Alone in London by Hesba Stretton

James Oliver lived alone in London and worked in his newspaper shop. He had an unusually open relationship with Jesus, whom he talked to as a personal friend. One day he found Dolly, a little girl, alone in the shop. Tony, a street boy, had fended for himself and needed a place to sleep at night. These three isolated people came together and formed a family. Tension came between Oliver who wanted to care for the downtrodden, and Aunt Charlotte who wanted to maintain a life of respectability. An important verse is Matthew 25:40: "Inasmuch as ye did it to one of the least of these, ye did it unto me."—Curiosmith (2013).

Paperback 6X9, 102 pages, 4 illustrations. ISBN 9781935626732

SARAH SMITH (1832-1911) was born in Wellington, England.  She had the good fortune of being able to read books from her father's bookshop, a printer of evangelical literature. Her mother was a strong evangelical, but died when Sarah was young. In the March 19th, 1859 issue of Household Words, a publication conducted by Charles Dickens, she published her first short story called The Lucky Leg. It is an intriguing story about a man who wanted to marry a woman with a missing leg. It was more secular, but her talent was recognized. Hesba Stretton became her pen name, Stretton coming from the name of a neighboring village, and Hesba coming from the initials of her siblings. H (Hannah or some sources Harriett), E (Elizabeth), S (Sarah), B (Benjamin), and A (Annie).