White Banners Paperback – September 26, 2014

The book is not fast moving. It develops slowly. It is a study in how personalities deal with life's trials. It is about developing blind faith and the clear rewards it can bring here on earth. It is SO worth sticking with it to the end!

I will read it a second time to get the details of the story. I read it years ago and I seem to remember it for a special reason.

Enjoying it very much, being 80 years old does not make it a bad book, on the contrary, it is terrific.

Idiots read this sixty years ago. Looked it then, like it now. It was like meting an old friend, half-forgotten.

Excellent service. Highly recommend.

You may find yourself shaking your head and rechecking the publication date, like I did. With a few editing changes, this story could pass as a novel written about the beginning of the 21st century rather than the 20th, as it is truly penned by a very famous Indiana author, pastor, and writer of many books including "The Robe", "The Big Fisherman", "Magnificent Obsession", and many others several of which were turned into film. This book could be done into a contemporary life film, complete with widespread economic hardship.It is the story of a lady (Hannah Parmalee) who self appoints herself to be a family housemaid, when the family, headed by Philosophy Professor Paul Ward, is tight for funds. She makes herself indispensable, immediately. she also has a secret past which is kept secret to all. The tale takes place in northern Indiana, much in Waterloo, Indiana, and mentions early the midsummer of 1916 and before the final page, the Wall Street Crash of 1929.It is not a religious book like some of Douglas' more famous books-to-movie have been, but it does take an in-depth look at the struggles of lower and middle class life in America. At honesty. At integrity. The astonishing part is the book's application of divorce, single parenting, credit dangers, technology innovation, adoption, and many other topics, often discussed in the book between the maid and the professor. I thought these topics seem more 21 century than early 20th, but then I didn't live in that time. What is apparent, this book is timeless. With the family action taking place 90 years earlier, the reader forgets it is describing the first decade of the 21st century (with a few exceptions). It is a delight to read, just for that reason.Running up "White Banners" instead of 'white flags' means taking a new position--not surrendering, not quitting, regardless of what life has to toss in our path. The protagonist lives that life, and often shares her philosophy of life with others, young and old.The fact that "WHITE BANNERS" is older, only available in previously owned copies, makes it a value. Once you do, expect to search for more of Lloyd C. Douglas' books--and movies.Enjoy this read by stepping back 9 decades--or is it just 9 days?

The Wards have beauty and brains, but no idea how to stay financially solvent until the mysterious appearance of a peddler woman (Hannah) who offers them her services as a kind of all-purpose maid and housekeeper. Hannah herself has just given up a baby for adoption and is in desperate straits, but soon makes herself indispensable, especially with the two small children and a third child born shortly thereafter. From this starting point, the story flashes back to explain Hannah's history, and progresses for the next twenty years or so, until all the children are grown. Several other important characters are people who have befriended or betrayed Hannah over the years, and who take an interest in her son.Hannah is noted for a great deal of practical wisdom, and gives impetuous Professor Ward the encouragement he needs to follow through with the invention of a refrigerator. When his first plans are stolen, she encourages him to come up with something better, rather than to waste his resources fighting a legal battle. Eventually he becomes a very successful man, and is able to give Hannah the encouragement and help she needs when she fears that her son is going to choose a life of wealthy indolence. Because Hannah has very strong ideas of class distinction and wants her son to become somebody important, she has never revealed to him that she is his mother.Major themes in the story are nonresistance, personal integrity, courage, industry, forgiveness, and responsibility. There is also a little romance, some of it very touching. As to religion, there is an acknowlegement of a mysterious providential force of some kind, but the characters express uncertainty whether it be "They, He, or It" and generally seem embarrassed at the thought of being perceived to be superstitious. Their beliefs are based on personal experiences and logic, not on any written revelation.Douglas's style reminds me of Gene Stratton Porter and Booth Tarkington, two of his contemporaries who also had roots in Indiana.

Hannah, appearing at pregnant Marcia Ward's door peddling an applepeeler in vily cold weather, winds up staying with the family and helping them with the newborn, the children, their finances, and giving support to Prof. Paul Ward as his invention becomes a money-maker.Not having seen the movie, I can't make any comparison, but this book, written by the author of "The Robe" was a good read.

Am completely satisfied!

I had read this book years ago and was so impressed I decided to read it again - I was not disappointed