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Thrums #3
The Little Minister
The Little Minister is set in Thrums, a Scottish weaving village based on Barrie’s birthplace, and concerns Gavin Dishart, a young impoverished minister with his first congregation. The weavers he serves soon riot in protest against reductions in their wages and harsh working conditions.
296 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1891
52 people are currently reading
654 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Barrie
2,309 books2,223 followersJames Matthew Barrie was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several successful novels and plays.
The son of a weaver, Barrie studied at the University of Edinburgh. He took up journalism for a newspaper in Nottingham and contributed to various London journals before moving there in 1885. His early Auld Licht Idylls (1889) and A Window in Thrums (1889) contain fictional sketches of Scottish life representative of the Kailyard school. The publication of The Little Minister (1891) established his reputation as a novelist. During the next decade, Barrie continued to write novels, but gradually, his interest turned towards the theatre.
In London, he met Llewelyn Davies, who inspired him about magical adventures of a baby boy in gardens of Kensington, included in The Little White Bird, then to a "fairy play" about this ageless adventures of an ordinary girl, named Wendy, in the setting of Neverland. People credited this best-known play with popularizing Wendy, the previously very unpopular name, and quickly overshadowed his previous, and he continued successfully.
Following the deaths of their parents, Barrie unofficially adopted the boys. He gave the rights to great Ormond street hospital, which continues to benefit.
The son of a weaver, Barrie studied at the University of Edinburgh. He took up journalism for a newspaper in Nottingham and contributed to various London journals before moving there in 1885. His early Auld Licht Idylls (1889) and A Window in Thrums (1889) contain fictional sketches of Scottish life representative of the Kailyard school. The publication of The Little Minister (1891) established his reputation as a novelist. During the next decade, Barrie continued to write novels, but gradually, his interest turned towards the theatre.
In London, he met Llewelyn Davies, who inspired him about magical adventures of a baby boy in gardens of Kensington, included in The Little White Bird, then to a "fairy play" about this ageless adventures of an ordinary girl, named Wendy, in the setting of Neverland. People credited this best-known play with popularizing Wendy, the previously very unpopular name, and quickly overshadowed his previous, and he continued successfully.
Following the deaths of their parents, Barrie unofficially adopted the boys. He gave the rights to great Ormond street hospital, which continues to benefit.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
May 1, 2022
I love this little book. It's so simple but extremely charming. The ending is suspenseful and action-packed, and even though the beginning is slower, it's worth it. The characters are fun to get to know, and by the end, I felt like I was another villager from Thrums who knew everybody and everybody's business. Barrie's writing is engaging and fun. Peter Pan is one of my favorite books, and now so is this lovely book. The first-person narrator is flawed but admits his flaws and so seems perfect. The main character has a great personality. The story-within-the-story of the narrator and his love is surprising and sadly sweet.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes 19th-century fiction, to anyone who nostalgically enjoys a simple story that still makes you want to read more, and to fans of Barrie's work.
I recommend this book to anybody who likes 19th-century fiction, to anyone who nostalgically enjoys a simple story that still makes you want to read more, and to fans of Barrie's work.
March 27, 2020
4.5 stars
I can't believe more people haven't read this one. Such a treat.
Young minister living with elderly mother assigned to a new church. Meets a "gypsy" girl trying to save the the town from incoming soldiers. Clever gypsy outwits most of the town. Little Minister is uncertain of how to proceed. Humor. Romance. Action. First person narration that isn't explained til later in the book, but it adds understanding and depth to the plot.
Story is written in a doric dialect, but gets easier with each chapter.
There is an audiobook on Librivox.
I can't believe more people haven't read this one. Such a treat.
Young minister living with elderly mother assigned to a new church. Meets a "gypsy" girl trying to save the the town from incoming soldiers. Clever gypsy outwits most of the town. Little Minister is uncertain of how to proceed. Humor. Romance. Action. First person narration that isn't explained til later in the book, but it adds understanding and depth to the plot.
Story is written in a doric dialect, but gets easier with each chapter.
There is an audiobook on Librivox.
July 26, 2025
It's hard to imagine anyone else feeling about this book quite like I do, so this review will be more of a tribute than a review proper.
