“The Crayon Messages” by Christine Thackeray is a short novel that tells us the story of Cath Reed, a woman who has just moved into a new ward with her often-absent husband and her children who range in age from teenager to preschooler. She doesn’t feel welcome in her surroundings and wonders if she ever will. Knowing that visiting teaching is a great way to make new friends, she is excited to receive her assignment, and disappointed to discover that it’s a letter route. She’s only expected to write her sisters once a month, rather than visiting them.
Feeling like that’s just not enough, she sets out to meet the sisters on her list. She begins with her companion, an elderly lady named Gwen Keen, who lives in a nursing home. She’s surprised to learn that Gwen has a rare form of narcolepsy, which causes her to sleep for long periods of time. She even eats intravenously, as she would starve otherwise. Cath looks around Gwen’s room and is surprised to see how bare and impersonal it is, and she has an idea. Asking for paper and crayons, she draws pictures to decorate Gwen’s walls, and then she writes Gwen a letter so Gwen will know she was there.
As she reaches out to the other ladies on her list, Cath learns that maybe there is a place for her in this ward, even if she does have to fight her way to find it. But as she’s learning to assert herself, she learns that she is a person of worth and that no matter what trials she’s asked to face, she’ll be able to do it.
This first novel is a fun story and a quick, light read. I did find it a little adjective-heavy in places, but I enjoyed the story and expect to see more great things from this author in future.
(This book was published in Cedar Fort in 2008.)
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