I have been a long time lover of historical fiction. And I don’t mean just any historical fiction- I mean historical fiction that doesn’t feel like a history lesson! To me great historical fiction reads like another good book- with page turning suspense. They should be just as gripping, the character just as developed- just set in a different time period. Below are a few of my favorites.
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The Secrets of Flight by Maggie Leffler
This is probably my most favorite book of the past several years- and not just because it’s set in my home city of Pittsburgh. The story alternates between modern day and the 1940s, narrated alternately by an older woman who was a lady pilot in world war 2, and between a young girl of modern day. This book is not only an exciting story with surprises and plot twists, but also one that educates about the brave women who stepped up to become pilots during world war 2 and the difficulties and sometimes sabotage that they faced. If you’re not a historical fiction enthusiast and need a book that bridges between modern day and recent history- this is the book for you!
Lovely War by Julie Berry
This tale is about 4 young people and their experiences during the First World War. What I really loved about this book is that the author chose to have the main characters stories told by several of the Greek Gods. Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, is trying to pull together the main characters. Ares, the god of War, just wants to tell about the battle scenes, and then Hades… he narrates the death scenes, so we know someone is dying in the chapter, but we don’t know who. I really enjoyed knowing the topic was based off of which god was telling the story, but then I kept guessing as to who the chapter was going to be about. I thought this was a fresh way to tell a story about WW1, and one that had kept my attention the whole way through!
Two Girls of Gettysburg by Lisa Klein
This story will keep you page turning as you read about the pivotal and bloodiest battle of the Civil War. This is the story of the cousins during the civil war- a northern girl and a southerner. Two different points of view are told as one war and one battle change their lives, torn apart by war and then brought together by it, what will remain of their once close friendship? As someone who grew up visiting the modern day town of Gettysburg I really appreciated the details depicted within this story as the events of the Gettysburg battle unfolds.
Time Enough for Drums by Ann Rinaldi
This is an older book by my all time favorite author Ann Rinaldi. This book is technically classified as young adult but don’t let that stop you! Is a well done story exploring the tensions and currents during the early days of the American revolution. Jem is wild and not content to be stuck at home in a classroom, especially with her tutor John who is a tory- someone who supports England and has the opposite beliefs of Jen and her family. That is until she gets the feeling that he may not be a Tory…And that she may have growing feelings towards him….
The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner
I’m a goner when it comes to anything about the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. There is just something about an event that is still shrouded in mystery over 300 years later. If you aren’t familiar with the topic of the Salem Witch trial I suggest you pick up this book and educate yourself! The Salem Witch trials are about the winter of 1691/1692 when a group of young women, several of whom were still young girls, started accusing people in their town of watch craft- an offense punishable by death! 19 people were put to death by the accusations of these girls. This book drifts from modern day about a girl hired to transcribe a journal of one of the accused, and 1692 where we hear the story of one of the accused women, the owner of the aforementioned journal being transcribed.
Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So it is sin to know the good and yet not do it.
James 4:15-17 CSB
It was a month before our wedding when I decided we should take ballroom dancing lessons- because obviously there was nothing else going on in our lives at that time and we had all the time in the world to learn a new skill. I called around and found a place that could offer us classes at a reasonable price and the teacher thought we would be able to learn enough steps to fill the entirety of the song we had chosen for our first dance.
We both enjoyed the classes- I had taken traditional dance classes from the time I was a toddler until I graduated from high school. My husband loves music and likes to dance at weddings and other such events. Once we had learned enough steps to string together so that we could “dance,” we ran into a small glitch.
I was trying to lead. The woman cannot lead in ballroom style dancing. The man’s steps are less complicated, because he is the one listening to the music and signaling the woman on what steps she will take next. The woman on the other hand just has to remember the steps and heed the cues given to her by her partner. She doesn’t have to think about timing or what comes next- she only has to trust her partner and focus on him. The teacher told us what the problem was, that I needed to let him lead, and just do the steps. This system would be good for us because while I can pick up the choreography quickly, I cannot hear music. My husband-to-be, on the other hand, could hear the music and would keep our timing strong. All I had to do was give up control.
It sounds simple- just let go! But it was hard to give up control and stop trying to lead, even though I knew my husband-to-be was better equipped for that role. After several times of running the dance and seeing the teacher flinch as I would ignore my husband’s cue and start to take the lead again I was finally able to surrender to my partner. And guess what happened- I lived! And our dancing improved.
How often do we do the same thing with God? We hear Him gently nudging us to let go and release control and we fight it. We hear Him gently whispering to us that He knows best and we must surrender, but still we try to do things our way. How miraculous, when we relinquish the control that we never really had, into the hands of the One who created us that we then experience peace contentment that had been escaping us when we were so busy trying to do it ourselves. Funny how well things work when we submit to the creator of the world and do what He says.
A Vignette is a collection of items, or furniture, that are arranged together.. That’s it in a nutshell but let’s dive a little deeper! You will typically use a vignette to gather items that you want to display together, styled in a way that makes sense and is pleasing to the eye, and one that tells a story. As I mentioned above a vignette can be as simple as hand soap and lotion placed on a dish, a collection of cutting boards, an herb plant, a pretty container holding your favorite kitchen utensils, and a lemon or lime stuck in for a pop of color. A vignette can also be as large as a floor lamp, a chair, and a stack of books on the floor; a vignette such as this tells the story of a lazy Saturday morning spent reading, or cozy evenings with your favorite books. There is so much room for variation in a vignette, and they are the perfect time to have fun and express your individual style!
What should you include in your vignette?
Have I mentioned that there really are no rules when it comes to vignette? I know- no help! So here are a few guidelines to follow!
Pick an odd number of items: Usually my small vignettes end up with 5 or 7 items. You can go with more or pair down to 3, but generally the smaller the items the more you can get away with.