I found an ugly green copy of it at Goodwill twenty-six years ago give or take one, while I was in college and poor enough to agonise over whether to spend two dollars for a book. I bought it . . . why? The name Barrie? Why did that matter? And then I read it, and it taught me a great deal about love; it underwrote my experience as I learned to love the woman who would become my wife. The main character is twenty-one and a minister; I was nearly at the age and aspiring to the occupation. He was at once confident, scholarly, priggish, and insecure; I was . . . well, everything there but confident. And he was learning what love can do. It undid the man, and it made him a man. The right book at the right time. It helped to form me.
Remarkably, sixteen crucial pages near the end of the book in that edition are omitted; the sixteen preceding pages are printed twice, instead. I've never read a book in which that was true before or since. And I've never read those sixteen crucial missing pages until today, in another copy bought at an antique shop.
It's a joyful re-read over a quarter century later. It's a heady mixture of wit, sharp small-town characterisation, and sentiment. Sometimes the sentiment slips into cloying . . . apparently literary critics hate on the "Kailyard school" of which this is a member. But the inventive plot has many surprises. Several of them are Bible related. Twenty-five years later I still delightedly remember the congregation's consternation when the preacher preaches on Ezra. They didn't know how to find it, and they didn't want the shame of being caught looking at the table of contents. I had forgotten the little minister's big hero turn in the middle of the river. And the last sentence of the book slips and bites the hand that holds it, chills the happy ending.
James Barrie was weird. And, yes, the little minister is not just patriarchal but overbearingly so. But there are so many interesting people in this book, and so many interesting plot touches, and so many interesting SENTENCES. In its combination of wit, inventiveness, sentiment, and high-minded tough-minded idealism, it's a book I'm proud to have been formed by.
I found an ugly green copy of it at Goodwill twenty-six years ago give or take one, while I was in college and poor enough to agonise over whether to spend two dollars for a book. I bought it . . . why? The name Barrie? Why did that matter? And then I read it, and it taught me a great deal about love; it underwrote my experience as I learned to love the woman who would become my wife. The main character is twenty-one and a minister; I was nearly at the age and aspiring to the occupation. He was at once confident, scholarly, priggish, and insecure; I was . . . well, everything there but confident. And he was learning what love can do. It undid the man, and it made him a man. The right book at the right time. It helped to form me.
Remarkably, sixteen crucial pages near the end of the book in that edition are omitted; the sixteen preceding pages are printed twice, instead. I've never read a book in which that was true before or since. And I've never read those sixteen crucial missing pages until today, in another copy bought at an antique shop.
It's a joyful re-read over a quarter century later. It's a heady mixture of wit, sharp small-town characterisation, and sentiment. Sometimes the sentiment slips into cloying . . . apparently literary critics hate on the "Kailyard school" of which this is a member. But the inventive plot has many surprises. Several of them are Bible related. Twenty-five years later I still delightedly remember the congregation's consternation when the preacher preaches on Ezra. They didn't know how to find it, and they didn't want the shame of being caught looking at the table of contents. I had forgotten the little minister's big hero turn in the middle of the river. And the last sentence of the book slips and bites the hand that holds it, chills the happy ending.
James Barrie was weird. And, yes, the little minister is not just patriarchal but overbearingly so. But there are so many interesting people in this book, and so many interesting plot touches, and so many interesting SENTENCES. In its combination of wit, inventiveness, sentiment, and high-minded tough-minded idealism, it's a book I'm proud to have been formed by.
January 30, 2019
I love, love, love this book! I can hardly believe it’s by the same author as Peter Pan (which I’ve never been able to get through).
That moment when he is about to die and begins singing the 23rd Psalm...
That moment when he is about to die and begins singing the 23rd Psalm...
May 16, 2023
This is another book that I hadn't read even though it's been on the shelf for years. It took a week for me to plow through it, mainly because I found the vernacular so awkward. For example:
p 20: I dinna gang to the kirk to cry, 'Oh, Lord, gie, gie, gie.'
"Take tent o' yousel', my man," said Lang Tammas, ...
