Are you a Miss Prim?

I just finished reading one of the best books I have ever read. A book that will be among my favorites and will be read again and again. The novel, The Awakening of Miss Prim by Natalia Sanmartin Fenollera, is a treasure in every sense of the word.

A delightful story which reveals much about how truly to be a woman and which shows forth in all its brilliancy the joys and peace which come from living according to the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church.

Miss Prim is a woman much like most women of our time, smart, pretty and possessing a college education with numerous qualifications. Unlike most women though, she feels out of place in this century and for a reason she cannot explain, feels that she has been born in the wrong era.

When she takes a job in the small village of San Ireneo de Arnois, she gradually realizes just how different this little place is. The inhabitants produce and sell their own goods, own their own homes (yes, that means without a mortgage) and live off the fruits of their own labors. There is none of the mad rushing around and incessant tearing about found everywhere in the modern world, with people forever trying to out wit and out smart their neighbors in order to make more money. No, they live life on a simpler scale. Providing for themselves and the other villagers in tranquility, with an emphasis on prayer, study and friendly companionship.

In fact, so important is this lifestyle to them, that their shops are only open for a few hours a day. The rest of the time is employed in teaching their children, being with their families, praying, studying and having delightful teas with their neighbors.

In a word, they are Distributists. People who, far from being Capitalists and certainly not Communists, quite simply subsist in tranquility. Supplying the needs of themselves, their families and their community without greedy men taking or withholding it from them, or greedy men redistributing it to themselves.

The novel unfolds these treasures bit by bit as Miss Prim discovers them. The reader is kindly and carefully informed of the errors of modern living and certain errors in modern thought.

Without ruining the book, I can say that it convicted me strongly. It brought to the forefront of my mind certain ways that by the grace of God I am fulfilling my calling as a woman, a wife and a Catholic. In other ways it showed me just how far I need to go. How much there is to change about myself in order to live the ideal of womanhood as a truly feminine being. And how much I need to adjust in my ways of thinking and acting, not only in the way I view myself and the world, but in how I employ these things in my own life. It brought to the forefront of my mind things I need to do to enable myself and my household to live more according to the social teachings of the Church instead of succumbing to the noise and competition of the modern world.

Our Lord calls us to be countercultural and this book is just that. I will not hesitate to admit that it brought me to tears. Tears of sadness and pain as I realized my shortcomings and tears of hope and joy as Our Lord helped me to see not only the path I must needs follow, but that I will not be alone on it. He and the celestial court will help me and my husband to traverse this blessed road. He will help you to do so as well!!

I have never attempted a book review, so I hope this wasn’t a complete disaster. Book reviews are, I think, used in three very specific ways. They either compel you to dislike a book and thus never read it. They may fill you with a sense of curiosity, thus putting the book on the ‘maybe’ list. Or they fill you with a sense of conviction and desire to read the book. At times I daresay, this conviction even becomes a sense of delightful urgency to read the book. And read it soon.

If I do not inspire the latter and best option, I hope to at least inspire a sense of curiosity about the book. What exactly do its pages contain? Why was it so touching, helpful and convicting? And will it do the same for you? These are all questions that I strongly suggest you find the answers to without delay.

May Our Lord guide you on this journey and may it bear much fruit in your life.

Here are a couple links to purchase the book: https://www.abebooks.com/ or https://www.amazon.com/ I have found Abe Books to be a wonderful alternative to Amazon’s big business.