Alone in London

by Hesba Stretton
Available from Amazon
*****

Alone in London follows the lives of two people, and a third is intertwined with them. Mr. Oliver is an old man whose hasty words years ago had driven away his only surviving child. His health and faculties are deteriorating, but when he finds a precious little girl abandoned outside his shop, he is more than willing to take her in. When he finds the note in her pocket identifying her as his granddaughter, he is anxious to do what he can for her, and is delighted at the thought of being reconciled with his daughter.

Tony is an orphan who has been living wherever he can, and was captivated by Dolly, Mr. Oliver’s granddaughter, when he saw her outside the shop. Even though he had nothing of his own, he volunteered to take care of her if Mr. Oliver should refuse to take her. Mr. Oliver gave him a place to sleep under a counter in his tiny shop, and Tony came every day to see little Dolly. He noticed that Mr. Oliver’s eyesight and memory was failing, and he began to help him get his shop going in the morning, and remind him of necessary things. He especially liked to hear Mr. Oliver tell of his Master, the Lord Jesus. Tony had never heard of such a wonderful employer, and wondered if he could work for him sometime. When Mr. Oliver’s sister came to visit, she was appalled that her grandniece was associating with a barefoot beggar, and sent Tony away, and he was alone in London again. We follow his fortunes, and see the workings of his heart, all in the care of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The reader will be touched by the poignancy of the love these characters share for each other, and inspired by the simple devotion of Mr. Oliver to his Master. Hesba Stretton has written of similar situations and conditions to those of Charles Dickens, but while his works are dark and depressing, hers are serious, yet bright with hope. When Mr. Oliver takes his dying Dolly to the charity children’s hospital, and is told there is no room for her, he cries, “Dear Lord, there’s room for only seventy-five of Thy little lambs that are pining and wasting away in every dark street and alley like mine. Whatever can Thy people be thinking about? They’ve got their own dear little children, who are ill sometimes, spite of all their care. They can send for the doctor, and do all that’s possible, never looking at the money it costs. But when they are well again they never think of the poor little ones who are sick and dying, with nobody to help them or care for them as I care for this little one. Oh, Lord, Lord! Let my little love live! Yet Thou knows what is best, and Thou’lt do what is best. Thou loves her more than I do.”

A book for young and old, this will touch the reader’s heart, and may change his life.