Nope, not a smooth read, but I ended up skimming over the longer passages instead of doing tedious 'translations.' While this style does contribute to the tone of the story, it didn't need to be so heavy. Sometimes I even needed the dictionary to understand the English words (e.g., hobbledehoy, glebe).
Sprinkled throughout are gems of wisdom, for example:
p 3: The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
Then, too, there were descriptive phrases that I enjoyed:
p 7: Foreign oaths were the nails with which he held his talk together ...
And there are bits of humor:
p 14: ... Jamie Don [was] a pitiful bachelor all his life because he thought the woman proposed ...
The "Egyptian" ('gypsy'), Babbie, has a dash of Peter Pan and a bit of Tinkerbelle mixed into her character.
As would be expected from the title, religion plays a big part in this story. Was there any in Peter Pan?
I'm keeping the book, but I don't expect to read it again. (I shelved this as 'historical fiction' because it does capture a time and place, but it's really an old-fashioned romance, and I don't have a shelf for that genre.)
p 20: I dinna gang to the kirk to cry, 'Oh, Lord, gie, gie, gie.'
"Take tent o' yousel', my man," said Lang Tammas, ...
Nope, not a smooth read, but I ended up skimming over the longer passages instead of doing tedious 'translations.' While this style does contribute to the tone of the story, it didn't need to be so heavy. Sometimes I even needed the dictionary to understand the English words (e.g., hobbledehoy, glebe).
Sprinkled throughout are gems of wisdom, for example:
p 3: The life of every man is a diary in which he means to write one story, and writes another; and his humblest hour is when he compares the volume as it is with what he vowed to make it.
Then, too, there were descriptive phrases that I enjoyed:
p 7: Foreign oaths were the nails with which he held his talk together ...
And there are bits of humor:
p 14: ... Jamie Don [was] a pitiful bachelor all his life because he thought the woman proposed ...
The "Egyptian" ('gypsy'), Babbie, has a dash of Peter Pan and a bit of Tinkerbelle mixed into her character.
As would be expected from the title, religion plays a big part in this story. Was there any in Peter Pan?
I'm keeping the book, but I don't expect to read it again. (I shelved this as 'historical fiction' because it does capture a time and place, but it's really an old-fashioned romance, and I don't have a shelf for that genre.)
May 2, 2022
I started reading the play of the same title. But when I looked for it in goodreads, I only found the novel, which had been written first, and of which the play is an adaptation. And the novel had very good reviews. I then interrupted the play and switched to the novel.
It is a delightful read. One can see ahead and understand who the narrator and the Egyptian woman are before the novel explains it, but the discovery of it is very enjoyable, as are the Scottish town of Thrums and its townspeople. This novel is the third of a series of novels on Thurms, and I will be reading the other two soon.
It is a delightful read. One can see ahead and understand who the narrator and the Egyptian woman are before the novel explains it, but the discovery of it is very enjoyable, as are the Scottish town of Thrums and its townspeople. This novel is the third of a series of novels on Thurms, and I will be reading the other two soon.
November 1, 2018
Babbie wants a man who could be her master, to force her into yielding if she coax him.
Gavin is onboard.
Sure.
Gavin is onboard.
Sure.
April 14, 2020
A comedic drama with love stories, action, and heartache, this novel is a far cry from Barrie's well-known Peter Pan, and well worth the read.
March 27, 2025
This was my fourth reread and I have loved this book more with each reread. This is my ultimate cozy read with the charming characters, thick Scottish, and sweet little love story.
October 6, 2014
I read this because I saw the Katherine Hepburn movie.
It was a pleasant read, though a bit difficult getting through the Scottish dialect/language parts.
I actually don't remember how the movie resolved itself, but the book felt different, and definitely better. The characters felt less like caricatures. (Which is not to say that they were any less so, it just felt that way.)
We have the new, very young, minister in town, with his doting mother. And we have the wild "Egyptian", and it's always clear that they are destined to fall in love. The getting there isn't actually all that interesting, but what happens when they get there is. We wander along pleasantly, but the real interesting stuff isn't till the last 100 (of 400 pages). How the town reacts to learning of the affair is sort of what we expect---sort of---but how he wins them back is really well done, I think.
