Christy -- by Catherine Marshall

by Tristi Pinkston | More from this Blogger

This book is one of my favorites of all time. Dog-eared and ragged, it holds a place of honor on my bookshelf, and I've immersed myself in it several times.

Written by the daughter of the real Christy, this is a fictionalized true story, meaning that most of the events in the novel actually took place, but Catherine Marshall embellished much of it as well, making it more sellable and more interesting to the reader.

The book is written first person through the eyes of nineteen-year-old Christy Huddleston, a well-to-do young woman from an influential family in Ashville, North Carolina in 1912. She has volunteered to go to a backwoods mission to teach school after hearing an impassioned plea from the director of the mission in that area, and feels herself called upon to go. She has a year and a semester of college and feels ready to take on the challenge, but what she doesn't realize is that she's going to one of the poorest communities in the country. Outhouses would be a luxury. There is very little personal hygiene in her new home of Cutter Gap, and superstitions run rampant, keeping the missionaries from doing all they came to do.

David Grantland is the preacher of the community, transported from Boston. He understands Christy's frustration with the situation, but like her, feels helpless to do much about it. Neil McNeil is the Cove physician, and while a learned man, can't understand why Christy wants to come in and change everything. But change it she must. How can she work closely with schoolchildren when they smell so bad, all she wants to do is back away?

Little by little, Christy starts to have an influence on those around her, but more importantly, she discovers that they are having an influence on her. She begins to see past the dirt and the poverty to the bright souls and shining eyes of her students. Soon, she doesn't ever want to leave.

The book contains not only the story of what happened to Christy, but the things that she learned as well. She believed herself to be a Christian before, but the things that she experiences bring her closer to God in ways she never dreamed.

Not everything that happens in this book is bright and rosy. The mountain people live hard lives, and at times the recounting of the tale can be gritty, probably best left to adults. But the overall message is one of faith, hope and perseverance, and I highly recommend it, as well as the television series based on the book that stars Kellie Martin.

(This book was published in 1967 by Hearst Books.)

Learn more about Tristi Pinkston

I am a stay-at-home mom, author of eight published books, a freelance editor, and the mother of four incredible children. I enjoy scrapbooking, watching good movies, and taking naps.

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