Marly YoumansCharis in the World of Wonders: A Novel Set in Puritan New England

Charis in the World of Wonders is written in an uncommon voice, tuned to beauty, and concerns a time—Puritan New England—neglected nowadays. I’m quite selective in the novels I actually finish—and I couldn’t put it down. Later, I stumbled, with some surprise, across a social media conversation regarding whether it’s a Young Adult novel. My answer: yes and no. It would certainly not be INappropriate for that age group, but I’m in my sixties and nothing about it screamed YA to me. It’s a big, powerful, beautifully told story about faith, hope, and love, and it puts warm flesh on the cold bones of the 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony. What’s not to love?

Marly Youmans's latest novel, Charis in the World of Wonders, is a richly woven, striking historical fiction. The protagonist, Charis, must weather the shock of gut-wrenching loss and survive both literal and figurative wilderness: grief, suffering, and betrayal. But Charis's tale is also radiant with integrity, self-reflection, mercy, care, and grace.Charis sees with eyes that discern the spiritual magnificence in the ordinary world. She's a bright soul who reminds me not to be daunted by human chaos, suffering, and conflict but instead to rely on the endurance of all that is good, true, and beautiful.The novel is reminiscent of many greats that came before: I see flashes of Jane Austen, Sigrid Undset, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Willa Cather, among others. There are deeply loving relationships in this book, as well as moments that glitter and glimmer. Many passages that kept me immersed me for hours on end. Youmans is a wise intellect and magical storyteller with a poet's eye. I highly recommend her latest masterpiece, Charis in the World of Wonders!

This is a brilliant, multi-layered novel I will read again and again. The element that is the most extraordinary in the novel is its fluency in seventh century diction. Charis's voice seems to grow organically out of the vocabulary of her period. We believe her to be fully a product of her time and place. Though this certainly took much study and learning on Youmans' part, it becomes a kind of magic that produces before our eyes a person out of 1690s New England. It is as if someone had brought a dead language back to life, let it live in the mind and voice of a person of that time, and taught us more in the process about the past we thought we knew than we could imagine.

Marly Youman's carefully researched historical novel, CHARIS IN THE WORLD OF WONDERS continues her run of beautiful fiction. Her scenes of the forest and winter wilderness are rich with light and visual beauty. Charis is almost Cinderella or Snow White but fully realized as a character and bound by the realities of Puritan New England. Spoiler alert: we witness no burnings at the stake. Instead we are treated to adventure, romance, and a horse that could have been conjured by Mark Helprin. I strongly recommend this book.

This is an imaginative, yet carefully researched deep dive into early life in Puritan New England. The vocabulary reflects usage from that time. Great story line showing some of the dark side of the witch trials while also affirming the faith of early settlers. We read this book aloud to the family and our kids really loved it.

I think this book will become a classic. It should, at any rate. It’s an epic set in early colonial North America, full of danger, devils, mythical beasts, wilderness, splendid 17th century vocabulary, and of grace. Charis comes of age in an untamed time in a world of wonders. Everything about it fits. More people need to know about this book.

This is an excellent novel by a writer who is new to me. I will be reading more of her work !

I can't decide whether Marly Youmans is a poet or a novelist. Even her prose seems to have a poetic rhythm and, as with poetry, each and every, single word is carefully selected and weighed to justify its existence within the story. I guess that's what Ms. Youmans is: a storyteller, whether in prose or verse.I love the voice in which Charis's story is told. Her voice feels so authentic, yet relatable and human, it almost seems like I'm actually channeling the young woman as she struggles to not just survive an alien and frequently hostile world, but to reconcile the values and beliefs of her seventeenth century Puritan culture with what is happening to her life. Her road is hard and often heartbreaking, and I confess I found some parts almost too painful to read. But there are moments of beauty and love and joy at unexpected turns in the road. In the end, what I took away was that a stout heart and an open soul will always find a way: will find the good that life really does offer to us on every hand.And no, for those of you who asked: Though the protagonist is a young adult, I would not call this a young adult novel. I would call it a human novel. It would certainly be a good novel for a young adult to read, in much the same way that Anne Frank's Diary or To Kill a Mockingbird are books that young adults and old adults should read. It's the kind of book which, after you've read it (at whatever age), you're just a bit stronger and deeper, the world is just a little bit more luminous, and everyday places and events all seem to have taken on an enigmatic, divine sheen.