The Baker’s Tale by Thomas Hauser
When a young Charles
Dickens holds an infant in his arms he wonders what her life will be. And thus begins the story of Ruby Spriggs, a
destitute child living in abject poverty on the streets of 1830’s London. As we wonder what Mr. Dickens is trying to
tell us in his stories, we can find that in reading Ruby’s story.
Ruby and her
uncle are thrown a life rope in the form of a simple kindness. Kindnesses paid
by strangers are returned in full. Ruby is given an education, her uncle a job.
She meets and falls in love with Edwin
Chatfield but the machinations that Dickens
fought his whole life and then wrote about are manifested in Alexander Murd,
owner of coalfields in the Liverpool area.
And here we are given a glimpse of a life even more cruel than life in
the squalid streets of London. It is the
expectation of Alexander Murd that he can have what he wants simply because of
who and what he is and kindness doesn’t register in his soul. He sets out to ruin Ruby’s life.
I’m painting a very
bleak picture of a book you will say you aren’t interested in reading because
it sounds too depressing and heavy. But let
me assure you, the story is sewn with the threads of kindnesses paid and the
realization should dawn on you very soon that opening our eyes instead of
averting them can change the world. I
can’t remember when I’ve read a more uplifting book, simply told in a quiet
voice that is almost a perfect read for the Christmas season. Good begets good.
No comments:
Post a Comment