Laura E. RichardsRecensioni

Just a quick read about one of the most important women ever who caused paradigm shifts that created the safety of patient care and the field of nursing.

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Nightingale (born May 12, 1820) accomplished so much in her lifetime, starting when she was a child and tended to a dog with a broken leg she went on to nurse the sick and wounded in the Crimean War and saved countless lives. Published in 1909, Richards' book is intended for a young audience but many adults will find this short biography informative.

My mother thought this was one of my favorite books as a child , but I think that was a confusion with Stockton's Ting-a-ling Tales which has a giant named Tur-il-ira (roughly). Stiil, this does have some fun poems, notably the one about the elephant that tried to use a telephone. I used to also enjoyed the sounds in " The Poor Unfortunate Hottentot", though it might be considered racist nowadays.

This sixth and final installment of Laura E. Richards' Margaret Series might just as easily be considered the sixth volume of her Hildegarde Series, featuring as it does so many characters from that earlier cycle of books, and indeed, they appear to have been referred to as the "Hildegarde-Margaret" series, in some contemporary advertisements. Howsoever that may be, The Merryweathers is an enjoyable conclusion to both, setting out the story of a summer in a lakeside camp with that eponymous family, first seen in Hildegarde's Neighbors. In addition to the Merryweathers themselves - Mr. and Mrs. Merryweather, college girl Bell, twin brothers Gerald and Phil, Gertrude (AKA "The Snowy Owl"), and youngsters Kitty and Willy - Margaret and Peggy Montfort appear, as do Colonel and Jack Ferrars. Through the pleasant and mostly calm days - a notable exception being provided during the visit of the insufferable Claud Belleville - the Merryweathers and their friends enjoy their time together, playing games both imaginative and corporeal, and, in the case of quite a few of them, slowly pairing off. There is, after all, as young Willy Merryweather notes toward the end of the book, quite a bit of "spooning" going on in camp...

I enjoyed this finale, which, much like Fernley House, brought together characters from both of Richards' series, and which offered some romantic conclusions to a number of the characters' stories. The romance of Gerald and Margaret, begun in Margaret Montfort and continued in Fernley House, becomes much more serious here, while Jack Ferrars and Bell Merryweather become engaged, and Phil and Peggy look like they are headed in the same direction. I was rather surprised, truth be told, that no mate was found for Gertrude, but then, perhaps Richards didn't intend this to be her final visit with these characters. I was struck, during the course of my reading, by how intellectually challenging and engaged the Merryweather family and their extended circle were. Impromptu games involving quickly-composed poetry, naming favorite quotations about the moon - Shelley, Milton, Browning, Longfellow, and Mother Goose all appear, in this context - and the singing of German lieder all featured in their day-to-day activities. Different expectations from a different time! I was also very interested in the discussion of feminine and masculine power that the girls have, midway through the book, as Margaret (who has always struck me as the author's personal favorite, and her mouthpiece, within the series) argues for the Victorian ideal of womanly influence, through feeling. Weakness as strength, and so on.

All in all, this provided another pleasant reading interlude, with engaging characters, and the occasional moment of historical and sociological interest. How I wish that Richards had written more! I may have to dig around, and see if any of her other series look promising.

Many of the characters from the first four books in Laura E. Richards' Margaret Series, as well as a few from her Hildegarde books, converge in this charming young adult novel from 1901, all gathering at Fernley House, the grand Long Island mansion that is the ancestral family home of the extended Montfort clan. Mourning the temporary loss of Basil and Susan D., the young cousins unofficially adopted by Margaret and her Uncle John in Margaret Montfort, the two residents of Fernley decide to enliven their summer by throwing a house party, and soon the far-flung Montforts and their friends begin to arrive. Hugh Montfort, Peggy's partially lame brother, makes his first appearance in the series, as does Peggy's younger sister Jean. Peggy herself, now a senior at Miss Russell's boarding school, soon arrives as well, and the Merryweather twins, Gerald and Phil, the former of whom befriended Margaret in the second of the series, are not long to follow. Some unexpected characters, from Grace Wolfe - AKA "The Goat" or "The Horned Owl" - a chum from Peggy's freshman year at school who is taken on as a companion to Fernley neighbor Mrs. Peyton, to Rita DelMonte (nee Montfort) and her new husband Captain Jack, come all the way from Cuba as a birthday surprise for Uncle John, also make an appearance. The result is a tale that reads, for fans of the series, like a happy reunion...

