{"id":12040,"date":"2025-10-22T16:18:55","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=12040"},"modified":"2025-10-22T16:19:03","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T16:19:03","slug":"the-unselected-journals-of-emma-m-lion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2025\/10\/22\/the-unselected-journals-of-emma-m-lion\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t

More than Mere Escape<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

A series of fictional journals from a Victorian orphan could be mere escapism\u2013but instead, the heroine and her eclectic collection of friends model living through grief with grace.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Review by Ali Holcomb<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Emma M. Lion entered my life in a season when I needed an escape. I was recovering from surgery and was spending a lot of time sitting on the couch staring at my tiny rectangle of constant scrolling material when my sister sent me The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion: Vol. 1<\/em> by Beth Brower. I consumed it in a few hours and ordered Volume 2 immediately. When my husband was gone on a months-long training cycle just a few weeks after surgery, he bought me the rest of the books and hid them, texting me directions of which package to open when I\u2019d finished the previous volume.<\/p>

The (currently) eight-book series begins in 1883, when its heroine Emma M. Lion returns to the Lapis Lazuli House in the fictional London neighborhood of St. Crispian\u2019s. Emma is a sturdy, spunky orphan who has been passed from place to place, yet retains her wit, charm and optimism. The reader is invited into Emma\u2019s life without much explanation or backstory, but her past, a mystery at first, is slowly revealed across subsequent volumes. It\u2019s a bit like reading a mystery. Comical or tragic past incidents are often vaguely mentioned in her journal only to be revealed in a later volume, which builds up a mounting intrigue that forces a hooked reader to immediately order the next book.<\/p>

Emma carries the weight of loss in a way that makes her both deeply human and renders her cheerful courage all the more admirable. On the 23rd of each month she lights a candle in remembrance of her father, and on a particularly dark night of the soul she writes, \u201cam now curled up on the window seat with my burning candle, the window open to the spring night, believing there must be worse sorrows than losing my mother and my father, and the only boy who ever made up a beating part of my heart. Only I can\u2019t think of any.\u201d But the very next day, she is her cheery self again, out and about St. Crispian\u2019s, enjoying tea cakes, buying stationery and pens, and chatting with her fellow residents. It\u2019s a reminder that this is often how life goes. In the dark of night we wonder how it is possible to live through so much hurt, but the next day we take little steps to keep living: going for walks in the sunshine, buying new books or fresh flowers, and indulging in a latte and a baked good. Emma in 1883 is not so different from us today.<\/p>

Emma exists among a lively cast of characters in St. Crispian\u2019s, including her aggravating and slightly villainous cousin Archibald with whom she lives, her Aunt Eugenia and Cousin Arabella, friend Mary, childhood nemesis Roland, not to mention the handsome young vicar Hawkes, the mysterious Lapis Lazuli tenant Pierce, and the proud Duke of Islington. Her friendships tend to begin comically and unfold into something deeper\u2014Emma and Pierce\u2019s friendship begins with passing notes through the wall complaining about mice in the garret and results in their adoption of a cat, Tybalt. The vicar Hawkes befriends Emma after Emma\u2019s cousin Archibald repeatedly comes to Hawkes to confess Emma\u2019s \u201csins,\u201d even though Hawkes is Anglican, not Catholic. But through these \u201cconfessions,\u201d Hawkes is made aware of Emma\u2019s struggles and looks after her. C.S. Lewis wrote that \u201cfriendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.\u201d Emma excels at finding \u201cthe beauties of others.\u201d<\/p>

The books are also funny, packed with various comical incidents told through Emma\u2019s witty point of view. I often found myself chuckling aloud at anecdotes like this one: \u201cI cried out and fell, splashing face first into the fountain. It was not among the triumphant moments of my life.\u201d And for those of us who enjoy budding romances with a bit more subtlety and tenderness than the modern romance novel, this series is for us. Emma\u2019s little romances remind the reader that being known and cared for is what we should actually yearn for: scarfs draped around us when we\u2019re cold, someone willing to step into our moments of grief and be by our side. Likewise, Emma\u2019s tender perspective was a useful reminder to myself as I recovered from surgery for a health issue outside of my control. \u201cI make a go of it, when I can. It\u2019s not my disposition to\u2026 What I mean to say is, I learned a long time ago that my happiness has to be separate from the things beyond my control.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

