What do you think?
Rate this book
The Shepherd of the Hills #2
The Calling of Dan Matthews
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
388 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1909
38 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
Harold Bell Wright
89Ìýbooks79ÌýfollowersHarold Bell Wright was a best selling American author of the first part of the 20th century.
Between 1903 and 1942, this minister-turned-author wrote nineteen books, several scripts for stage plays, and several magazine articles. At least fifteen movies were made from his novels. Seven of Wright's books appeared on the top ten best sellers lists, two of them twice, including a number one seller in 1914, a number two in 1916 and a third best seller three times.
He's best known for his work entitled The Shepherd of the Hills which was made into the well known, outdoor play, of the same name, performed in Branson, Mo.
Between 1903 and 1942, this minister-turned-author wrote nineteen books, several scripts for stage plays, and several magazine articles. At least fifteen movies were made from his novels. Seven of Wright's books appeared on the top ten best sellers lists, two of them twice, including a number one seller in 1914, a number two in 1916 and a third best seller three times.
He's best known for his work entitled The Shepherd of the Hills which was made into the well known, outdoor play, of the same name, performed in Branson, Mo.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
July 9, 2014
The book is based on the author's experiences in Lebanon, Missouri (aka Corinth) in the book. After living in Lebanon for awhile, I can testify it hasn't changed much in a century. The truth hurts, and I was just as glad to leave Lebanon as Dan Matthews was to leave Corinth. Nearby Bennett Spring is described in the story (referred to as Gordon's Mill) and it is just as it was in the story: a beautiful getaway with some fun fishing.
March 27, 2016
Read this a long time ago...just a warning that the theology is a trifle out of the box, but it definitely made me think a bit. I liked the story but was not too keen on some of the doors opened by interpretation of some beliefs. Definitely a Christian story, though!
A sequel of sorts to Shepherd of the Hills, with recurrent characters.
A sequel of sorts to Shepherd of the Hills, with recurrent characters.
September 9, 2014
This is the sequal to Shepherd of the Hills, one of my all time favorites, but it could stand alone. This book is more thought provoking and a little harder to read due to its message. Even a hundred years later this book seems relevant to life, the church and Christianity today. I enjoy this author's description of the country side and of people. I liked his use of "the Ally" as a character to represent the murkiness of thought and action behind the scenes. This was a product of its time so be ready for some things that are not acceptable in this day and age. I liked this one and am glad I read it but where I know I will return to The Shepherd of the Hills I probably won't reread this one.
August 9, 2011
This book was a lot deeper and harder to read than The Shepherd of the Hills. It was good, but definitely incredibly thought provoking. I found myself disappointed with the ending, but seriously pondering the criticisms of the modern church. This book still seems relevant 100 years after it was written.
January 1, 2011
"This is the sequel to "Shepherd of the Hills".
Dan Matthews, son of Sammy and Young Matt, becomes the new minister of the Midwestern town of Corinth.
The peaceful town is turned askew when the town's new nurse, the minister's romantic interest, comes to the aid of an outcast woman after her suicide attempt.
Dan battles his conscience about whether to be the spiritual puppet of the church elders or to prescribe a dose of heavy ministry to his ailing congregation.
This is a timeless story based on the principle of neighborly kindness and community fellowship.
I love the small town feel; it's something I can identify very well.
My heart really felt for Dan and all the struggles he went through; he definitely did the right thing!! I'd highly recommend this read to anyone and everyone.
Dan Matthews, son of Sammy and Young Matt, becomes the new minister of the Midwestern town of Corinth.
The peaceful town is turned askew when the town's new nurse, the minister's romantic interest, comes to the aid of an outcast woman after her suicide attempt.
Dan battles his conscience about whether to be the spiritual puppet of the church elders or to prescribe a dose of heavy ministry to his ailing congregation.
This is a timeless story based on the principle of neighborly kindness and community fellowship.
I love the small town feel; it's something I can identify very well.
My heart really felt for Dan and all the struggles he went through; he definitely did the right thing!! I'd highly recommend this read to anyone and everyone.
August 29, 2014
It's funny sometimes to read books which were written in and about a world separated from ours by so many years, and yet the characters and situations feel so familiar. Some aspects of the book were a bit confusing but the no-apologies message confronting hypocrisy among those who call themselves Christians came through clear and strong. Good storyline and very convicting read.
