I read Hannah Coulter this year after hearing good things about Wendell Berry for years and seeing so many people posting about this book. It was enjoyable! But also not quite what I expected.
The premise of the book
Hannah Coulter is a novel written as the memoir of the woman Hannah as she reflects back on the key people and events of her life. Berry does a pretty good job making the reader believe you're reading the voice of a woman, with a couple brief exceptions in my opinion. It's a very poignant story of a young woman growing up on a farm during the Depression, then living through WWII and the changes in the decades that follow. As I read, I felt like I was looking at the world through the eyes of either of my grandmothers, and I loved finding that kinship with them through this story.
There are strong themes of love and marriage, the lasting impact of war in people's lives, and what it means to be attached to the land--a place where you belong. The writing is excellent and very literary.
I briefly looked up Wendell Berry on Wikipedia and found him to be a fascinating person. He has written several novels, all surrounding various characters in the fictional rural community he invented in Kentucky. His first novel, Nathan Coulter, was published in the 1960s, and he finally wrote Hannah Coulter, the story of Nathan's wife, in 2004. He is also an environmental and peace activist, and these ideas come through strongly in his writing.
Is it a Christian book?
Having mostly heard Berry recommended by Christian friends, I was expecting Hannah Coulter to be a rather overtly Christian book. I was surprised that it wasn't. There are moments where Hannah quotes the Bible, or speaks of looking forward to the resurrection, yes. There is an understood normalcy around church-going that you might expect from a rural community in the 1930s and 40s. But when Hannah reflects on the events of her life, sorting out the meaning behind it all, she never acknowledges God's hand or notices His care of her. She doesn't speculate on what He might have been doing through the various hardships, as I always want to be doing in my life. She reflects on deep things, but doesn't seem to have a relationship with God in her intimate reflections.
There are also a couple of references to fornication within the community--nothing bawdy or very surprising given human nature--nonetheless they are there. The only negative judgment in these references is that fornicataion may produce an inconvenient pregnancy or negative feelings from others. There is no concern about breaking a higher standard or displeasing the Lord.
Would I recommend it?
As I was reading of the developing love between Hannah and Nathan, I felt a burden for young Christian women who are hoping for love and marriage in our era. Their attraction is so very visceral, and Berry dwells on this. But for me as a Christian, irresistible physical forces were not going to be enough to make me consider marrying somebody.
I want to be fair in my critique, and so I suppose you could read this romance much as you would read any romance in a not-really-Christian book, enjoying what beauty exists. Still, in most of my favorite novels (Dickens, Austen, etc), the romances that develop grow as one begins to appreciate the mind and character of the other. Hannah and Nathan do share a deep sympathy because of what they have lost in the War, besides their magnetic attraction, and they end up building a happy and life-long marriage. I suppose their chances were good, having grown up as members of a small community rich in what we'd call "common grace,'' rich in understood values. They had the benefit of having been known in a small town for one's entire life. If Nathan had been some kind of scoundrel, word would have gotten to Hannah before she married him. But I'd also humbly argue that this kind of community knowledge isn't common today, and so the attraction that worked for them shouldn't be counted on by any young woman, especially a Christian.
This book will appeal more to older women, though. Hannah spends chapters reflecting on each of her children, weighing their upbringing against their innate tendencies, and second-guessing parenting choices as she watches them move away. These are the kinds of questions dear to many of us as mothers. Eventually she wrestles with the issues of aging and "will there be a legacy?" as well.
Generally, if you're looking for a poignant, quick read with an excellent literary quality, which may also leave you pondering life (without being overly depressing), I would recommend it!