I enjoyed Fernley House immensely, and was happy to spend a little more time with some of the characters I have become so fond of, reading Richards' two interrelated series. Truthfully, I don't know that the story here was particularly strong - quite a lot of comings, goings, and comings again, with little in the way of a united/uniting plot - but it didn't bother me in the slightest. I would have liked the see the romance between Hugh and Grace more fully developed than it was, and would have preferred quite a bit more detail, in the tragic back story provided for Uncle John. The dramatic finale, in which Mrs. Peyton's house is burned to the ground, and the selfish (non)invalid learns an important lesson, felt a little too moralistic (not to mention tacked on), and I would have preferred something more to do with Fernley itself. I also could have happily lived without the scene in which some of the characters make fun of the new Irish stable-boy, as it is a fairly ugly moment in an otherwise pleasant narrative. But leaving these criticisms aside, on the whole I took pleasure in the reading, and rather regret that the next installment of the series, The Merryweathers, will be the last I spend with these characters!

Margarita de San Real Montfort, the half-Cuban, half-American young woman first introduced in Three Margarets, which told the story of three very different cousins, all with the same name, who became good friends during a visit to the ancestral family home in New York - the story of the eldest Margaret is continued in Margaret Montfort, while that of the youngest can be found in Peggy - returns in this fourth book in Laura E. Richards' series, finding herself caught up in the tumultuous events of the Cuban War of Independence, and the resultant Spanish-American War. Running away from her step-mother, a staunch Spanish loyalist and a pious Catholic who wishes to retire with her to the convent of the White Sisters, Rita, herself a passionate Cuban nationalist and a Protestant, sets out for the mountain stronghold where her brother Carlos is an officer with the rebels under General Sevillo. Many adventures follow, as Rita spends time in the rebel camp, where she learns to conquer her fear of blood, and nurse the wounded; and then in the home of local Pacificos (non-combatant) Don Annunzio, and his Vermont-born wife Marm Prudence, where she meets the famous rebel leader (and fellow half-American) "Captain Jack" Delmonte, in hiding while his wounds heal. When she and Captain Jack must flee from the Spaniards (described here as "Gringos"), they meet up with another Montfort wandering about Cuba...

I enjoyed Rita far more than I expected to, given the fact that its eponymous heroine was not my favorite character, in Three Margarets. It was every bit as melodramatic as I'd expected, after discussing it with an online friend, and I was conscious throughout of the stereotypes employed by Richards - the Cubans are often depicted as overly emotional, and rather childlike, and the Spaniards as pillaging beasts - but the story itself was entertaining, and had the added benefit of being rather interesting, from a historical perspective. Published in 1900, shortly after the Spanish-American War, when feeling in the United States would still have been very high with regard to Cuba, it struck me as highly propagandistic in nature. There seemed to be quite a few Americans and half-Americans running around in Richards' fictional Cuba - perhaps to elicit sympathy and fellow feeling for that country, from American readers? - and the scene in which Rita and Jack are pinned down behind the fallen Aquila, with the murderous Spaniards advancing upon them, and he tells her that "It shall be as it would with my own sister. I know these men; they shall not touch you alive," reminded me of nothing so much as the (overblown) Olivette Incident, in which it was reported that a "refined" young woman, aboard an American steamer, was strip-searched by Spanish officers. When a troop of Rough Riders comes around the bend, and Rita cries out: "Help! America, help!" it is clear that America's role is being explicitly defined and celebrated (two years after the events of the war) as one of savior.