We also have a new character (the narrator) whom I don't remember from the movie. Turns out that the minister's mother has an interesting past, and our narrator knew her back then. That part seems a little overdone (that is, I got a little sick of him inserting himself into the story), but mostly works well.
Nothing terribly deep here, but an enjoyable read.
It was a pleasant read, though a bit difficult getting through the Scottish dialect/language parts.
I actually don't remember how the movie resolved itself, but the book felt different, and definitely better. The characters felt less like caricatures. (Which is not to say that they were any less so, it just felt that way.)
We have the new, very young, minister in town, with his doting mother. And we have the wild "Egyptian", and it's always clear that they are destined to fall in love. The getting there isn't actually all that interesting, but what happens when they get there is. We wander along pleasantly, but the real interesting stuff isn't till the last 100 (of 400 pages). How the town reacts to learning of the affair is sort of what we expect---sort of---but how he wins them back is really well done, I think.
We also have a new character (the narrator) whom I don't remember from the movie. Turns out that the minister's mother has an interesting past, and our narrator knew her back then. That part seems a little overdone (that is, I got a little sick of him inserting himself into the story), but mostly works well.
Nothing terribly deep here, but an enjoyable read.
August 15, 2013
This book was my favorite book for a while (before I read Tale of Two Cities). I don't know why I liked it so much, because it was a normal, old-fashioned romance, and I have probably read several dozen of those. But much of it was funny, and the story moved quickly but was deep enough to be enjoyable and not feel mindless. Revolving around a young Scottish minister who is sensitive about his height, or lack thereof, and around a mysterious gypsy girl who keeps stirring up trouble for the little minister, this book is narrated by an old schoolteacher. One of the reasons that I loved this book is because I was wondering while I was reading it (the first time), what in the world the teacher had to do with the story.
If you like humor and old-fashioned romance novels, then this is an excellent story for you. (By old-fashioned romance I mean in the style of Gene Stratton-Porter and Randall Parrish.)
If you like humor and old-fashioned romance novels, then this is an excellent story for you. (By old-fashioned romance I mean in the style of Gene Stratton-Porter and Randall Parrish.)
April 29, 2010
I was craving a children's book with grown-up characters and this pretty much fit the bill. My least favorite parts were the three continuously soggy chapters after the flood and the narrator dominie's lack of sympathy for animals. It was uncomfortable to have characters randomly stepping over dead birds and chasing off dogs... especially the collie named Snap (collies will be forever flawless in my mind). The little 21 year old minister was an interesting character, though J.M. Barrie might have given him a little more depth. I'd love to see a movie made of this, in the spirit of Cranford!
Favorite Quote:
"We should be slower to think that the man at his worst is the real man, and certain that the better we are ourselves the less likely is he to be at his worst in our company. Every time he talks away his own character before us he is signifying contempt for ours."
Favorite Quote:
"We should be slower to think that the man at his worst is the real man, and certain that the better we are ourselves the less likely is he to be at his worst in our company. Every time he talks away his own character before us he is signifying contempt for ours."
May 13, 2016
I have been reading this book over and over for years. It's funny, exciting and reflects many insights into life that are still relevant today. It never fails to make me laugh aloud. It is a tale of two romances, mystery, the foibles and benefits of religion, and human nature. When the little minister meets a beautiful but independent gypsy girl, he says to her something like, "But, madam, I am a minister!" She replies, "That's alright, I forgive you."
November 20, 2015
If it weren't for the indecipherable rendering of Scotch accents, I would give it 5 stars. And yet, something would have been lost without those accents. It's a story as old as man, boy falls in love with the wrong girl, girl falls in love with the wrong boy - in this case, a minister and a gypsy. Barrie's treatment of their story is sweet and insightful, with an ending I did not expect.
June 3, 2022
Charming little book that was a thrift store gem. It was cute and the following is not a criticism of J.M. Barrie as he wonderfully depicted a truth in society.
