Wednesdays with Words (The Four Graces)

I recently finished reading  The Four Graces (aff) by D.E. Stevenson, which if you are familiar with Miss Buncle Married by the same author you will notice that this is also set in Chevis Green.

My quote comes from the author's preface, which I think I enjoyed just as much as the book. I find my favorite kind of fiction can be summed up in this description.

The people in the story are imaginary and bear no resemblance whatsoever to anybody the author has met, but they are intended to represent human beings; if they fail in this, they fail in everything. The Graces are unusual, perhaps, but surely not incredible. They talk a good deal of nonsense and certain amount of sense; they disagree violently on occasion and sometimes are extremely rude to one another, but they are also extremely loyal and show a united front to the outside world. It may be that the Graces will be criticized for levity upon important matters, or, on the other hand, for taking trifles sérieux au grand, but the author is of the opinion that life is bearable only if it be leavened with humor, and that a spice of humor is not out of place even in the most solemn and weighty affairs. When we find Sarah taking to heart the slight misunderstanding with Miss Bodkin, and Elizabeth "laughing wild amid severest woe," we need not conclude that the former is too anxious-minded, nor the latter too frivolous to be true to life...for life is like that (so the author has found) and all the best people have at least one bat in the belfry.