Her hair braided in two messy plaits on either side of her face. She is about 8 years old, with a slouchy, ill-fitting dress. There is one scene at the beginning of the movie, before Sarah arrives, in which Anna comes onto the screen. Throughout the story, Sarah strives to become a wife to Jacob, a mother to Caleb and Anna, and a valued member of a society that does not always accept strong, independent, overall wearing women. Anna, older and more loyal towards her mother, who died while giving birth to Caleb, is more standoffish. Needing help raising his children and running his farm, Jacob advertises for a mail order bride, and Sarah Wheaton from Maine arrives by train to be his new wife. Anna narrates the story, and I always thought that she and I would be good friends. If you are unfamiliar with Patricia MacLachlan’s book, it is about a widower named Jacob Witting and his children, Caleb and Anna. I reread the book many times, listened to the audiobook so often I almost memorized it, and watched our VHS copy of the movie until the voices were garbled and the tape wore out. My mom and I had just finished reading the slim, 80 page book together I was about 7 years old. Whenever someone mentions these two award winning actors, I still think of them as Sarah and Jacob from a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. I remember sitting on our striped couch in the TV room, watching Sarah Plain and Tall, the made-for-TV movie starred Glenn Close and Christopher Walken, with my mom.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |