A Year in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania -- Novels by Calvin Miller

Seasons of Pennsylvania Series – Calvin Miller

Snow © 1998, Wind © 2000, Shade © 2001, Frost © 2002 Bethany House Publishers, Minneapolis

I have to apologize for reviewing a collection of books, but these should be read together, if you can find them all. Calvin Miller—preacher, author, artist, poet (not necessarily in that order)—is a master storyteller. And he proves it once again with this four book collection that brings the reader to the small community of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, in the era of the Great Depression.

Each installment of the collection focuses on one season, and the interaction of several of the notable families in this rural town. As expected, Snow is set in winter—specifically around the Christmas season—and we become acquainted with the Muellers (the “coal people”) and Mary Withers, a young widow with a sickly daughter. As the dram unfolds, the little girl, Alexis, almost dies on the night that Otto Mueller is discovered to return home to his estranged family, even as his younger brother Erick falls in love with that “Vithers voman” as father Hans calls Mary. Christmas miracles ensue.

In Wind, Miller turns our focus to the McCaslin family (the “cow people”). Peter—the male heir to the McCaslin Dairy—finds himself at odds with his sister Isabel (called “Dizzy Izzy” by everyone because of her proclivity to quote scripture and hang on to the long gone love of an unscrupulous Bible salesman named Benny Baxter) when she insists that the dairy is responsible for giving a job to the down-on-his-luck Ernest Pitovsky and give him, his wife, and their two children a warm place to live. Otto Mueller appears once again, this time to rescue Isabel from her lovesick madness.

As summer creeps up on our little town, Shade chronicles the lives of the families involved as Benny Baxter returns to turn Isabel back into Dizzy Izzy. Also returning to town is Mabel Cartwright’s wayward daughter Christine who discovers a dark secret in the memory boxes of her mother—whose personal memory is failing. Otto sees his love for Isabel slipping away even as his father Hans succumbs to cancer. How will the Muellers survive crisis after crisis?

In a final note, Miller returns us again to King of Prussia in Frost. As the title suggests, this part of the story takes place in Autumn as the town anticipates the first frost of the year. Christine Cartwright discovers she is carrying Benjamin Baxter’s baby—though she has discovered just what a heel Benny is. Helena Pitovsky continues to battle tuberculosis. Mary Withers disappears with her dead husband’s identical twin brother only to find out that they are only identical in physical appearance. Ingrid Mueller must work the wonders only a mother can work to ensure that her sons will be happy and find the love that they both deserve.

You must read the books yourself to get a feel for Pennsylvania in the 1930s. The continued reference to the local Lutheran Church brings a homey touch to this collection of books (which you can order as a set from the author’s website while supplies last).

As a whole I give the books four out of five reading glasses because they are good, readable tellings of a pleasant story about a not-so-pleasant time. I did find that the first of the books touched my fancy most, though. Miller suggests that the last installment is the best because of the resolution found there. In any case, you will enjoy them. I know that my girls enjoyed them when I read them to them at bedtime.

—Benjamin Potter, May 3, 2011

The Black Moon – Robert J. Randisi and Ruth Ashby, eds.

©1989 Lynx Books, New York

Sometimes you run across a book that defies classification. Is it a novel? Is it a short story collection? In this respect we’re in a quandary about The Black Moon. On the other hand, this collective novel is definitely a Private I. work of fiction. Drawing from the expertise of five excellent P.I. writers, the story that is woven has lots to offer.

The premise is that there is a collective work of art—five paintings that are actually one work of art. The “Ladies in the Cathedral” collection is stolen from a post-WWII Italian museum that was guarded by three US soldiers. During the course of the crime, one of the Americans is killed, and the thieves get away with the paintings. Forty years later, the paintings are resurfacing in five different US cities.

Enter five writers with five different private investigators. Most are ex-cops. Two are the surviving guards from the Italian museum.

In this collection/novel you’ll find five different approaches to the P.I. novel. Robert Randisi expertly introduces and resolves the mystery telling the story through the voice of Salvatore Carlucci. Carlucci enlists the help of his old co-guard Ralph Parnell (written with the humor and flair of P.I. great Ed Gorman), Miami investigator Tony Mack (penned by W. R. Philbrick), Laura Bailey—the daughter of his respected and recently deceased friend, Jim Bailey—Dallas investigator who is brought to life by L. J. Washburn, and Iron Harbor (Michigan) police chief/part-time private investigator Riley Cooper (who comes to life via the pen of veteran PI writer Loren D. Estleman) to find the paintings so that they can be returned to the Italian government.

Philbrick is the only one of the authors that I had been (prior to this reading) unfamiliar with, but I discovered that he showed himself adept at telling a good mystery. I must admit that I was most disappointed with the segment by one of my favorite authors, L. J. Washburn. It was her name on the cover that drew my attention to the collection. Even with the disjointed portion by Washburn (she needed more pages to develop the story, it seemed), the overall outcome was a surprisingly enjoyable encounter. Even though each author chose a different style (from hardboiled, to edgy modern) with their respective private eyes, the story flowed.

This is not the first (nor the last) attempt at the collective mystery, but it is an excellent foray into team project writing. Well worth your while if you can find it on a used bookstore shelf.

Three and one-half stars.

—Benjamin Potter, May 6, 2009

Kingdom Promises devotionals – Ken Hemphill

©2005-2006, B&H (Broadman & Holman Publishers), Nashville

This is a collection of four small books filled with two-page devotionals based on what Hemphill calls “Kingdom Promises.” They are included in the EKG resources. There are several things that make this collection appealing:

1. Size—each volume is small enough to carry around in your pocket.
2. Time—each selection will take no more than a few minutes to read, absorb, and often challenge the reader to Kingdom Living.
   
3. Basis—the devotional thoughts included in each of the books springboards from a biblical statement of faith.
4. Evangelism—each volume includes a short plan of salvation that can speak to the heart of unbelieving friends.
5. Price—each book is priced at under four dollars, which makes them great tools both for Christians wanting to enhance their own walk or to use as witnessing tools—if you give it away you’re not out a fortune and someone may find the Way within the pages.

The books themselves are divided into different promise statements and gathered to illuminate different aspects of Christian living. The best order to read them may be the following: “We Are;” “We Can;” “But God;” “He Is.” The progression is most natural that way. At the same time, each one speaks to different places in the journey of the faithful and can be purchased separately to meet the needs of the individual devotion reader.

If you don’t miss any days and take one promise per day, you should be able to tackle all four books in about six to eight m

onths. If you just wanted to be inspired, you can read all four in the time it normally takes you to read an engaging novel. My advice, decide what part of the journey you are on—whether finding out about God’s promises about Himself or His people, and take a moment each day chewing over that day’s thought. Some of the thoughts are deeper, others more inviting.

Personally, I was really impressed with the concept and the design of the readings. I was also most inspired by the “He Is” volume (admittedly, I read it first). The other texts seemed less promises than statements, and flowed less freely from the passages highlighted. While the author and publishers want to be able to apply evangelism to the books (doing so by including an “A, B, C approach to the gospel message) the books are best suited for people who already have an on-going relationship with Christ, and therefore a bent toward wanting to find out more about what God has to say about Himself and His people.

Rating the books separately, I’m afraid I would be less than kind, but the fourth volume is more than worth the price of buying the entire set. So I will give Hemphill three and one-half reading glasses to average the lot out.

—Benjamin Potter, September 2, 2008