Fascinating stuff! As someone whose grandfather fought in the Spanish-American War, someone who is well aware of the role of "yellow journalism" in fomenting that conflict (it is said to be one of the first conflicts driven by the media), I think a study of its depiction in the children's literature of the day would be of great value. I'll have to see if I can find other works published around this time, with a similar theme. In any case, I'm glad to have read Rita, both for its historical interest, and as an installment of an ongoing series I am enjoying. Recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed the first three books in The Margaret Series, and to anyone looking for children's novels set during the Spanish-American War.

Western prairie-girl Peggy Montfort, first introduced in Laura E. Richards' Three Margarets, which told the story of three cousins, all with the same given name, who met up for the first time during a visit to the ancestral family home - the continuation of Margaret's story, which precedes this book, is to be found in Margaret Montfort, while Rita's, which comes fourth in the series, can be read in Rita - comes east in this charming school story, which sees her enrolled at Miss Russell's boarding school for girls, in Pentland. With her initial clumsiness, and a forthright manner quite different from that of her more sophisticated peers, Peggy is something of a fish-out-of-water at first, but although she makes enemies, while defending timid fellow freshman Lobelia Parkins, she also makes friends. From the two "Owls" - juniors Bertha Haughton, known as the "Fluffy Owl," and Gertrude Merryweather, sporting the sobriquet "Snowy Owl" - who are the unofficial leaders of the school, to the self-described "Scapegoat" Grace Wolfe, who leads the rebellious rule-breakers known as "The Gang," Peggy is soon deeply involved with her fellow students, and with the life of the school. Gradually, through trials and tribulations, but also through good times and fun, Peggy, who has earned herself the nickname "The Innocent," has a good effect on those around her...

I enjoyed this third entry in The Margaret Series immensely, and found that I had far more affection for Peggy, as she is portrayed in this book, than I did when I first encountered her in Three Margarets. I liked the fact that she is a mix of strength and weakness, of virtue and flaw - she is a bit of a dunce at rhetoric, but an accomplished mathematician; she sometimes needs to run away and have a cry, but will forget her own troubles, in sticking up for others - as this makes her an engaging heroine, both sympathetic and realistic. Many common school story themes - the despised outsider who becomes an important member of the student body (this role seems often to have been fulfilled by girls from various Commonwealth nations, in the British school story, and Peggy's status as a westerner seems to function in a similar fashion in this American example of the genre); the rebellious "wild girl" who really has a heart of gold, if she can just be reached by well-meaning staff and fellow pupils; the saintly headmistress (or Principal, in this case) who always seems to know her girls, even if she has never spoken to them before; the importance placed on the honor of the school; and the obligatory accident/illness which leads to a resolution of some crisis, or brings about either reformation or justice - are to be seen here, and made the reading experience quite entertaining. I also appreciated the fact that there is more crossover in Peggy with the characters from Richards' Hildegarde Series, not just in the figure of Gertrude Merryweather (first seen in Hildegarde's Neighbors), but in the chapter devoted to describing Hildegarde's wedding to Roger Merryweather.

All in all, this was a strong follow-up to Three Margarets and Margaret Montfort - I even found the conclusion, despite its rather heavy-handed moralizing, poignant. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with the third and last Margaret Montfort, in Rita!

Having introduced the three Margaret Montforts in the initial book in her Margaret Series - first cousins with the same name, Margaret, Peggy and Rita Montfort all come to spend the summer at the ancestral family home, Fernley House, in Three Margarets - Laura E. Richards proceeds to the story of the eldest Margaret in this sequel, with the subsequent Peggy and Rita detailing the adventures of their respective heroines. Here we have Margaret, settling into her quiet new life at Fernley with Uncle John, and discovering that she has much to learn about keeping a home. Jolted out of her complacency by a conversation she overhears between the housekeeper and cook, Margaret resolves to become more involved in the household tasks, now that her beloved Aunt Faith, who once oversaw all such matters, has died. Her good resolutions are put to the test, however, and she discovers that it won't be an easy thing to become the mistress of Fernley, when the obnoxious Sophronia Montfort descends upon the house, claiming that it is her duty to "make a home" for her Cousin John. Margaret and her Uncle John do the best they can to carry on, despite the many annoyances created by their officious new house guest, with her predilection for giving unwanted advice, and for snooping around; and then providence (with a helpful hand from Uncle John) intervenes, in the form of three young cousins - Basil, Merton and Susan D. - whose arrival at Fernley heralds a new period of drama and excitement...

