The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown

by Elizabeth Laird

Inspired by award-winning author's Elizabeth Laird's own childhood growing up in post-war London.

Charity Brown’s life is about to change – her family have been left a huge, rambling house by a mysterious benefactor, and her parents want to move in and throw open its doors to the needy.

Only recently back from hospital after months of isolation with polio, Charity is over-protected and lonely as the only child still at home. Her family are very religious – her sisters are called Faith and Hope, and her brother Ted is studying to be a preacher – so she's both excited and nervous at the thought of sharing her family and new home with strangers.

It’s a recipe for confusion, joy and endless misunderstandings, including with the new neighbours, an Austrian family with a daughter just Charity’s age...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Historical

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 7, 2022

About the author

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School.
When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.

Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.

She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.

Reviews

[Shlok Pandey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book proves that Elizabeth Laird can write on any topic beautifully, and is surely unique and unbeatable when historical fiction is considered. This is by far the best coming-of-age novel ever written. A charismatic and heart warming novel which you would want to read on and on forever. Once again, Elizabeth Laird impressed me with her flawless, great, unbeatable, beautiful and creative writing style. After reading the very last page of this book, you will definitely have a smile on your face. Charity Brown, the protagonist, is extraordinary. Her questioning of her family's religious practices, traditions and views is quite relatable, and eye opening to read. This book warms your heart, brings you immense joy when you read it, and makes you overwhelmed. Only Elizabeth Laird's fans will understand the true beauty of this book.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In 1955, Charity Brown has a difficult life. While she has a supportive mother and father, who are both heavily invested in the Lucasite religious movement and work as missionaries who rely on donations to fund their work and family, she has recently had a bout with polio that has kept her out of school for months and left her with lingering weaknesses in an arm and leg. Her two sisters, Hope and Faith, and brother, Ted, are much older, and busy with their own lives. When the family has a windfall, they are shocked to find that a church member has left his house and furnishings to them. Such a large house is hard to fund, but the parents also have some money from Mr. Brown's family that he hasn't touched because it was acquired through a distillery business, something upon which their strict religion frowns. The family moves, hoping to use the extra space for people in need. Charity, who has struggled in school with other students making fun of her "holy" ways, is hoping to make friends with a new neighbor girl, Rachel. Rachel's parents lived through the Holocaust, and don't trust many people, so are leery of the Browns. Charity, who very much wants to be devout, decides to be baptized, and struggles with her faith journey, since the way her parents live is not in sync with the families around them. She is tutored in French by Rachel's mother, and eventually makes peace with a girl at school who bullies her. And afterword explains that this is very much based on Ms. Laird's childhood, although the Lucasites are fictional.
Strengths: How gorgeous is that cover? Like Kessler's Code Name Kingfisher, it's done in the style seen on the introductions to BBC shows like The Durrels in Corfu or All Creatures Great and Small. Charity's dress, socks and shoes, and braids are perfect! This reminded me so strongly of books like Sharp's Cluny Brown or Enright's The Saturdays, so Laird's grasp of Mid Century literature is very strong. This is a quiet but interesting story of one girl's difficulties growing up under somewhat unusual circumstances. Sadly, none of Laird's many novels seem to have made their way to the US. I'd love to take a look at Song of the Dolphin Boy.
Weaknesses: This might be a hard sell for my students, given the particularly English setting (which I adored). I'd love to see something set in the US in 1955, with a young girl moving to a new suburb. I will keep this in mind if I have an increased number of readers wanting historical fiction or books set in England.
What I really think: I enjoyed this tremendously, and it covers a period of time that has not gotten much attention. The aftermath of polio is also somewhat unusual; my mother had polio as a child, but thankfully only had a heart murmur because of it. This is a good choice for readers who need more post WWII books like Van Draanen's The Peach Rebellion or Frazier's Mighty Inside (also set in 1955), or Lasky's 2010 Chasing Orion (which also deals with polio).

[Martha Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. A polio survivor in the UK after the end of WW2, Charity returns to school still struggling with effects of the polio and also continuing to struggle with her parents’ very loving but rule oriented Christian sect. She befriends a Jewish girl next door whose extended family died in the Holocaust. Parents, aunts, sisters, a brother and all the guests at the home her family opens to the Lord’s work come bringing new ideas, growth and of course so many misunderstandings. Charity’s family is white although there are Jewish and Indian characters as well which brings up both racism and anti semitism. I found the treatment of religion in this book absolutely masterful, maybe the best I have ever read in a Middle Grade novel. The writing and characters are so very very vivid (partly because they are somewhat based on real people, as is Charity, who is based on the author herself.) I genuinely missed them after finishing reading and wish I had time to go back and read it again. Lovely to recommend to kids who loved All of a Kind Family, the Penderwicks and other slice of life family stories. And anyone who wants to see religion dealt with graciously in a kids’ book. Also could be recommended to kids who LOVED The War that Saved My Life. (There are brief discussions of questioning and attempting to understand Christian doctrine in the book.)

[Ayacchi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

It's like a slice of life story of Charity Brown with her 'misunderstanding' and finding the meaning of life.

I like that I could learned a thing or two from the book. It's understandable for Charity to feel like everyone doesn't understand her, or wrong her. That many bad things happened to her such as being bullied by Monica, questioning about her faith and such. And I'm glad she could finally open her eyes and see things from different point of views, understanding her action and people's demeanor toward her.

[Kidlitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A children's book that is really a memoir of an unusual pre-War English childhood of extreme religion, sibling dynamics, money issues, an unexpected legacy, a Jewish family next door who have escaped Nazi Austria but most of all the protagonist's painful battle with polio. It sounds a bit much but actually it's a cheerful recounting of the mess that comes with a childhood full of real life. I did find the parents alternately maddening, alienating and loving as their children struggled with their fundamentalist Christian upbringing but I did learn quite a bit about the

[Cora Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charity was stuck in a very hard place, between following her religion and her family or going her on the way. She's realizes that maybe she's can still be with them while having her ideals and, of course, Rachel. The ending was abrupt, and nothing really significantly happened, but it was in the little things that helped this not be a 2🌟

[NightSkiesDark · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very low stakes, coming-of-age read.

I liked the character of Charity who goes from being a poorly child to an idealistic adolescent.

I've never heard of this author before, but her writing is very good.

[Gracie:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

A witty and heartfelt novel loosely based on Lairds life. The reader follows Charity Brown, a polio survivor in the 1950s, whose family inherit a large Manor from hrr deceased Uncle. This book dealt well with complex topics such as religion and puberty.

[Alexandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing was spectacular - particularly because the topic (young faith) can be difficult to pinpoint and describe, but this author does it perfectly. I loved that it was low-stakes but I was still so intrigued to keep going. It reminded me of a tree grows in Brooklyn in a way. Beautiful work.

[Anna Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gorgeous story set in post-war Britain. A delightful read.

[Laura Pullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a good book and it's really easy to read. Definitely recommend!

[k.readsalot · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dnf would probably give another try sometime

[Sophie Chimienti · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Jessica Lerbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting as historical fiction but the character didn't really reach me.

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written novel. There's a Charity Brown in all of us

[Hannah Schneiderman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book . . . was not what I expected. I don’t typically read historical fiction books like this one and, because I know practically nothing of what it was like before I was born, I was kind of confused with this story. I did end up liking how the book played out, and the main character’s struggles that many can relate to.

[Nemesia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Similar to: "Digging for Victory" by Cathy Faulkner

[Jess Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful coming-of-age story.