Although this is a brother sister story - a story of two young siblings and would be a very good read for a youngster, at the same time it was a book which was a nostalgic, simple read for an adult as well.
Gregory and Janet want to do something for their maid Marta who is very sad despite being quite happy as part of their household. She is a refugee from Ukraine and misses the warmth and closeness and religious upbringing of her native country. She is close to the children and entrances them with stories from her homeland - stories for the two urban children seem like fairy tales - but she also makes them realize that something is missing from their home, especially from the kitchen and this is the catalyst for the Madonna.
For two children with not much knowledge or imagery of the Madonna and the baby Jesus, the imagination of Gregory specially is tremendous. How he succeeds in creating an "icon" of the Madonna in his own inimitable style is the story of this book. The imagination plus the creativity of both children in creating this icon from nothing, not even knowing what an icon was or what it represented was magnificient. More than anything else it showed the humane character of both children who wanted to replicate for Marta something of her own home, so that she would be happier with them.
A very heartwarming story. What I am most excited about is that I got the book In this house of Brede also by the same author. Got the book after a seven day wait list so really looking forward to this read.
What a wonderful and heartwarming story! I can see why you liked it. I like that the children did that for Marta. I can only imagine how hard it must have been to be away from her own home.
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