Mrs Henry Wood

I am just re-reading Mrs Henry Wood's "George Canterbury's Will". and am rather wishing that when I made my own fictional debut, I had thought to call myself Mrs Colin Knight, or even Mrs Captain Butterfly.

It is a wonderful Victorian melodrama, and quite a classic in its way.  Her most famous book was "East Lynne", which is not my favourite.  "Mrs Halliburton's Troubles" is THE Wood classic for me.

But what a different world we live in.  Her characters are all believers in God, all struggling with some moral dilemmas that would be hard for the current generation even to understand.  And she would be seen as a Christian writer, with her characters being Christians - good ones or bad ones.  Yet she clearly does not know what the Bible really says.  Her characters have immortal souls that float off heavenwards - well, for the good ones anyway - when they die.

Yet the teaching of the immortal soul is not a Christian one - nor a Jewish one - though Genesis does tell us where that teaching came from.   Satan told Eve that she would not die if she disobeyed her Creator, but that instead she would become "like God".  So he told her that there was something immortal about her.

And Satan is called "the father of the lie".  He told the first lie ever told.
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Lovely meeting this morning. Back for lunch with Captain B (soup,veggie)   And then I made myself go out in the afternoon and take the Creation book I had promised to Mike. The meeting this morning had spurred me on.   Mike seemed pleased to see me, and very pleased with the book. His dilemma is that the theory of Evolution is pushed so strongly at us. 

We went to supper at Jackie's last night - chicken, rice and salad, followed by Tiramisu.  A fun evening, as it always is.