Every bit as engaging as the first entry in the series, Margaret Montfort may feature an unnaturally virtuous young heroine - Margaret is all unworldly retirement, gentle and lady-like, with a scholarly bent that makes her an ideal companion for Uncle John - but the odious Sophronia, the boisterous Basil and Susan D., and the duplicitous Merton, all make for an interesting contrast, in the character department. Cousin Sophronia, in particular, is the kind of character that one loves to hate, and reading about her eventual downfall, at the hands of those young terrors, is quite entertaining! I was somewhat less entertained by the depiction of Merton, as Margaret and Uncle John seem to wash their hands of him, at the close of the story. Dishonesty is a significant character flaw, I grant you, but a twelve-year-old hardly seems beyond reform. On another note, I was really quite interested to see a character from Richards' Hildegarde Series turn up here - I knew that the two series were interrelated, but was under the impression that the connection did not occur until later titles - in the form of Gerald Merryweather, who first appeared as a young teenager in Hildegarde's Neighbors, and is a twenty-one-year-old engineer in Margaret Montfort. I look forward to seeing more crossovers between the series!

In sum: an enjoyable follow-up to the first book, and a pleasant read in its own right. Readers with a taste for vintage girls' fiction ala L.M. Montgomery or Louisa May Alcott should give Laura E. Richards a try!

Originally published in 1897, Three Margarets was the first book in Laura E. Richards Margaret Series, about three young cousins, all named Margaret Montfort. When the "three Margarets" came to stay at Fernley House, their Uncle John's home on Long Island, they found themselves enjoying an unsupervised summer, slowly becoming acquainted with one another. Margaret was a true "Northerner," with her quiet, bookish ways; and she was also very, very good. Rita was fiery, dramatic, and terribly aristocratic, proud of her royal Spanish blood, inherited from her Cuban mother. Peggy was sweet but awkward, physically courageous but mentally timid, a true daughter of the western prairie.

All three had much to learn, and the slow process whereby they all became friends, mirrored their growth in wisdom and understanding. I found this a wonderful, engaging and entertaining read, and I am thankful to my friend Constance for suggesting it. I cared about all three of the "Margarets," despite my impatience with (and occasional amusement at) Rita, and did not think the story was overwhelmed by too strong a moralistic tone, as is sometimes the case with Victorian literature of this kind. The moments of light-hearted fun, as when the girls play "dress up" with all the beautiful costumes up in the garret, are nicely balanced with the moments of truth, when each much confront and vanquish her prejudices. I finished Three Margarets with a real feeling of satisfaction, and immediately longed to read the next in the series...

Addendum: Having recently read Laura E. Richards' five-volume Hildegarde Series, beginning with Queen Hildegarde: A Story for Girls, I've been meaning to move on to the Margaret Series, which apparently is connected in some way to the Hildegarde books, and thought I'd begin by rereading Three Margarets. I found it just as charming as the first time around, and was (once again) instantly involved in the story, from the opening scene in which the three cousins approach Fernley House through the rain. I was struck, in this rereading, by some of the stereotypes surrounding the depiction of Rita - the "slowness" of people with Spanish blood (their desire for naps!), and their passionate excitability - and by the importance of the issue of Cuban independence, something that, given the publication date (1897, with the Spanish-American War just around the corner), would have been quite current. Fascinating stuff, to see the political and cultural currents of the day reflected in this sweet girls' story. And now, on to Margaret Montfort!

