I have to admit I'm sensitive to this subject. My favorite books are late 19th and early 20th-century girls books. But I hesitate to recommend them to my nieces because deep down I worry that they are out of date.
Click here if you'd rather read An Old-Fashioned Girl than worry about whether you are one.
6 comments:
Nancy, I love An Old-Fashioned Girl and just re-read it recently. My daughter hasn't read it yet - but she does love Understood Betsey. And, I have to ask, have you ever read Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter? I once was on a serious Stratton Porter kick - as was my Mom and her cousin - what fun
I love Girl of the Limberlost. Though I did write a grad school conference paper about the Peeping Tom scene (and similar sexual predator scenes in Five Little Peppers and Emily Climbs) which made me look at the book a little differently.
Have you read Daddy-Long-Legs and Dear Enemy? I love them both, especially Dear Enemy, which is one of my "desert island" books.
I have read Daddy Long Legs - I don't think I've read Dear Enemy. Have you ever read The Harvester by Gene Stratton Porter? I'm trying to think what other books of that era I love - besides the standard Little Women and all that - a quick look at my bookshelf and I see Heidi, Pollyanna and Hans Brinker - there's also a 1913 copy of the Bobbsey Twins - loved those Bobbsey's when I was growing up!
I never read The Harvester. Just Limberlost and Freckles.
Dear Enemy is sort of a sequel to Daddy Long Legs. It's the story of Sally McBride (Judy's roommate) who Judy convinces to take over as head of the orphanage where Judy grew up. It's in letter form, and the "Enemy" is the local (young) doctor. I think you can read it online, though then you miss the wonderful drawings.
I am wanting to find a copy of the Daddy-Long-Legs book. Do you know where to find one??
You can definitely find Daddy-Long-Legs on Amazon or Barnes and Noble websites. It is still in print.
I also think you can find an edition that is Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy in one book. I think I saw that at Amazon. I found an old old copy of Dear Enemy at a used book store years ago.
If you've ever seen the Fred Astaire and Leslie Caron movie version of Daddy Long Legs (which is good in its way)... the book is really much better.
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