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If Only We Could See: Reimagining Creativity, Compassion, and Calling through the Extraordinary Life of Lilias Trotter
“God only knows the endless possibilities that lie enfolded in each of us.” - Lilias Trotter
In the late 19th century, Lilias Trotter stood at the threshold of artistic fame, her extraordinary talent praised by the renowned critic John Ruskin. Yet, at the height of her promise, she made a radical choice that would define the course of her life. Turning away from worldly recognition and social convention, she forged her own path—one that led her through the roughest streets of London and, ultimately, to the deserts of North Africa. There, her artistic and spiritual journeys intertwined as she expanded the many-colored canvas of her creativity to embrace not only the sweeping vistas of the Sahara, but also the lives of the Arab people she loved.
Blending biography, personal engagement, and theological reflection, Trafton takes readers on an intimate journey with Lily as her friends knew her – a visionary who saw the world with an artist’s eye and a missionary’s heart, and whose imaginative empathy and creative compassion transformed the lives of those she encountered. More than the story of one remarkable woman, this book is an invitation to experience the beauty of creation with fresh wonder, to look at our neighbors through new lenses, and to discover what “beautiful possible life” awaits each one of us as we follow the call of the Divine Artist.
In the late 19th century, Lilias Trotter stood at the threshold of artistic fame, her extraordinary talent praised by the renowned critic John Ruskin. Yet, at the height of her promise, she made a radical choice that would define the course of her life. Turning away from worldly recognition and social convention, she forged her own path—one that led her through the roughest streets of London and, ultimately, to the deserts of North Africa. There, her artistic and spiritual journeys intertwined as she expanded the many-colored canvas of her creativity to embrace not only the sweeping vistas of the Sahara, but also the lives of the Arab people she loved.
Blending biography, personal engagement, and theological reflection, Trafton takes readers on an intimate journey with Lily as her friends knew her – a visionary who saw the world with an artist’s eye and a missionary’s heart, and whose imaginative empathy and creative compassion transformed the lives of those she encountered. More than the story of one remarkable woman, this book is an invitation to experience the beauty of creation with fresh wonder, to look at our neighbors through new lenses, and to discover what “beautiful possible life” awaits each one of us as we follow the call of the Divine Artist.
320 pages, Hardcover
Published April 14, 2026
About the author
Jennifer Trafton
17 books242 followersJENNIFER TRAFTON is the author of The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, which was a nominee for Tennessee’s Volunteer State Book Award and the National Homeschool Book award. Henry and the Chalk Dragon arose from her lifelong love of art and her personal quest for the courage to be an artist. When she’s not writing or drawing, she teaches creative writing classes and workshops in a variety of schools, libraries, and homeschool groups, as well as online classes to kids around the world. She lives in a 150-year-old farmhouse in Nashville, Tennessee, along with her husband, an energetic border collie, a miniature rooster, an assortment of chickens and ducks, and a ghost who haunts the staircase.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 26, 2026
“What makes an artist an artist? The mere fact that she draws, or paints, or otherwise creates something beautiful? The genetic inheritance of a certain kind of talent? The path she takes, or the product she makes? These are the questions that lie at the heart of this book, for I believe that Lily’s story invites us to dig deep into what being an artist means, at its core.”
Lilias Trotter was a spiritual botanist; “Her soul, like the world before her, bled rainbows…She had an iridescence to her like the pearly shells she loved along the beach, reflecting the light in her own particular way…The same artistic delight that gushed out a cataract of colors whenever Lily painted or described the natural world overflowed into her view of people as well…She made artists of those around her. They forever saw the world differently because they had known the wideness and lavishness of Lily's love…For what else was art to Lily but the outward bloom of her soul?”
“Lilias Trotter's story is that of an artist who found that a paintbrush wasn't enough to fill the canvas she'd been given—she needed written words and silent woods, restaurants and camels, parables and printing presses and deep, varied friendships to craft her life's work, her masterpiece. It's the story of a lover of beauty who went on a long journey that led her ever deeper into beauty's manifold forms—in mountains, in deserts, in flowers, in faces, in the poetry of God's providence. It's the story of a woman of deep devotion who spent her life exploring, practicing, refining, questioning, and listening to what prayer is all about and what a life lived in prayer looks like—an act every bit as creative as a painting.”
“Lily's legacy lives on not only in art and parable, but in the hearts of those who still carry her vision: to serve humbly, to love wisely, and to see deeply. When I hear all these stories of hidden seeds beginning to grow and blossom and bear fruit, I know she would look out at our chaotic modern world and see glimmers of the Dawn.”
Lilias Trotter was a spiritual botanist; “Her soul, like the world before her, bled rainbows…She had an iridescence to her like the pearly shells she loved along the beach, reflecting the light in her own particular way…The same artistic delight that gushed out a cataract of colors whenever Lily painted or described the natural world overflowed into her view of people as well…She made artists of those around her. They forever saw the world differently because they had known the wideness and lavishness of Lily's love…For what else was art to Lily but the outward bloom of her soul?”