Originally entitled The Baby Goes to Boston, this children's poem from late nineteenth/early-twentieth century author Laura E. Richards - it was included in her 1902 collection, Tirra Lirra: Rhymes Old and New - has been made into a picture-book, with colorful pencil and watercolor artwork by English illustrator Sam Williams. A rhythmic celebration of a train, a baby, and the journey they make (real? imaginary?) together, Jiggle Joggle Jee! takes it title from the poem's refrain (meant to simulate the sounds of a train on the tracks), and provides an entertaining bedtime book.

I was excited to see that my library had this picture-book, as I have recently become quite interested in Richards' work - I read her five-volume Hildegarde series recently, and hope to do the same with her Margaret series - most of which is out of print, and no longer circulating in public libraries. I can't say it was especially thrilling, but it was a fun little piece, and I appreciated the ways in which Williams' artwork expanded the story, making it as much a journey of the imagination, as an actual train trip.

Laura E. Richards, a late nineteenth and early twentieth-century author best known for her girls' series about "Queen Hildegarde" and the "Three Margarets," as well as her Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of her mother, Julia Ward Howe, who penned the words to The Battle Hymn of the Republic, relates the story of twelve-year-old Melody in this brief ninety-page children's novel, published in 1893. Orphaned as an infant, when her mother dies in the poor house, blind Melody is adopted by the Dale sisters - stern, but kind Aunt Vesta, and the gentle invalid Aunt Rejoice - and raised in a simple style in their small New England village. With a beautiful voice and a kind heart, she wins a special place in the life of the village, and is sorely missed when a traveling showman overhears her singing and, unable to convince Vesta Dale to part with her, kidnaps her from her home. Will Vesta and Mr. De Arthenay - a talented fiddler known as "Rosin the Beau" - be able to track her down...?

I enjoyed Melody: The Story of a Child, although I don't think it is the equal of some of the author's later work. There is far more self-conscious piety here than in books like Queen Hildegarde or Three Margarets, with Melody exhibiting a saintly temperament, and converting all around her, from quarreling villagers to her own kidnapper, to a more virtuous, godly frame of mind. On the other hand, it's quite interesting to see the sympathetic portrait of a young blind person that is painted here, given the fact that Richards' father was Samuel Gridley Howe, the reformer who, amongst other things, founded the Perkins School for the Blind. One certainly sees the influence of his work in this brief tale. I've become quite interested in Laura E. Richards' juvenile fiction, so although this isn't destined to become a favorite, I will be continuing with the series, and reading Marie next. Recommended to readers who enjoy 19th century children's fare, as well as to fellow admirers of the author.

Hildegarde's harvest - of friendship and love, and kindnesses amply repaid - is laid out in this fifth and final installment of her story, begun in Queen Hildegarde, and continued through three more titles: Hildegarde's Holiday, Hildegarde's Home and Hildegarde's Neighbors. All the major characters of these earlier titles make cameo appearances here, from Dame and Farmer Hartley, in whose home Hildegarde first learned the true importance of kindness and respect, to Pinkrosia Chirk, once confined to her wheelchair, and now the happy wife of the doctor who helped her to walk again. New friends are made as well, as Hildegarde visits her long estranged Great Aunt Emily, a lonely old New York society lady, rich in materials things but poor in family love, into whose life she brings some joy. Finally, all the intimate circle of friends from Hildegarde's last few years, since she and her mother removed to the country - Colonel Ferrars and his long-absent violinist nephew Jack, the numerous and fun-loving Merryweather family, and Hildegarde's own beloved, Prof. Roger Merryweather - all gather for a Christmas celebration like no other...

I enjoyed reading Hildegarde's Harvest, and appreciated the snap-shot glimpses given, of so many characters from previous books. There was a definite feeling of story-lines coming together, and finding completion, and a sense that Hildegarde has come to the end of a journey of some kind. Colonel Ferrars' observation - that Hildegarde does so much good because she is a young woman who is content to be a young woman, one willing to "minister kindness and joy and affection to the people around her" - points to the kinds of ideals about femininity and young womanhood that Richards was clearly promoting, through her heroine's five-book transformation from a beautiful but shallow society girl, to a true lady. The observation of the transformation itself provided this reader with a great deal of pleasure, while the notions of gender and social structure behind the transformation were of interest to me as a scholar.

