Borrowed Riches: Living What We Learned

by Anne E. White

Glee and delight. Interest in everything. Bringing out the best in people. Generosity in its deepest and most chivalric sense. All this is what we are aiming at in Charlotte Mason education. Come in and let’s talk about Norse myths and C. S. Lewis, Emerson and Plutarch, T. S. Eliot, and neighbours with potatoes.

101 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2025

Reviews

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this book from the first chapter. I can hardly believe I know the person who wrote it, it is THAT good. It is really just the most remarkable little tome against the machine.

And I gasped out loud when she mentioned my books.

This would make a great book club read.

[ladydusk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ps 50:10-Ps 50:11 ESV "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine."

All is the Lord's and he abundantly shares with us, his creatures, out of his own generosity and magnanimity. Anne White, keying from Charlotte Mason, gives us a glimpse of the riches that are in the storehouse from Fairy Tales through Plutarch ... and nature, and community, and family, and friendships, and church, and poetry, and ...

"This is what we do: we open the storehouse of enchantment and ideas. We start out simply with mythology, then stretch the heroic imagination with Plutarch."

The Lord has given us good gifts and good works and we have the opportunity, whilst walking along the way, to peer into them and grow and, reflecting him, overflow with magnanimity and generosity too. Anne quotes Brandy Vencel:

"Well, in a sense, yes, we can just buy some books and read them with our students, but one of the things that sets Mason apart is that she seemed to think that the best teachers, her teachers, teach from overflow."

And then compares that overflow to "Luke 6:37-Luke 6:38 ESV “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

Overflow the abundance knowing that it belongs the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

We only borrow the riches, work for increase, and hand them on.

Someone asked me what this book was about. It's about finding what's in the fridge. It's about Education: "My dear, you have come here to learn how to live."

[Leora · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t intend to, but I read this book in one evening, and I’m sure I’ll be rereading it. I always enjoy Anne White’s books and the unique, wise, and humorous ways she brings Charlotte Mason’s timeless principles to bear in the homeschool world of today. It was poignant to read her latest book after I’d prayed for her and ached for her upon hearing that she had lost her dear husband. Anne, I’m still praying for you. The AO advisory will always have a special place in my heart because of how much love and work they poured into something that has been transformative and precious to our family.

[Blossom · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be my absolute favorite by Anne thus far! I was moved by Minds More Awake and greatly appreciate Honest, Simple Souls, and the rest I've read; but this one, I could not put down. From start to finish, she weaves in so much wisdom from so many others, and with her fun wit and humour (British spelling required!), that it is a real joy to read. Anne includes much of her own experiences (some plainly, others I imagine by way of a simple remark, much like an "ask me how I know.") but never does she let us stay in the low places that we can imagine she must have found herself in, but instead looks out at what is good and reminds us that there is good to be experienced. Not only that, but we have a role in offering or bringing others that good. I love all her references (which of course lengthens my "want to read" list) and, somewhat more personally, was grateful to read the two talks meant for the CM OH Set Your Feet (2025).

(This is my initial review of this book. Over time I may come back and add more!)

Thankful for the work Anne E. White continues to offer. ❤️

[Jessica Lynette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Borrowed Riches was everything I needed in this season of change with my youngest graduating.
Contemplative, rich with ideas, hope-filled yet grief-laden, this book became a journey I didn’t realize I needed right now.

Anne weaves a lot of “I read this, which reminded me of that, which led me to think this” and the layered connections are beautiful. They awakened my mind to the references I already loved and left me eager to explore the ones still unfamiliar.

And the concluding poem Anne wrote tied everything together so beautifully and it reminded me of a quote from The Extraordinary Deaths of Mrs Kip;

"A leaf is a silent proverb.
Did you ever consider that?
When it buds on the tree, people rejoice.
Throughout its prime, they love it for the shade it provides.
But only when it reaches the end of its time on the tree does its briliance come through.
Sometimes yellow, sometimes orange, sometimes deep red.
Dazzling in its artistry, like a drop of sunset you can see at all hours of the day.
A leaf has the most extraordinary death.
There is so much beauty to it."

[Josi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't let the small size of this book fool you. It's a dense work of ideas and connections that the author has spent years accumulating, understanding and synthesizing. Is it about literature? Education? Or a glimpse of the author herself? Yes, and more.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you, Anne, for living - and sharing - what you’ve learned. :)

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels like a collection of talks one would expect to hear at a Charlotte Mason or Ambleside Online conference. There is a lot of references to various different novels and poetry, from which conclusions are drawn to encourage the listener in teaching and valuing CM ways of living. I often don't understand the relationship between the references and the conclusions, nor grasp the relationship between the main points. I think I will be very confused at a CM conference lol

[Carol Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to sit with this for a day or two before I write my response.

I tore through this book at first; then began again, reading sections slowly with a lot of marinating. As all great books do, this one has added many books to my to-be-read list.