The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown

Laird, Elizabeth. The Misunderstandings of Charity Brown

July 7, 2022 by Macmillan Children's Books 

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

In 1955, Charity Brown has a difficult life. While she has a supportive mother and father, who are both heavily invested in the Lucasite religious movement and work as missionaries who rely on donations to fund their work and family, she has recently had a bout with polio that has kept her out of school for months and left her with lingering weaknesses in an arm and leg. Her two sisters, Hope and Faith, and brother, Ted, are much older, and busy with their own lives. When the family has a windfall, they are shocked to find that a church member has left his house and furnishings to them. Such a large house is hard to fund, but the parents also have some money from Mr. Brown's family that he hasn't touched because it was acquired through a distillery business, something upon which their strict religion frowns. The family moves, hoping to use the extra space for people in need. Charity, who has struggled in school with other students making fun of her "holy" ways, is hoping to make friends with a new neighbor girl, Rachel. Rachel's parents lived through the Holocaust, and don't trust many people, so are leery of the Browns. Charity, who very much wants to be devout, decides to be baptized, and struggles with her faith journey, since the way her parents live is not in sync with the families around them. She is tutored in French by Rachel's mother, and eventually makes peace with a girl at school who bullies her. And afterword explains that this is very much based on Ms. Laird's childhood, although the Lucasites are fictional. 

Strengths: How gorgeous is that cover? Like Kessler's Code Name Kingfisher, it's done in the style seen on the introductions to BBC shows like The Durrels in Corfu or All Creatures Great and Small. Charity's dress, socks and shoes, and braids are perfect! This reminded me so strongly of books like Sharp's Cluny Brown or Enright's The Saturdays, so Laird's grasp of Mid Century literature is very strong. This is a quiet but interesting story of one girl's difficulties growing up under somewhat unusual circumstances. Sadly, none of Laird's many novels seem to have made their way to the US. I'd love to take a look at Song of the Dolphin Boy. 
Weaknesses: This might be a hard sell for my students, given the particularly English setting (which I adored). I'd love to see something set in the US in 1955, with a young girl moving to a new suburb. I will keep this in mind if I have an increased number of readers wanting historical fiction or books set in England. 
What I really think: I enjoyed this tremendously, and it covers a period of time that has not gotten much attention. The aftermath of polio is also somewhat unusual; my mother had polio as a child, but thankfully only had a heart murmur because of it. This is a good choice for readers who need more post WWII books like Van Draanen's The Peach Rebellion or Frazier's Mighty Inside (also set in 1955), or Lasky's 2010 Chasing Orion (which also deals with polio).