Objects of Varying heights. If you thought of each object as something in nature, what landscape would make for the best views? A vase or larger picture will add height, a small sculpture will bring interest to the details, a stack of 2 or 3 books will act as a bridge.
Vary textures! If you add only things that are smooth, shiny, or rough, it will be like reading a magazine in black and white. Companies add color to their magazines to grab your attention, and that is what adding texture will do for your vignette!
Add personality! Books, decor items, pictures, coasters- these are all great but also toss in something unexpected. Like any decor you want to add just a little bit of visual tension to your decor- think plot twists in a book! So here is the place to drop in any odd keepsake you’ve been wanting to display but haven’t known where or how to!
On what should you display your vignette?
Just when you thought you couldn’t have anymore fun with a vignette the options once again opened up! A tray is probably the most common way to showcase a vignette, but a wooden box, a large bowl, a round slice of wood, a blanket, a mirror, or a large book are all possibilities; what do you have around your house that you are under utilizing? Use that thing!
Add a Touch of the Season
Vignettes are probably the thing I change up most season to season. I have a wooden bowl that my uncle made on my entryway table. I love to add different touches of the season to this bowl, it helps to set the tone for the rest of my house from the start.
For fall I love, Love the little baby pumpkins. I love the orange ones, white ones, and the ones that are a combination of both! But there are soo many options such as:
Pine cones
Twine Balls
Cotton Bolls
Antlers- Faux or Real
Bottles
Strands of faux berry branches
Feathers
Leaves- you can spray paint faux ones to match your decor!
So many options, and still this list isn’t all inclusive!
Not Sure if Your Vignette is Working?
I don’t think I’m the only who after putting together a vignette, will step back and think, “Does that even look like anything?” Sometimes isn’t doesn’t and I have to tweak it or start over, but many times I walk away and when I come back a short while later I either love it, or can easily spot what needs to be changed.
I hope this inspires you to have fun with your decor! Vignettes are so much fun and fall is a great time to play around- so play! Have fun and enjoy making your home even more beautiful. And after you are finished creating vignettes of your own, I hope you will tag me over on Instagram so I can see what lovely creations you have made in your home. And for more pictures and inspiration from me come follow me on Pinterest at: EssentiallyEmmaMarie.
What kind of person reads a book about a pandemic in the middle of a pandemic? Me… There was definitely something comforting about picking up this book about the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic during our current time, and while I’m not sure that I would have been able to read this in the beginning of March of this year, (2020), I thought it gave a great perspective to our current time.
Bright as Heaven opens as the fictional Bright family leave their family farm to move to Philadelphia for Mr Bright to take over his uncle’s mortuary business. They are mourning the loss of Henry, the youngest child who didn’t even live to see his first birthday. The story is told through alternating points of view of each of the women in the family; there is Pauline- Mamma, Evie the eldest, Maggie the middle child, and Willa the youngest. They each come to Philadelphia fighting their own inner battles but soon enough a whole new battle comes crashing into their lives.
They are just beginning to settle into life in the big, busy city when seemingly out of nowhere the Spanish Flu springs up, and instantly their residence which is also the mortuary business is overrun with the dead. We think of the years of 1918 and 1919 and we think of World War One, totally forgetting about this global crisis that occurred in the midst of the war. As the flu reaches its deadly peak, Mamma and Maggie are out tending to the ill when Maggie hears a baby crying. She follows the crying and comes to a dilapidated house. Inside she finds his mother is dead as she picks up the baby, Maggie also notices a girl, his sister, nearly motionless on a couch. Before Maggie’s eyes the sister dies, or at least Maggie thinks that she does… This image will haunt Maggie continuously for years to come in ways she couldn’t imagine.
Not only does Susan Meissener weave together a gripping story with; as I like to say, no boring parts, she also sheds light on an often forgotten chapter of history. The Spanish Flu of 1918 was a global event that took more lives than World War One did. Imagine, not just a world war, but in addition a flu that couldn’t be cured or treated effectively raging at the same time. This book really gave me perspective on our current times. This is not the first time our world has seen tragedy and chaos, nor will it be the last. We must remember that we are not defined by the times that we live in, but rather how we react to our current circumstances. Since the world has been in existence there have been cataclysmic events, but the world has kept on turning. I would like to challenge you to pick up this book and after you finish, ask yourself- do we really have it as badly as today as we think we do? Will we rise to the challenge of our times as the Bright Family does?
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
I hear the voices, they are up to their usual tricks saying things like, “This won’t work, it never does.” Or “Who do you think you are that they would want to be friends with you.” Now they are not things other people have said to me. Instead they are things I have said to me- those and many other things like that.
God’s word tells us to take every thought captive. It also tells us in Philippians 4:8 to think on whatever is true, whatever is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy to think of these things. Wow. Most of my thought don’t pass that test! But yet I have a hard time dismissing them just Iike that. “This won’t work, it never does,” is that true? Nope! Out on the first try! “Who do you think you are that they would want to be friends with you,” is that a noble thought? Nope again! Yet we still let those voices talk.
But what if we truly take every thought captive? What if as soon as we have a thought like one of the aforementioned we hold it up to the scrutiny of scripture before letting it wear deep groves into the tracks of our minds that then continue to play over and over and over again. How much happier we would be! How much self loathing we would skip! It always amazes me how happy and content we would be if we would simply heed God’s word! He didn’t create us to be miserable- He created us not to be miserable but to be happy! Why? Because seeing us happy while seeking Him makes Him happy too!
So the next time you’re tempted to continue the monologue of all the ways you’ve messed up and why you deserve to be so unhappy, stop. Take that thought captive. Hold up it to the scrutiny of Scripture and if it doesn’t pass the test- let it go.
