Letters to Saint Lydia

by Melinda Johnson

A Novel, by Melinda Johnson. Lydia’s life is turning upside down. Her family has converted to Orthodox Christianity without her, she’s just about to leave home for college, one of her friends is pregnant, and soon she’ll be facing all the trials and temptations encountered by every young adult who’s on her own for the first time. Lydia needs a friend badly—and she finds one in the most unexpected place: an icon of St. Lydia. Young Lydia pours out her troubles in letters to St. Lydia, who (invisibly to Lydia) answers, guiding her through her time of troubles with deep love and compassion.

Genres: Christianity, Fiction, Young Adult, Religion, Christian, Spirituality

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2010

About the author

Melinda Johnson began life in a small town in upstate New York. Her literary imagination evolved from this point through an introspective childhood, a master's in English literature, and a confirmed habit of observing her fellow human beings. She is the author of two novels, Letters to Saint Lydia (CP 2010) and The Other Side of the Bonfire (LSP 2012), the Sam and Saucer series (middle-grade chapter books), and several board books. She currently works as Marketing Director for Ancient Faith Ministries.

Reviews

[CEGatling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting from this book. I certainly wasn't expecting to be schooled in the journey of my faith or about how to build relationships with my family and my peers, with a saint and, by extension, with Christ.

Lydia is a high school senior heading to university whose entire world has been turned on its head by her family's conversion to Orthodoxy. She's not even sure she believes in God and now her entire family has--very suddenly as far as Lydia is concerned--developed faith, found a place to worship that is completely foreign, gotten baptized, and begun a new life. Lydia was not ready. She feels betrayed and awkward. Out of place in her own home. Her mother gives her an icon of St Lydia and Lydia decides to write letters to the saint. The book is a series of these eponymous Letters to St. Lydia. Unbeknownst to Lydia, St. Lydia writes her back.

I enjoyed this book greatly. I have been through that awkward stage of not knowing who I am and where I fit, just recently. It's a recurring theme in my life, to be honest. It's not a fun place to be and so I related a lot to Lydia and her moment by moment groping toward faith and toward Orthodoxy as an expression of that faith. Little baby steps, questioning, contemplating, even becoming angry or sad or frightened are all parts of the journey toward God. The point is to keep moving and not to stop.

This book is a gentle reminder that we do not have to travel this road alone. That the universe isn't divided into what Fr Stephen Freeman calls a "two-story universe". The universe is one plane with two stages of existence, the Church Militant, those of us striving toward salvation, and the Church Triumphant, the great Cloud of Witnesses referred to in Hebrews 12:1. Just because we cannot see into or are unaware of that part of the totality of existence that is here alongside us doesn't mean it is not there or that those members of the Church Triumphant are similarly unaware of us and of the things that trouble us or bring us joy. St. Lydia's responses to Lydia's letters attest, albeit in a fictional way, to the great love they have for us which is a reflection of the great love God the Holy Trinity has for us.

It is a Mystery. And that is okay. It is okay not to understand it. Not to "get" it. As the song goes, "When we've been there ten thousand years/Bright shining as the sun/We've no less days to sing God's praise/Than when we first begun".

4 stars

Full Disclosure: I was given an Audible credit to purchase this book in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to do this, AFP!

[Diana Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Ești o taină chiar și pentru tine însăți, și dacă fiecare ființă umană ar putea să vadă lumea prin ochii celorlalți, mai toată suferința de pe pământ ar dispărea." [p. 82]
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Ce surpriză plăcută această carte pe care de multă vreme aș fie vrut să o citesc însă acum iată că a venit vremea cea mai potrivită pentru această carte plină de înțelepciune, tradusă ce-i drept din engleză, însă tradusă cu multă măiestrie.
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Cartea cuprinde o serie de scrisori de la Lidia Jane (18) către Sf. Lidia, sfântă în care șovăie să creadă că există însă căreia continuă să-i scrie cele mai profunde gânduri și experiențe din viața ei de după convertirea părinților și surorii ei la frumoasa Ortodoxie, ea încă neprimind Sfânta Taină a Botezului. Dar bucuria cea mare și marea înțelepciune vine și din scrisorile pe care Sf. Lidia i le scrie ca răspuns la frământările, frustrările, dar și la creșterea ei duhovnicească pe care Lidia Jane nici nu o bănuiește.
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[Avah Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenally done. This book moved me to tears multiple times and has strengthened my faith. A beautiful story of a young girl’s journey into the Orthodox Church and her struggles to womanhood.

[Londyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

There aren’t words to describe this book.

After some thought, I came to the conclusion that this story shows what true love is. (And also what love is most certainly not!) For all those in our lives whether they are our parents, our siblings, ourselves, a dear friend of ours who finds herself pregnant outside of wedlock, a college roommate, a young man who truly loves you, a precious saint, and most importantly Christ—true love.

