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A Healer's Tale  by Lindelea 14 Review(s)
harrowcatReviewed Chapter: 51 on 10/24/2005
What a wonderful epilogue Lindelea and I am glad that you leave it the way you do. The story is now on my favourites list so that I can go and read it straight through and appreciate it in all it's glory.

Author Reply: O lovely. I hope you have much joy in the reading.

FantasyFanReviewed Chapter: 51 on 10/23/2005
Oh, this made me cry. After all the times she's sat with Pippin, nursing him (or dragging him) through bouts of this sickness, to have her lying there so weak is just too hard. I could work out in my head how old Woodruff is from this story, and what year it is here, but I can't imagine her in my heart, old and ready to sleep, even though you've set this epilogue much later, when Farry is close to coming of age.

And of course having read the end of this, I had to go and re-read On Solid Ground to see if she makes it to the wedding. It says 'some months' here, but by the time of the earthquake she is gone. Pippin knows, doesn't he, when he says he will see her at the Feast? That is such a wonderful comforting image for the afterlife. So hobbity, so right: peaceful and joyful and affirming and communal.

Of course, I kept reading On Solid Ground, and I'd just like to mention what a wonderful story that is. It is full of such emotion. Not melodrama, just the type of strong emotion that comes when the ordinary things of life are set aside to celebrate and mourn those things that touch at the very core of lives. It really is a very good story, and I see I never reviewed the Epilogue to it. In fact, I'm not sure I read the epilogue before. I am glad you gave the Fellowship (and especially Sam) a chance to think about Frodo, and celebrate his healing, and think about what they all meant to each other. You know I always cherish the mentions of Frodo in your stories, so thanks for that.

Author Reply: {{{hugs}}}

I hope this was a comfort and not difficult to read.

Yes, Pippin knows that it's close. It seems her family have gathered in the other room for fare-welling, and Mardi has given up--what can he do, when she hasn't been able to keep his draughts down? We can only hope that Hetty's draught does some good, and buys Ted a few more weeks or months with his beloved. For as you observed, by the time of the wedding feast, Woodruff is already engaged at another Feast, and a grander and more joyous one at that.

Faith is a great thing, when confronting the inevitability of death. Somehow, having the hope of meeting again takes some of the bitterness, the "sting", from the parting.

I wish you and yours well.

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 51 on 10/23/2005
One feast or the other, she will be there, and rejoicing.

A lovely, gentle ending.

Now, girl, work on Thain! I am so waiting to read more of it!

Author Reply: One feast or the other, that's exactly what the ending meant.

Actually, the next chapter of "Thain" is half-written and making steady progress. It is heavy going, with lots of background to bog it down, but hopefully the readers won't mind too much.

Thanks!

DreamflowerReviewed Chapter: 51 on 10/23/2005
Ah, what a sweet and gentle end to a sweet and gentle tale. Dear Woodruff has had a long and eventful life, much of it shared by the hobbit who sat by her side at chapter's end. I liked the way you ended it, leaving her recovery up in the air so to speak, for both she and Pippin are optimists, and it's only right.

This has been a really marvelous tale. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Author Reply: You're welcome. Thanks for coming along for the journey!

Somehow I could not bring myself to write Woodruff's end, and so I left it up in the air. I hope for her Ted's sake that Hetty's draught did the job and she pulls out of this, that he might have her a while longer. Good and generous fellow that he is, he deserves the joy.

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