The Unwritten Book by Mary Scott

THE UNWRITTEN BOOK

This is the story of Janet who married Clifford and became the farmer’s

wife. She knew the life would be lonely but rejoiced in the opportunities it

would give her to develop her talent for writing. Writing meant so much to

Janet; apart from the newspaper and magazine articles she planned to write, she

had also a book in mind—an important novel that would stand the test of time

and lift Janet’s name into the ranks of the best-sellers.

As it turned out, however, the opportunities for writing were remarkably

few. The task of raising a family and running a farm was a full-time one and,

for all her secret ambitions, Janet held firmly to the belief that living was

more important than writing, good friends more dear than literary fame. Nevertheless,

despite endless interruptions, the book did eventually get written. It proved

not to be the bold, vigorous piece of writing to take the world by storm that

she had imagined; but it had other qualities, latent as yet, but ready to

blossom as soon as she could find the time to work at it again. The story ends

with Janet wondering when, if ever, that moment would come.

The Unwritten Book is a fine story, so alive and warmly human that, after reading it, one

is tempted to wonder whether, after all, Janet did not eventually find the time

to complete her novel, and that this book may be it.