Half way through the book, I was crying about 50 percent of the time. This was so, so beautiful!! I can’t recommend it enough. Now I need an icon of Saint Lydia!

[Tom Pessemier · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 13 year old daughter read this book three times! She says it's the best book she has ever read. That's a lot coming from a girl who has had her nose in books constantly since she was barely old enough to walk. Melinda Johnson, we hope to see more of your work in the near future. Thanks for doing what you're doing!

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strong start, felt rushed at the finish. I felt like the conversion was too hurried. I think it would have been nice if Lydia had found the church without a horrific personal trauma as the tipping-point for her. But I guess that's YA drama for ya.

[Spencer Burdge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this book. Even more than Icon! Icon was kind of sad, but it was good, but I really love Letters To Saint Lydia. I’m not going to spoil this book, but this book inspired me to buy my own beautiful notebook and to write to MY saint, Saint Catherine of Alexandria. That notebook is actually getting here today, and then I will start writing to her. Anyways, yes, this book is an inspiration to me and probably many others!! 📿💗

[Jane G Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely read for an Orthodox teen girl--and you can't say that about most books!!! Well written, inspiring and a pretty good page turner. If you have a 14 on up young girl, this would be a great gift for her...

[Mimi · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely novel, I greatly enjoyed Lydia's awakening faith and the interaction with Saint Lydia. I did feel, though, that it definitely is aimed for older teens not early teens.
I am so excited to meet the author later this month!

[Ioana Theodora · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Sunt un bob mic, o sămânță plantată în țărână,și rădăcinile mele caută apă,iar tulpina se ridică să iasă la aer.Prind viața.Voi ieși din coaja închisă la culoare care mă ținea strânsă și voi țâșni la lumină prin frunzele mari și verzi,prin florile de un rosu aprins.
A ta pentru totdeauna ,Lidia”

[Benny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh goodness, this was an amazing book and very emotional in some ways. Love it!! It was super relevant to my faith at the time and really opened my eyes

[Tracey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although, I did not personally have some of the same experiences as Lydia, I do remember having many of the same feelings of the struggle of being in between childhood and womanhood. This young lady felt she had been left behind as her family found Orthodoxy when she was not sure of her faith at all. I journeyed with her as she dealt with her feelings about a friend’s pregnancy, the relationship with her family, specifically her mother, new friendships at college, and her own personal tragedy. Through it all, I was there listening, to the beautiful and wise words of Saint Lydia, to whom she writes. My heart broke with Lydia’s, and leapt with hers. I experienced the ups and downs with her as I listened to her story. Saint Lydia’s words of understanding, support, and encouragement are those any young person trying to navigate their way in this world should hear. This book is a gentle reminder for me to continually look toward the saints for wisdom and love.

I received a free book credit in return for an honest review.

[Phoebe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beautiful conversation between a young woman trying to find her faith and her namesake in heaven praying for her and guiding her towards it. Lydia can't read At. Lydia's responses, but we can, and we are better for it. The audio edition of this book is fantastic. Both narrators whole-heartedly took on their roles. This is a book I will be thrilled to share with my children when they are old enough. It covers some heavy topics that need to be discussed, especially for anyone about to go to college and live on their own, without being heavy-handed. Instead it is a chronicle of a relationship of true love over some serious challenges. Those who are curious about Orthodox Christianity will learn a lot from this book, those who are Orthodox will enjoy it tremendously, but the story is captivating for any listener.

[Shanda Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the audio book of Letters to Saint Lydia. It was a great listen that read much like a YA novel. Even though some of the material is for an older audience due to the real-life nature of being a late teenager, I think most over the age of 15 are safe to listen.
My favorite thing about this book are the monikers the Saint gives the teenager Lydia. Sweet girl, Dear Girl, etc. continued to strike deeply with me on what it means to cherish and be cherished by someone. For a mother looking for a relaxing yet convicting read, Letters to Saint Lydia was a great fit.

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much! It was so amazing to watch Lydia make her way into Orthodoxy, and I found it beautiful the way that St. Lydia helped her! It was so incredible and beautiful when St. Lydia appeared as an old woman to Lydia, and when Lydia felt God's presence in front of the icon of Jesus! How amazing would it be to truly feel God and smell his wonderful presence? I cant wait to read more books like this!!

[Sarah Beshay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book carries the sweet hearted conversation one has with the spiritual world, found here in reflective letters to a Saint (Lydia). Johnson (the author) expresses the confided messages and raw honesty of a young adult girl so profoundly. Wish I came across it earlier in my years, but delighted that it still helped me reflect on my past and life to date.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful coming of age novel! I look forward to sharing this with my children when they are ready to contemplate these issues. I loved reading Saint Lydia’s advice and the way that she never gave up on Lydia. I pray that my own Saint is praying for me too.

