be signs, one of which would be the hunting down of the rights to those editions and the production of decent audio editions. God bless the dear, kind LibriVox volunteers, but there were a few here that really ought not have tried. The worst being the fellow who mispronounced "Annals" in a way that would have made a junior high boy snicker. 😖

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was not aware of MacDonalds Universalist or nearly Universalist views until reading this. A good storyteller and writer no doubt. Excellent creation of place in his book. I ended up going in search of what did MacDonald really believe, which is apparently open to some debate.

I'll likely stick to his more creative works of fiction in future however.

[Anete Ābola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very good. At times, it (audiobook) sounded like a detective book. It is worth reading for the sermon on mammon alone. Every paragraph is full of meaning, as is usual with older authors.

"The world will never be right till the mind of God is the measure of things and the will of God the Law of things."

[Priscilla S. Bengtson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. At first, I had a hard time getting into the story, but I think I just wasn’t taking the time to really absorb it. The second half of the book was so, so lovely. I highlighted so much. It definitely gave me “Sir Gibbie” vibes in parts of it. George MacDonald is becoming one of my fave authors! I am starting to understand why Lewis loved him so much.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

George MacDonald’s books are just so consistently good and do well written. This is another great example of him taking a simple country vicar’s life and presenting an engaging set of characters who you grow to care about.

[Lesley Manning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to finish but it was a wholesome book with lots of wisdom. Could have done without some of the entire sermons but the narrator is a priest so I should expect it.

I did really enjoy how much the narrator pivoted to talk to the reader. You don’t see that much in books nowadays.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of food for thought in this book ! A comforting read on the spiritual life of a small parish and it was fun to glean Macdonald’s theology and spiritual insights through the characters of the book. Definitely not a fast paced book, but a worthwhile read.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a long sermon with some narrative in-between. Just when you are thinking, enough of the sermon already, he gets back to the narrative.

[Erin Schanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Librivox audio version is terrible! I gave up. Might try again when I have time to read the hard copy.

[Molly Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quiet, a little creepy, and really really beautiful.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to be a pastor like Mr. Walton when I grow up.

[Alyssa Bohon · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite of George MacDonald's books - narrative fiction, theology, and musings all mingled into a gripping and deeply thoughtful story.

[Kathy Davila · Rating 5 out of 5]

The families in this book help us explore forgiveness, parenting adult children, and the value of purity. The teaching against worshipping Mammon is the best I've read on the topic.