Books
Among His Personal Effects (Oaktara: 2007)
An Early Fall (Oaktara; 2008)
John Craig McDonald
reviewed by A. J. Petrotta
Radix Magazine, Issue 34.3
These two novels by John Craig
McDonald came to me as gifts. As
with truly good gifts, they came as a
surprise. They came as gifts in much
the same way that you find a book in
a bookstore that you did not know
existed, but, once found, you feel appreciative
and gratified.
Among His Personal Effects and An
Early Fall are historical novels set in
pre-Reformation Scotland, written
by a wonderful teacher and lover of
literature. Although the stories are
intricate, the writing is neither dry
nor obtuse, reflecting the setting of
the novels, medieval Scotland,
earthy, severe-and faith-filled.
Personal Effects is the story of
Master Robert Henryson, the "Scottish
Chaucer," and four of his students.
The story, located in the
events of late 15th century Scotland,
unfolds around Henryson's adaptation
of Aesop's fables. Early Fall tells
of the fortunes of a Scottish nobleman,
a priest, a traveling musician,
and a maid in the nobleman's household
as their lives intersect with the
battle of Flodden in 1513. Faith and
power, choices and providence, truth
and especially forgiveness, unravel
and interlace through the reflections
of the characters.
In both novels, through the
Radix 26
events and characters, God's grace
surfaces: [the priest speaking to the
maid] "God gives us up to one another
as gifts and would have us render
them up willingly that we might
long for him all the more." Grace is
not cheap for any of them. Much that
we read is befitting of the times. Although
nobles, abbots, lawyers, and
others remembered in standard histories
and on monuments play their
part, it is the "small people" who
have their "monuments carved in the
heart of God" who come to life here
and live the "mystery ofProvidence."
In another passage from Early
Fall, Rachel, disguised as a simple
monk, is sitting with the priest, who
does not recognize her. It is before
the battle and the priest is reflecting
on the events that pertain to Rachel's
tangled parentage: "I'll not be saying
I understand God's ways." Few
in her family had been openly
touched by grace. Her mother died
in Edinburgh and her grandmother
when she was only 12. "But I'm willing
to believe that there were other
graces, just as persistent, chasing
them too."
I said that these books were gifts,
but I must also say that the author is
a friend and former colleague, and
they were sent tomeout of our friendship.
Having read them, however,
they became gifts in another sense,
in that wonderful way of books that
open a world with thoughts that delight,
provoke, and affect the reader.
These are tales worth telling and
well told.•
You're not likely to find these books on
shelves at local booksellers. (Both are available
through the publisher's website "http:/
/www.oaktara.com" www.oaktara.com or on
Amazon,)