[Adrien Wamboldt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gave an accurate picture of what a college female goes through. I enjoyed reading this book because I could relate a lot to Lydia’s spiritual journey. I am returning to Orthodoxy after a number of years of being away from the church. I am young in my faith like Lydia is.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will recommend we stock this in our church gift shop. It's a great book for an Orthodox young person in high school or college.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have an older teen girl, buy her this book! I read it on audio with my teen, and we both enjoyed it and were edified by it!

[Anabella Diaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book very sad though

[Selah Combs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the ending and the connection with her Orthodox roommate! Inspiration story and play of God’s will for each and every one of us.

[Fevronia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letters to Saint Lydia✨

Letters to Saint Lydia is a phenomenal book. It draws you in so deep that you don’t want to put it down. As a teenage girl growing up, this book has helped and gave me advice before I even go threw some struggles like Lydia did. This is a great Christian book. It drew me closer to my faith and, gave me answers I didn’t know I needed. This book brings you in a peaceful state. You will never want to leave from it. I recommend the ages 15+. 🎉

[Keith Massey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Letters to Saint Lydia grabbed me on page one and would not let me go. It's told in a bright and accessible style--in the format of letters written by a young woman to a Saint she doesn't even know is responding. Every time I picked it up, I found myself reading more of these exchanges than I had planned, because I just had to know what would happen next as the narrative of this young woman's life unfolded. And it would not be an exaggeration to say that my eyes were filled with tears a hundred times while I read. And there were just as many huge smiles.

I teach high school and I can testify that the book will certainly ring true for young people today. Johnson does not avoid the moral controversies and outright dangers confronting young people in the modern world. Letters to Saint Lydia is certainly Christian in its outlook, but it is by no means simplistic or moralistic. On the contrary, the religious characters in the book are real people (living or dead) who face the same struggles as everyone else, just with a different perspective on it.

This book is the perfect gift for any loving parent, grandparent, or godparent to give to the young people in their lives. But they should also read it themselves. Letters to Saint Lydia imparts a grace-filled message of hope and love in a world that is at once both dark and dangerous, yet also redeemed and beautiful.

[Eleni Pessemier · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AMAZING and I would highly recommend it to anyone, but especially teenage girls who may be struggling with their spirituality. You will be able to connect to Lydia, who is going through this struggle, and hopefully learn along with her about the Church that Jesus started. I myself am a part of the Orthodox Church, so I can vouch that it's as great as it's made out to be in Letters to Saint Lydia(: I recommended this book to many of my friends, and one of them (who happens to be similar to Lydia in that she is not "religious" at all) read it and said it changed her life. I wish every young woman could read this book and get the same results.

I love that there is a character also named Eleni(: but there are many much more important reasons that I love, love, love this book! A few are that it made me laugh and cry out loud (while alone in my bedroom, of course) (: along with Lydia, which is NOT easy to do and is to me an exceptional quality in a book!

If you'd like a more detailed review of the plot-line, I reviewed it on Saint Lydia's book club blog, http://melindasmailbox.wordpress.com/... (:

Thank you so much, Melinda, for writing Letters to Saint Lydia!!

[Charity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful novel about coming-of-age and finding a personal faith rather than blindly accepting the faith your family follows. If you blindly accept religious beliefs solely on what someone else tells you to believe, you do not build a strong foundation for the events in life which will challenge your faith. When you take the time and energy to wrestle with what you believe, ask questions of those from differing faith perspectives, and come to your own conclusions, that's what helps build that foundation. However, the process of finding your faith is a life-long commitment and you have to continue to grow or that faith becomes a brittle, empty shell. The novel touches on these themes in the context of a teenager growing into a young woman with all of the angst and social pressures which life hands you during those years. The faith element is just one of the many themes in the book (and just the one I was the most interested in). Well worth the read and a great debut novel.

[Anam Cara · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful book for teans - addresses problems they are likely to face in the journey to adulthood.

UPDATE: 12 years later - I just reread this book and am even more impressed than I was the first time I read it. I have several teen age granddaughters and I plan to give them each this book. There are so many challenges young people face and St. Lydia gives excellent advice on how to navigate the obstacles and how to deal with other people they encounter along the way. Very good advice to any young woman.

[NormaCenva · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a total surprise for me. And a wonderful one! Its beneficial to read not only for teenagers or/and young adults, but in my opinion, it can be a great reading for any age. Its light in style and easy to follow, the story engages you from the very beginning. It is very thoughtfully written and you can see from the pages how lovingly it was crafted by the author. If you hadn't already I prompt you to get a copy and see for yourselves.

[Amelia Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Melinda Johnson really nails the concerns and experiences of a teenager. I converted, with my family, to Orthodxy when I was 7, clearly different from Lydia's experience as a 17 year old, and really had no idea what theology even was, let alone an opinion on it, so as far as I'm concerned, it's really felt like I've been Orthodox for my whole life.
ANYway, I enjoyed this book immensly, and would definitely recommend!!!