July 28, 2007
I was impressed with this book, as I was fearing a sequel to the Shepherd of the Hills could only be disappointing. Apparently I did not have enough faith in Harold Bell Wright. He was wise in making it connected but not so much that if you hadn't read the first one you couldn't enjoy this one. His writing style is superb and using "The Ally" was a most descriptive way in capturing this small town.
December 27, 2011
This was a good book with great depth of things to think about. The writing was tough. At times the story just flowed and then it would get so hard to follow. The depth of the story speaks to all of us of growing up and following our calling and sometimes finding our calling is not what we thought at all.
November 25, 2013
This wasn't as much of a page-turner as the first book. The plot seemed a lot more predictable as well. But I did consider this book more thought provoking. I agree with the other reviewers that claim that the book begins with a lot of promise, but seems to fall short in the end. This book is worthy of reading due to it's message. But I wouldn't consider it Bell's best.
September 26, 2016
This is the sequel to Shepherd of the Hills. I enjoyed this and found it to be very uplifting and full of good old-fashioned values and home spun wisdom but for me it was nothing like Shepherd of the Hills. An excellent book and beautiful story but Shepherd of the Hills is just at another level in story, language and writing.
Read
August 3, 2011Didn't care much for this book. It seemed to lead to more of a humanitarian lifestyle as being better than a Christian worldview. Writing style didn't flow very well either...this book showed great promise at first, but fizzled at the end.
June 6, 2012
It is a story written in 1909 regarding a young pastor of a set church in the Ozark Mtns. It is a little tough on the church but a good story examining the difference that sometimes surfaces between the work of the church and the work of the Lord. A little romance, etc, but regardless a good read.
August 8, 2013
Very well written, but sometimes hard to follow.
November 28, 2015
One of my favorite stories. The subject of the true church is an inspiring, yet disturbing topic. The corruption within the temples of mankind is enough to turn many believers away.
September 3, 2023
The Calling of Dan Matthews is a book with a plot that is intentionally simple in a way that allows the writing and characters to shine while also being engaging and thought provoking in its message. The story revolves around Dan Matthews, the son of our main characters from The Shepherd of the Hills, facing his first assignment as minister of a church in a small town. What follows is what one would probably expect, a struggle between new ideas and the idealism of a new pastor, fighting in opposition to the traditions and set in its ways attitude of a small town and its elders.
Overall I have almost exclusively good things to say. This was incredibly easy to read, far more so than some of his other works. Dan Matthews was a fantastic protagonist. His idealism and supreme masculinity made him a hero you could cheer for, but also made his failings and misunderstandings about the world realistic.
One of my complaints however, was that the supporting characters where somewhat lacking in depth. I largely think this may have been just due to the excellence in Dan Matthews development, but I struggled to care as much about any of the other characters if what they were dealing with did not directly impact Dan.
One random thing I noticed, and feel compelled to note, was how horrible the mindset was about race at the time this was written. In the story there is a woman who is shunned by the town simply because her father was a drunk. The writer and characters drive home how unjust and disgusting this is, but then in the same exact plot point, the woman is forced to go live with the "negroes". They are kind and welcoming, but soon she attempts suicide due to the white part of town forcing her out. Once again the black people take care of her, but soon the good characters arrive and save her from having to live there. The Doctor even talks about how kind and good these "negroes" have been, but then on the same page will say "She needs to see someone of her own race when she wakes up", and that it's not right that a white woman should be forced to live in the "negro" part of town.
The clear double standard is that we are led to be angry at the town for shunning the poor daughter of the drunk although she has done no crime, but in the same breath our protagonists participate in shunning the black people purely because of their race. It's hard to fathom that someone could write this and not see the glaring contradiction, but as is the case in nearly every book from this era, they don't.
Moving on from that, I'll focus on another positive element. Although this is technically a sequel to The Shepherd of the Hills, it is only indirectly connected to it and this book does not rely on the story, characters, or even setting that was established in that book. In doing so, Harold Bell Wright avoids many of the pitfalls I've experienced while reading other sequels. I find it's difficult to not be disappointed by a sequel to a great book simply because it has an unrealistic standard to live up to. The characters live on in our minds after we read them, and when a writer builds on to those characters lives, it's almost impossible for it to be in a way that feels right to all the readers of the first book.
By making this about the child of those main characters, he is able to take liberties that would have never worked with already established characters. I think this was incredibly wise and am surprised more authors don't follow this approach.