While not overtly Christian, these books have an understanding of grace that is woven throughout the works of their characters.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The series is Austen-esque in its keen understanding of human nature, and in turn holds classic books in high esteem. Emma plunges into the poetry of Emerson and Whitman and enjoys the escapism of Treasure Island<\/em>. She is desperate to expand her library, and is constantly on the lookout for means of squirreling away more books: \u201c<\/em>I did find, among the wreckage of the garret, a worn copy of Paradise Lost<\/em>. Victory! Cousin Archibald\u2019s plan to keep me uneducated suffers a retreat. How wonderful it will be to have something to read until I can rebuild my own library. In addition, finding Milton in your garret must be a sign of sorts.\u201d There\u2019s a list in the back of each volume that lists \u201cThe Personal Library of Emma M. Lion. As It Currently Stands\u201d; who can help but love a heroine who wishes to acquire more books? I can happily confirm that her library grows over the course of the eight volumes. Emma is enthusiastic about every book she receives (even if it is a duplicate), and reads each to the full\u2014in so doing, offering a gentle reminder to those of us who suffer the sin of collecting books faster than we can read them.<\/p>

Emma M. Lion<\/em> is a series of utter delight but also of real substance. The books bear twinklings of faith and speaks to the Christian journey. The vicar Hawkes lends theological depth; his sermons in St. Crispian\u2019s are legendary, and he has a gentleness and wisdom that makes the reader lean in deeper to what he is going to say. \u201cHe spoke of Grace, wrestled with it. His words part prayer, part soliloquy, and part an exploration of himself, his motives, and God\u2019s place in it all. We sat enrapt,\u201d writes Emma. He also has a habit of appearing at just the right time and giving just the right words, too. \u201cWhile one does not tell Young Hawkes of their needs, somehow the widows are heard, the sick cheered, the lonely remembered, and the drunkards are\u2026 Well, I honestly don\u2019t know what he says to the drunkards\u2026\u201d<\/p>

While not overtly Christian, these books have an understanding of grace that is woven throughout the works of their characters. As I\u2019ve mentioned, I began the series while recovering from a surgery; I also finished the final book at a difficult time of life. We were a few weeks from moving and I was again recovering from a surgery that was my second in two months and was inconclusive on the cause of my infertility. I felt weary trying to picture the road ahead, but these little books brought hope: hope for life after loss, and hope for a life that doesn\u2019t quite look how you thought it would. There are many books with fun plots and silly characters, but fewer that are able to convey the concept of faith when there has been so much sorrow and when we don\u2019t know the ending (because there are volumes of the series still to come, we don\u2019t even know Emma\u2019s ending yet). For this reason, these books deserve our special attention. Emma shows us how to move through grief, and that faith is not an abstract concept but a way to live our lives. I can say it no better than this exchange between Emma and Hawkes in Volume 5 where Emma says, \u201cI\u2019m almost brave enough to say it back. To see a life ahead, even if it\u2019s different from what I\u2019d planned\u2026\u201d Hawkes responds, \u201cIt takes a great deal to trust the future after one is acquainted with loss.\u201d Emma says, \u201cIt feels impossible, for longer than is comforting. And then too tentative to trust.\u201d Hawkes replies, \u201cIt does. But it seems that sword pierced Christ so that we always have a future. Even one different than planned.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Ali Holcomb<\/strong> is a military wife in southern Maryland. She has written for Mere Orthodoxy <\/em>and Mockingbird Theology<\/em>, and is on Substack<\/a> where she sorts through her latest thoughts on life and faith.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

The most recent volume of The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion<\/strong> was published by Rhysdon Press on November 27, 2024. You can purchase your own copies of the books here<\/a>.
<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A series of fictional journals from a Victorian orphan could be mere escapism\u2013but instead, the heroine and her eclectic collection of friends model living through grief with grace. Review by Ali Holcomb<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-book-review","category-newsletter","entry","has-media"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/farefwd.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Unselected-Journals-of-Emma-M-Lion-3D.jpg?fit=1500%2C1383&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12040"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12045,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12040\/revisions\/12045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}