Lilli De Jong by Janet Benton

Lillie De Jong by Janet Benton

Historical Fiction
☆☆☆☆

Even though this is outside my normal genre, this book sucked me in and refused to let go. While reading, I was living Lilli’s life and agonizing over how things would turn out for her.

It was impossible to be an independent woman back then (1883). So many people get hurt over trivial injustices they don’t see the real ones or remember how good they have it. Reading this book will make you very indignant over the injustice and double standards of the time and very grateful for the time you live in.

The depictions of caring for a newborn are spot on. Reading about cracked nipples, I thought, praise to God for lanolin, and then I read that they had lanolin and was like, Use it, Sister! And that stupid advice about forcing a baby to wait four hours between feedings is still going on today! I had a baby or two who were fine eating every three to four hours. But I had two (boys) who needed it at least every hour, and to deny them that would not only have increased both of our discomfort, it would have been a betrayal to the baby who was just learning to trust. The author also captures that sense of touching the divine you get from feeling a baby kick and when nursing to seeing your child create something of her own.

“Live up the light thou hast; and more will be granted thee.”

“I was stunned at being the basis of a newborn’s survival and awed by how my body and heart changed in service of her. Becoming a mother was no small shift in identity. I would never see any aspect of living in the same way again.”

“Do not be surprised, when thee has children, to find what I have found: of all the kinds of love that bind, a mother’s love for her offspring is the strongest imperative on earth. It is as common as sunlight, as all-penetrating, as necessary to life.”

“If our principles are right, why should we be cowards?”

It is beautifully written, hands down. It ended kind of abruptly. I would have liked to have seen what happened to all the secondary characters or a glimpse into the future.