Overall I have almost exclusively good things to say. This was incredibly easy to read, far more so than some of his other works. Dan Matthews was a fantastic protagonist. His idealism and supreme masculinity made him a hero you could cheer for, but also made his failings and misunderstandings about the world realistic.
One of my complaints however, was that the supporting characters where somewhat lacking in depth. I largely think this may have been just due to the excellence in Dan Matthews development, but I struggled to care as much about any of the other characters if what they were dealing with did not directly impact Dan.
One random thing I noticed, and feel compelled to note, was how horrible the mindset was about race at the time this was written. In the story there is a woman who is shunned by the town simply because her father was a drunk. The writer and characters drive home how unjust and disgusting this is, but then in the same exact plot point, the woman is forced to go live with the "negroes". They are kind and welcoming, but soon she attempts suicide due to the white part of town forcing her out. Once again the black people take care of her, but soon the good characters arrive and save her from having to live there. The Doctor even talks about how kind and good these "negroes" have been, but then on the same page will say "She needs to see someone of her own race when she wakes up", and that it's not right that a white woman should be forced to live in the "negro" part of town.
The clear double standard is that we are led to be angry at the town for shunning the poor daughter of the drunk although she has done no crime, but in the same breath our protagonists participate in shunning the black people purely because of their race. It's hard to fathom that someone could write this and not see the glaring contradiction, but as is the case in nearly every book from this era, they don't.
Moving on from that, I'll focus on another positive element. Although this is technically a sequel to The Shepherd of the Hills, it is only indirectly connected to it and this book does not rely on the story, characters, or even setting that was established in that book. In doing so, Harold Bell Wright avoids many of the pitfalls I've experienced while reading other sequels. I find it's difficult to not be disappointed by a sequel to a great book simply because it has an unrealistic standard to live up to. The characters live on in our minds after we read them, and when a writer builds on to those characters lives, it's almost impossible for it to be in a way that feels right to all the readers of the first book.
By making this about the child of those main characters, he is able to take liberties that would have never worked with already established characters. I think this was incredibly wise and am surprised more authors don't follow this approach.
November 14, 2019
This is actually a sequel to The Shepherd of the Hills, who knew!?
I have heard of this book my whole life and only ever associated it as another one of Wright’s works, but when I finally read the back cover of the copy that I own and saw it was a sequel to the beloved story of Matt and Sammy� I immediately put it on my read-this-soon list.
This was an excellent story, it had very different morals and underlying themes in this one than in the prequel. The major one being the misguided reverence and legalism the Christian faith can put into “church� rather than administering the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wright himself was a minister and you can only wonder if some of what this book is about comes from personal experiences.
I have heard of this book my whole life and only ever associated it as another one of Wright’s works, but when I finally read the back cover of the copy that I own and saw it was a sequel to the beloved story of Matt and Sammy� I immediately put it on my read-this-soon list.
This was an excellent story, it had very different morals and underlying themes in this one than in the prequel. The major one being the misguided reverence and legalism the Christian faith can put into “church� rather than administering the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Wright himself was a minister and you can only wonder if some of what this book is about comes from personal experiences.
September 23, 2022
Warning, a bit of a spoiler in this ...
This is an odd sort of book for 21st century reading, but it is really representative of a type of popular American novel of its time (it was written in 1909). I think of this as a "morality novel": the very ordinary characters in a small midwestern town contend with challenges arising from the religious hypocrisy of the town powers and their church. (Here, in an odd twist, the new minister ends up choosing capitalism - developing a mine - as a better way to serve the world than remaining with the church.)
I like this sort of book sometimes. It's dated, but it tells the modern reader a lot about how people saw themselves at the time it was written.
September 2, 2016
This book was disturbing in a good way. Shook up my preconceived notions of churchianity.
October 21, 2016
Wright does it again
Not quite as good as Shepherd of the Hills, but still worth the time. Good quality old literature, not like the many new "cheap" books.
Not quite as good as Shepherd of the Hills, but still worth the time. Good quality old literature, not like the many new "cheap" books.
March 14, 2023
Dan Matthews is a young boy who lives in the Ozarks with his parents. He meets a doctor who comes to the area for fishing and relaxation. They form a friendship, and the doctor becomes his benefactor.
Dr. Oldham hopes that Dan will become a doctor, but he is quite disappointed to find that Dan has instead chosen to become a preacher. As fate would have it, he will be preaching in the doctor’s small town of Corinth.