I hated Margaret. You heard me. In no way was she a pleasant or even halfway likable character. She had to be the center of attention even though she was barely in the book. It didn't help that the story was from the point of view of a man as obsessed with her as she was with herself. At first I pitied her for marrying such a man as Adam but that pity quickly turned to disgust when she ran back to him after he abandoned her. I don't care what you say about the times. She betrayed her son. (and she was so cruel and nasty to her second husband) She tore Gavin from a father who loved him and had taken care of him and who would always take care of him and placed him in the arms of a man who had proven that he would abandon his family whenever the fancy took him. She was utterly cruel to Gavin for depriving him of a loving and caring father. This alone was enough to make me despise this woman. But no, there's more.
She raises Gavin to be her replacement husband. Engaging in the most basic form of emotional incest. She had no man to emotionally support her and so her son did the job. She raised him to be weirdly reliant on her. She was placed above everyone else. Gavin was even admonished for not thinking of her when he married Babbie. In every moment she was to be the highlight. She sickened me. Those mothers who raise their sons not to be men, but to remain boys who will forever need them deserve our contempt. She didn't want a son who could make his own way in the world and do what was right. She wanted a son who would always need her and run back to her apron strings. She did her best to guilt him. She perfectly embodied the mothers who are so insecure in their own importance that they are jealous of young girls. How sick is that? A mother who is upset that her son might like a girl who is not her. One of the contributing factors to the weak men in society is weak and selfish mothers. Manipulative and grasping. Margaret had no redeeming qualities. She was a like a black rain cloud overshadowing every scene in the book. Hardly a conversation passed between anyone without her name being mentioned. Everyone would serve her but she would serve no one.
I hated Margaret. You heard me. In no way was she a pleasant or even halfway likable character. She had to be the center of attention even though she was barely in the book. It didn't help that the story was from the point of view of a man as obsessed with her as she was with herself. At first I pitied her for marrying such a man as Adam but that pity quickly turned to disgust when she ran back to him after he abandoned her. I don't care what you say about the times. She betrayed her son. (and she was so cruel and nasty to her second husband) She tore Gavin from a father who loved him and had taken care of him and who would always take care of him and placed him in the arms of a man who had proven that he would abandon his family whenever the fancy took him. She was utterly cruel to Gavin for depriving him of a loving and caring father. This alone was enough to make me despise this woman. But no, there's more.
She raises Gavin to be her replacement husband. Engaging in the most basic form of emotional incest. She had no man to emotionally support her and so her son did the job. She raised him to be weirdly reliant on her. She was placed above everyone else. Gavin was even admonished for not thinking of her when he married Babbie. In every moment she was to be the highlight. She sickened me. Those mothers who raise their sons not to be men, but to remain boys who will forever need them deserve our contempt. She didn't want a son who could make his own way in the world and do what was right. She wanted a son who would always need her and run back to her apron strings. She did her best to guilt him. She perfectly embodied the mothers who are so insecure in their own importance that they are jealous of young girls. How sick is that? A mother who is upset that her son might like a girl who is not her. One of the contributing factors to the weak men in society is weak and selfish mothers. Manipulative and grasping. Margaret had no redeeming qualities. She was a like a black rain cloud overshadowing every scene in the book. Hardly a conversation passed between anyone without her name being mentioned. Everyone would serve her but she would serve no one.
August 22, 2022
The Kate Hepburn film version is a classic, but the novel is quite dated now. It's hard not to read about the minister's devotion to his mother and his fear of a spirited young woman without thinking of Sigmund Freud. The idea that her son's falling in love with a Gypsy -- even a Gypsy who has been raised as a foster-daughter of a nobleman -- would devastate his mother is pretty hard to believe, although in class-obsessed Britain of the 19th century it might have been. Other aspects of the story are, again, a bit disturbing at a time when we speak more freely of such things: Babbie was adopted by the Laird as a young child, for the sole reason that she was beautiful and that he intended to marry her when she was old enough. There is a strong whiff of Lolita about this, although of course Barrie would never dream of mentioning such a thing, or even thinking consciously about it. But if you've read Lolita, you do understand Babbie's distaste for and dread of her approaching marriage.
I found the Scots dialect pretty heavy going at first, but managed to get used to it. The romance between the very prim and proper young minister and the wild child Babbie (who as others have noticed also is a lot like a female Peter Pan) is charming, if a bit over the top, as is the act of heroism that secures the congregation's love for the minister. But it's an enjoyable period piece.