“Lilias Trotter's story is that of an artist who found that a paintbrush wasn't enough to fill the canvas she'd been given—she needed written words and silent woods, restaurants and camels, parables and printing presses and deep, varied friendships to craft her life's work, her masterpiece. It's the story of a lover of beauty who went on a long journey that led her ever deeper into beauty's manifold forms—in mountains, in deserts, in flowers, in faces, in the poetry of God's providence. It's the story of a woman of deep devotion who spent her life exploring, practicing, refining, questioning, and listening to what prayer is all about and what a life lived in prayer looks like—an act every bit as creative as a painting.”
“Lily's legacy lives on not only in art and parable, but in the hearts of those who still carry her vision: to serve humbly, to love wisely, and to see deeply. When I hear all these stories of hidden seeds beginning to grow and blossom and bear fruit, I know she would look out at our chaotic modern world and see glimmers of the Dawn.”
April 29, 2026
I have known of Lilias Trotter for 20 years. I was so happy to get this new biography. Her life was more than a sacrifice of her art. Instead her life was a work of art. I highly recommend this book.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
As a lover of beauty and the inner life, this book was an absolute delight. I had encountered Lily’s missionary work before, but If Only We Could See presents her story in an entirely new light—one that feels intimate, imaginative, and deeply human. Lily felt like a kindred spirit to me, with a temperament reminiscent of Anne of Green Gables: attentive to beauty, alive to wonder, and quietly courageous in her convictions.
What surprised me most is how cosy this book felt. I don’t usually experience books that way—I tend to think of them as useful, instructive, or thought-provoking rather than comforting—but this was, without exaggeration, the cosiest book I’ve read in decades. There is something profoundly soothing about being invited into Lily’s way of seeing the world: her attentiveness to nature, her reverence for imagination, and her conviction that our souls need room for gladness. The book lingers like a cup of tea taken slowly, teaching you to pause and “smell the roses” without ever feeling sentimental or shallow.
Jennifer Trafton does Lily full justice, writing with clarity and tenderness about her imaginative faith and her remarkably ahead-of-her-time approach to mission work. Lily understood that Christianity was never meant to be a cultural export packaged in Western forms. Instead, she listened, observed, and adapted—honouring local beauty, customs, and rhythms of life. Her belief that imagination’s first duty is “to inquire into what God has made” shaped everything she did, from evangelism to hospitality to prayer itself. Beauty, for Lily, was not decorative—it was healing, instructive, and essential.
This book also deepened my understanding of imagination as something that must be nourished by great art, good books, nature, and prayer—by “thinking God’s thoughts after Him,” as George MacDonald put it. I loved the way prayer is portrayed not as striving upward, but as learning to echo what God has already begun, joining in a harmony rather than forcing an answer.
By the end, I found myself longing not only to visit yet another country because of Lily, but also to live a little more attentively, gently, and imaginatively. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves beauty, values imagination, or longs to learn how to see the world more truly—and more tenderly.
A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to review If Only We Could See by Jennifer Trafton. It was a truly delightful and enriching read, and I’m so glad to have experienced Lily’s story in such a thoughtful way.
What surprised me most is how cosy this book felt. I don’t usually experience books that way—I tend to think of them as useful, instructive, or thought-provoking rather than comforting—but this was, without exaggeration, the cosiest book I’ve read in decades. There is something profoundly soothing about being invited into Lily’s way of seeing the world: her attentiveness to nature, her reverence for imagination, and her conviction that our souls need room for gladness. The book lingers like a cup of tea taken slowly, teaching you to pause and “smell the roses” without ever feeling sentimental or shallow.
Jennifer Trafton does Lily full justice, writing with clarity and tenderness about her imaginative faith and her remarkably ahead-of-her-time approach to mission work. Lily understood that Christianity was never meant to be a cultural export packaged in Western forms. Instead, she listened, observed, and adapted—honouring local beauty, customs, and rhythms of life. Her belief that imagination’s first duty is “to inquire into what God has made” shaped everything she did, from evangelism to hospitality to prayer itself. Beauty, for Lily, was not decorative—it was healing, instructive, and essential.
This book also deepened my understanding of imagination as something that must be nourished by great art, good books, nature, and prayer—by “thinking God’s thoughts after Him,” as George MacDonald put it. I loved the way prayer is portrayed not as striving upward, but as learning to echo what God has already begun, joining in a harmony rather than forcing an answer.
By the end, I found myself longing not only to visit yet another country because of Lily, but also to live a little more attentively, gently, and imaginatively. I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who loves beauty, values imagination, or longs to learn how to see the world more truly—and more tenderly.
A heartfelt thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to review If Only We Could See by Jennifer Trafton. It was a truly delightful and enriching read, and I’m so glad to have experienced Lily’s story in such a thoughtful way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews