This small book by Frances Parkinson Keyes, one of my favorite authors when I was young, is actually a 1959 compilation of years of her Christmas cards that were messages to her friends and family.
I have a whole shelf of her novels and nonfiction, almost every book she ever wrote. Her husband was United States Senator from New Hampshire and Keyes proved through years of traveling the world to write her books that you could lead a productive life even though in poor health.
I love her novels but her own life makes her one of my heroines. Here is a small excerpt from one of her Christmas letters in this book.
I have the gift of work. I am doing work that I love, in surroundings that I have chosen, and I have the assurance that it is going well. For a long time, my tasks were hard and thankless. Nothing about them suggested a benefit received. All that is different now.
I have the gift of health. For many years I was an invalid, for many others a cripple. Now, though still very lame, I am otherwise well.
I have the gift of companionship...When we [family and friends] can get together, it is a time of great rejoicing; but, when we cannot, we do not repine...
I have the gift of faith: faith in myself, long lost; faith in humanity, long shattered; faith in the future, long dark; faith in God, omnipresent. I think faith is the greatest gift of all.
And I do too.
I am familiar with the name and that's it. And she was from NH! And her husband a senator. I'm off to do some looking around. By the way, I had to look up "repine" - I'd never heard it before. Thank you for this.
ReplyDeleteMe, again. Geez Louise. The fellow was also Governor of my state. And he lived not far away - in the town where my uncles lived. I'm sure they knew him, as they were both big Republicans (unlike my father, their brother). How did I live my life never knowing this. And of course, they are both dead so I can't ask them.
ReplyDeleteNan, I was in the middle of chopping vegetables for soup but had to turn them down on low and come answer you!
DeleteYes, of course, you're from New Hampshire! I got out my Frances Parkinson Keyes Cookbook which has lots of her life in it and one of her many family homes was Pine Grove Farm in North Haverhill. So maybe that will give you more of a lead on her local history. She also owned the Oxbow in Newbury, Vermont and Compensation in Crowley, Louisiana, all homes she rotated to while writing her novels. She wrote many books with the story based in New England and many books about the South. I think my favorite of all was her Came A Cavalier about a New England girl who went with the Red Cross to France in WW I and married a Frenchman, living in the Normandy area. She traveled extensively abroad to research her books, sometimes having to be carried aboard ship on a stretcher.
Please let me know if you uncover local history about her!
An amazing woman! I read a lot at Wikipedia about both she and her husband. And wait'll you read about her mother! At 67 she married a 22 year old farmer!
DeleteI didn't know that! Kind of speechless here, gracious!
DeleteWhat a lovely excerpt, I loved the last bit "I have the gift of faith: faith in myself, long lost; faith in humanity, long shattered; faith in the future, long dark; faith in God, omnipresent. I think faith is the greatest gift of all."
ReplyDeleteLove your tree. I'm slow going this year. ;-) Have a wonderful Christmas season ~ FlowerLady
Oh I love that part too, Lorraine! And I've read her autobiography years ago and know that what she wrote she had sincerely lived.
DeleteI'm glad you like my tree! It was my dressing room tree at Valley View and now the size is just right for our living room and the sparkle nice to see against the old pine walls. I'm going slow this year too and may not even add too much more, which is okay. Not stressing about it! A blessed Christmas season to you, Lorraine!
What beautiful words! Thank you for sharing with us. And I *love* your tree.
ReplyDeletexoxo
So glad you like the tree, Melanie! Each year I hope the lights won't go out as this is probably the 5th Christmas we used it. We turn it on when we get up for a couple of hours and at dusk and kept it lit all day today. It's cheerful!
DeleteI shouldn't have mentioned hoping the tree lights wouldn't go out because a week before Christmas the middle third of the lights went dark and RH could not get them going again. But I had the idea of just taking out that middle section and making a mini tree out of it and putting it in my bedroom window so I could see it from bed each night. I love it there and at least it gave us the fun of going shopping for another tree for the living room. This time we went with an artificial flocked green tree and I love it in front of the old diamond pane window that RH had made into a mirror for a Christmas surprise for me about 10 years ago.
DeleteDewena! this is one of the most unique and beautiful posts you've done I think.
ReplyDeleteI know I've read her but it has been long long ago now. I will have to revisit her.