I found the Scots dialect pretty heavy going at first, but managed to get used to it. The romance between the very prim and proper young minister and the wild child Babbie (who as others have noticed also is a lot like a female Peter Pan) is charming, if a bit over the top, as is the act of heroism that secures the congregation's love for the minister. But it's an enjoyable period piece.
November 16, 2017
If you like Scotch ...
A delightful book from the author of Peter Pan about a young minister and the "Egyptian" who bewitches him. The townspeople, who speak in thick accents, are as much of a backdrop as the Scottish countryside.
A delightful book from the author of Peter Pan about a young minister and the "Egyptian" who bewitches him. The townspeople, who speak in thick accents, are as much of a backdrop as the Scottish countryside.
July 29, 2025
Found this book in my mother’s attic and decided to give it a go. The first chapter was a bit tough, but I’m so glad that I didn’t give up on it. Yes, it is melodramatic, dated and full of Scottish dialect, as well as written in the third person. But, after all that, I really enjoyed it.
June 19, 2017
Simply charming!
May 20, 2018
This is a love story set in the British Isles probably at least 150 years ago. I didn't understand all of it because the dialogue was written in dialect.
April 10, 2019
Great little book. The dialect was a little tedious to get through but the story was worth it. Starts out slow but speeds up in the end. Pretty little love story about a minister and gypsy.
October 23, 2020
This book was an amazing experience! I love Babbie and Gavin.
Read
November 18, 2020I wanted to like it, because JM Barrie! Maybe I’ll come back to it sometime. A bit too sentimental for me at the moment. Didn’t get far enough to rate it.
December 4, 2020
I read this after a break-up ad it was just what I needed. A short, not all rainbows type love story, JM Barrie's writing style is just lovely.
March 15, 2021
Wonderful! Yet another reason to love J. M. Barrie's writing. I thoroughly enjoyed plot, characters, story-telling, including the vivid and evocative use of the Scots' dialect.
July 14, 2021
This story definitely has troubling twists and turns, but all over a decent book.
May 29, 2025
2025: Reread for a book club
still enjoy the quirky, silly situations\responses of the townfolk throughout the story.
still enjoy the quirky, silly situations\responses of the townfolk throughout the story.
Read
October 12, 2025I'm glad that I read it.
March 8, 2012
This is by the same James Barrie who is beloved for writing Peter Pan. In this quaint and old-fashioned story of the little minister (who is both young and slight of frame, and is sensitive about his height), one gets to know the small Scottish weaving village of Thrums and its inhabitants, chief among them Gavin Dishart and his shy mother who move to Thrums for his appointment as the new minister. The story that follows is almost naive in its simplicity, but so deep and rich in character development that I was amazed at the author's craft. It took me awhile to accustom myself to the slower pace of the story (and, indeed, of life in this tiny village), as well as the thickness of the Scottish brogue used throughout--Robert Burns might even be easier to understand than parts of this novel.
Here's a typical conversational exchange: ["A fine nicht for the time o' year," he cried. No answer. "But I wouldna wonder," he shouted, "though we had rain afore morning." No answer. "Surely you could gie me a word frae ahint the door. You're doing an onlawful thing, but I dinna ken wha you are."] And--that is one of the more easily understood conversations! At times I felt I needed a dictionary handy, but I doubt it would have helped. Just as it is when hearing the first lines in a Shakespeare play in live performance, you just have to GO ALONG with it and let the words wash over you, never minding the many you have no idea of. Once I read in this manner, I got used to it (as well as not minding not understanding some words EVER). It was a delightful book. In the end, it's a love story of Gavin and his "little Egyptian" (meaning, a gypsy) and how they overcome the scandalized views of the villagers on such a romance. There are many very dear (and several rather funny) exchanges--you come away feeling you know these people in a similar manner as you might feel after watching "Cranford."