The elders in the church hold all the power, and they use it like a weapon. When Dan doesn’t conform to their mold, they use the people he has grown to care about against him. A widow, her young disfigured son, a girl whose father is a murderer, and the new nurse in town who has stolen his affections.
This story tells the tale of how religion gets twisted in institutions by the people running those institutions. It is a good story, and I was okay with it, however, with all the talk of right and wrong, I really hated the way the author belittled an entire race. The section where Grace tries to harm herself, the author cast judgement and prejudice, and that made the preachings and pontifications of this book, in my opinion, meaningless.
2 stars.
Dr. Oldham hopes that Dan will become a doctor, but he is quite disappointed to find that Dan has instead chosen to become a preacher. As fate would have it, he will be preaching in the doctor’s small town of Corinth.
The elders in the church hold all the power, and they use it like a weapon. When Dan doesn’t conform to their mold, they use the people he has grown to care about against him. A widow, her young disfigured son, a girl whose father is a murderer, and the new nurse in town who has stolen his affections.
This story tells the tale of how religion gets twisted in institutions by the people running those institutions. It is a good story, and I was okay with it, however, with all the talk of right and wrong, I really hated the way the author belittled an entire race. The section where Grace tries to harm herself, the author cast judgement and prejudice, and that made the preachings and pontifications of this book, in my opinion, meaningless.
2 stars.
May 15, 2023
I am totally becoming a fanboy of Harold Bell Wright. This is a romance novel for men. I can see why it was very popular in its time, and why it was ignored after the middle part of the last century. Do you want to read a story about real men being real men? Then Harold Bell Wright is for you.
The storyline is neither overly complex nor overly simplistic or predictable. I appreciate the colorful language, and moderate pace of the story. I would love to see a modern movie interpretation of this story.
The storyline is neither overly complex nor overly simplistic or predictable. I appreciate the colorful language, and moderate pace of the story. I would love to see a modern movie interpretation of this story.
January 4, 2018
This book is a product of its time, so expect racism and sexism. However, the storyline and theme are so strong, I was compelled to finish despite the dated aspects of the book. The message about hypocrisy in church circles has not lost its effectiveness. Romance and heartbreak are always compelling, and the author may have been ahead of his time in pointing out that true faith can be found outside of the church. (I wonder how that went over in his day.)
June 22, 2024
3.5 stars.
Harold Bell Wright was an early 20th-century fiction writer who told great stories while giving readers something deep to think about. Mr. Wright tackled some serious issues within this particular book about Christianity that are still very relevant today. I had a hard time getting through this story, though - it's not quite the page-turner that some of the author's other works are. It's still worth a read!
Harold Bell Wright was an early 20th-century fiction writer who told great stories while giving readers something deep to think about. Mr. Wright tackled some serious issues within this particular book about Christianity that are still very relevant today. I had a hard time getting through this story, though - it's not quite the page-turner that some of the author's other works are. It's still worth a read!
March 13, 2024
Second book of this Harold Bell Wright trilogy and I could not put it down. It was like I was living out the events right along side the characters. If I should be so fortunate as to make it into Heaven someday, I sincerely hope that I have the good fortune of meeting the author of these books that I love so much.
January 15, 2025
Took forever to finish!
A good book but not a grab hold and can't put down story.
A book about friends, career choices, realizing the "real world" isn't what you envision, finding and losing love, to redefining yourself and reclaiming that love.
Definitely worth the read.
A good book but not a grab hold and can't put down story.
A book about friends, career choices, realizing the "real world" isn't what you envision, finding and losing love, to redefining yourself and reclaiming that love.
Definitely worth the read.
February 27, 2019
Great book
I really like his writing and find it easy to read. This one challenges our way of thinking about the church.
I really like his writing and find it easy to read. This one challenges our way of thinking about the church.
December 21, 2019
Interesting read
Quite an interesting read about affairs of the heart & of the church. For a person of faith it's thought provoking about righteousness & hypocrisy.
Quite an interesting read about affairs of the heart & of the church. For a person of faith it's thought provoking about righteousness & hypocrisy.
April 3, 2021
4 1/2 stars
June 12, 2021
What a story! So many things hinted at are true of the human race. A good story for thought of the modern church. Thanks to a great reader: David Sharp.
September 14, 2023
I read a collection of several of HB Wrights books after I read Shepherd of the Hills. Not near as touching as it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
Can't find what you're looking for?
Get help and learn more about the design.