I love the quote you've used. 'Dinner at Antoine's' is said to be her most popular.
and yet I don't remember it at all. maybe I'll start with that one. thank you for writing this! and I'm glad to hear you're taking the season slower and easier than normal. time to savor. and truly appreciate the simple graces and beauty of the season. bless you DSM. XOXO
Wow, Tam! Thank you!
DeleteActually, Dinner at Antoine's was one of my least favorites. Isn't that strange?
I'm determined not to stress out this Christmas, making just enjoying each day to be a priority. Watching Hallmark movies right now!
Love to you, Tam!
Enjoyed your post. Years ago I read most of her books about the South but none of the others. Will have to look for them. Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteHi Dawn, while I loved her books that took place in Louisiana, I think I enjoyed her books set in New England even more since I have such a fascination with that part of the country, never having been there.
DeleteMerry Christmas to you!
I am also a big FPK fan and Came a Cavalier (about a Constance) is one of my favorites too. I think Crescent Carnival as well. She attended the Winsor School in Boston, as did my nieces (many years later). I have been to her home in New Orleans and sent them several duplicate copies I came across for them to sell at the gift shop. My mother and I also ate at Antoine's where they have a copy of her book and articles from the launch party held there. One of the most interesting things about her is that she developed a desire to convert to Catholicism which would apparently have horrified her starchy Protestant senator husband. So she waited until he died before she did it! The last time I googled her I found some amusing correspondence with Eleanor Roosevelt.
ReplyDeleteConstance (yes, the New England girl who married the man from Normandy in Came a Cavalier!), it is wonderful to meet another FPK fan!
DeleteI love all these details you wrote about. It is so interesting to learn that your nieces attended Winsor School. Didn't the school appear in several Keyes books? And to think you have eaten at Antoine's and visited Keyes' home in New Orleans! I remember that one time Hooked on Houses did a fascinating post on her home there. I must do some new googling on her, can't believe I haven't already.
I've already decided that I will begin 2020 reading my Keyes novels again and will spend some time this week being sure I have them arranged by chronological publishing date. Even though her books were a product of their time, many of her heroines were always role models for me.
One book I don't have is a large autobiography that I checked out of the library. Now I want to read that again too. I can't remember at what point in her life she began to search for the spiritual life that eventually led her to convert to Catholicism but I do have a few of her small spiritual books.
Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts about FPK here!
oh what a wonderful bit of writing and i love that golden tree! Glad you shared this
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sandy! Oddly enough, the whole middle section of the tree lost its lights the week before Christmas. We just took that section out and reduced it to a much smaller tree and moved it to my bedroom. Then I had the fun of looking for a replacement and ended up buying a green tree for the big room instead. All good, right?
DeleteOh, Dewena, how did I miss this fabulous post, and on St. Nicholas' Day, to boot, my brother's birthday and name day (he was named for St. Nicholas)?!
ReplyDeleteCan't recall if I've read other posts of yours about Frances Parkinson Keyes, but reading this one got me googling her pronto! Keyes, (whose name rhymes with skies and not keys, as I would have automatically pronounced it), was an intriguing woman, indeed! I tried to find out more about her physical condition, having read your excerpt, here, but couldn't. I love the fact that she settled in Louisiana, a state on my bucket list, after Tennessee and Oklahoma, for its vibrant energy, music, cuisine, and jazz scene! Must do more research on her residence, at 1113 Chartres Street, in the famous French Quarter!
And speaking of homes, I love the pics you've taken of your flocked, mini Xmas tree, BUT would have loved YOU in them, too - to brighten them even more with your sweet and cheery smile!
Faith, in God, in our loved ones, in ourselves, is, indeed, a great gift. For, what would would we do without it? Too scary to ponder!
Sending love and hugs,
Poppy xoxo
Poppy, I miss having the kids still at home on St. Nicholas Day! When the last two were growing up we celebrated it each year with a special pancake breakfast on a prettily set breakfast table and there was always one gift for each of them to open that morning.
DeleteKeyes had extremely poor health that was exacerbated by all the world travel she did to research her books. And yet the woman never ever gave up. She was not, even when young, a beautiful woman and yet I believe that people she met everywhere loved her. I think she probably was so interested in other people that she was welcome everywhere. I look forward someday to sitting down with her in Heaven for a good long chat! And with you, my dear friend from so far away!