Really, so unusual but so very charming. {and it happens to have been my Grandma Thomas's favorite book. She died four years before I was born and I never knew her, so reading this was extra special)
Here's a typical conversational exchange: ["A fine nicht for the time o' year," he cried. No answer. "But I wouldna wonder," he shouted, "though we had rain afore morning." No answer. "Surely you could gie me a word frae ahint the door. You're doing an onlawful thing, but I dinna ken wha you are."] And--that is one of the more easily understood conversations! At times I felt I needed a dictionary handy, but I doubt it would have helped. Just as it is when hearing the first lines in a Shakespeare play in live performance, you just have to GO ALONG with it and let the words wash over you, never minding the many you have no idea of. Once I read in this manner, I got used to it (as well as not minding not understanding some words EVER). It was a delightful book. In the end, it's a love story of Gavin and his "little Egyptian" (meaning, a gypsy) and how they overcome the scandalized views of the villagers on such a romance. There are many very dear (and several rather funny) exchanges--you come away feeling you know these people in a similar manner as you might feel after watching "Cranford."
Really, so unusual but so very charming. {and it happens to have been my Grandma Thomas's favorite book. She died four years before I was born and I never knew her, so reading this was extra special)
November 18, 2013
Perhaps better known for a little story he wrote called Peter Pan, JM Barrie also penned this humorous tale about a young man who aimed to take his corner of the world by storm, but then fell in love.
Gavin Dishart is only 1 and twenty, and already is the minister of a 'kirk' in a small town, where he is idolized by nearly one and all. Kirk - you ask? Turns out that's "church" in Scottish brogue, which is simultaneously one of the most hilarious and also the most frustrating parts of this read. Barrie, himself a Scot, was in many ways sending up the incomprehensibility of that thick tongue, even nodding towards such truth several times in the text. When several of the 'townsfolk' have a page or two of dialog, you just have to go along for the ride and assume you're not missing too many plot points! Thankfully the narrator and the main characters speak in a more 'highbrow' way, and leave little to be pondered for the reader.
We trace Gavin's determined rise to his ministry and his subsequent discovery about the important things in life via a narrator who himself becomes involved in the story, in an interesting literary display. The object of Gavin's affection, Babbie, is a compellingly realized free spirit (alternately called a 'Gypsy' and 'the Egyptian') and we are definitely led to understand Gavin's feelings with little effort. As her full background comes to light, things get complicated for poor Gavin, and even for our humble Narrator!
While the first 3/4 of the book is very much an drama with plenty of humor, the last portion kicks into full adventure mode, and was so vivid that I flew through the final 100 pages and through my bedtime to reach the exciting conclusion! I think I had better go read Peter Pan, having seen Barrie's amazing gift for fast paced action in print!
I was tremendously pleased with this book, and found plenty to enjoy. The coherency of the story, the richness of the characters, the insightful turns of phrase, and the muddy and hilarious Scotch dialogue all combined to make for a fun, and more meaningful than just popcorn, read. Recommended!
Gavin Dishart is only 1 and twenty, and already is the minister of a 'kirk' in a small town, where he is idolized by nearly one and all. Kirk - you ask? Turns out that's "church" in Scottish brogue, which is simultaneously one of the most hilarious and also the most frustrating parts of this read. Barrie, himself a Scot, was in many ways sending up the incomprehensibility of that thick tongue, even nodding towards such truth several times in the text. When several of the 'townsfolk' have a page or two of dialog, you just have to go along for the ride and assume you're not missing too many plot points! Thankfully the narrator and the main characters speak in a more 'highbrow' way, and leave little to be pondered for the reader.
We trace Gavin's determined rise to his ministry and his subsequent discovery about the important things in life via a narrator who himself becomes involved in the story, in an interesting literary display. The object of Gavin's affection, Babbie, is a compellingly realized free spirit (alternately called a 'Gypsy' and 'the Egyptian') and we are definitely led to understand Gavin's feelings with little effort. As her full background comes to light, things get complicated for poor Gavin, and even for our humble Narrator!
While the first 3/4 of the book is very much an drama with plenty of humor, the last portion kicks into full adventure mode, and was so vivid that I flew through the final 100 pages and through my bedtime to reach the exciting conclusion! I think I had better go read Peter Pan, having seen Barrie's amazing gift for fast paced action in print!
I was tremendously pleased with this book, and found plenty to enjoy. The coherency of the story, the richness of the characters, the insightful turns of phrase, and the muddy and hilarious Scotch dialogue all combined to make for a fun, and more meaningful than just popcorn, read. Recommended!
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