All that said, I did feel that the climactic narrative sequence here, in which little Hugh almost plummets to his death while sleep-walking, and must then be tenderly nursed back to health by a worried Hildegarde, was a disappointment, and detracted from my enjoyment of the conclusion of the story. It seemed to come out of nowhere, at the tail-end of the five books, and left almost no room for the concluding episode that really interested me: Hildegarde and Roger becoming engaged - something that is accomplished in less than a page, and feels rather anticlimactic, after the melodrama of the earlier incident. Also, the reappearance of Auntie - the Grahames' black cook, who speaks in the stereotypically broken English assigned to so many African-American characters in vintage children's fiction - gave the final section of the book a discordant note. Significant enough that they caused me to lower my rating - this would otherwise have been a four-star book for me - these unwelcome and/or poorly done elements didn't completely ruin the reading experience, although they made Hildegarde's Harvest a weaker conclusion to the series, than I would have liked to see.

Still, despite these issues, I did end the series with a sense of pleasure, and a desire to continue on with Laura E. Richards' work. I think I will read her related Margaret series next, beginning with a reread of Three Margarets...

**Please note: I see that the series listing for these books here on LibraryThing gives The Merryweathers as the final book in the series. This title actually brings together characters from both the Hildegarde and the Three Margarets series, and might be said to be the finale for both.

Hildegarde Grahame makes a host of new friends in this fourth installment of Laura E. Richards' series devoted to her adventures, as she and her mother first become acquainted, and then intimately friendly with their new neighbors, the boisterous, fun-loving Merryweather family. From genial Mr. Merryweather and kind but absent-minded Mrs. Merryweather, to eldest daughter Bell (Isabel), a college girl on vacation, and her younger sister "Toots" (Gertrude), whose clumsiness is a byword in the family - not to mention those mischievous red-headed twins Gerald and Philip (better known to themselves by the nicknames Obadiah and Ferguson), and the younger children, Will and Kitty - the Yellow House, now renamed the "Pumpkin House" in honor of a popular children's story, is full to the brim with laughter and love. Hildegarde, who turns eighteen during the course of the story, is drawn naturally into their warm and friendly circle, finding a confidante and sister in Bell, and jolly companionship with all. When Mrs. Grahame is called away to care for Cousin Wealthy Bond - at whose home Hildegarde stayed, in Hildegarde's Holiday - our heroine is included in a camping trip on a nearby lake, where the first hint of romance - in the form of Mr. Merryweather's younger half-brother, Professor Roger Merryweather ("Roger the Codger" to his young relatives) - enters her life...

I enjoyed Hildegarde's Neighbors immensely, despite feeling at times, that little actually happened, during the course of the story. A large family moved into the house just next door to Braeside, the Grahames became acquainted with them, and Hildegarde went on a camping trip. Of course, there was her eighteenth birthday party, hosted by Colonel Ferrars (first encountered in Hildegarde's Home), as well as the highly dramatic incident in which she and Roger were caught in a terrible thunderstorm, while canoeing on the lake. Not to mention the highly amusing visit from Hildegarde's former society-girl friend from New York City, the snobby, fashion-conscious Madge Everton, whose appearance, I suspect, is meant to highlight how much our heroine has changed, from her days as "Queen Hildegarde." So perhaps it would be fairer to say that, although quite a bit happens in the course of the book, it doesn't feel like the separate incidents move together, toward some final storytelling goal, or narrative climax.

Still, despite that fact, I enjoyed "visiting" with this character again, and seeing her develop more fully as a young woman - her realization that science is actually a fascinating subject, thanks to her discussions with Roger, is really quite charming - and finished the book with a desire to read more. I could have lived without the scene in which the Merryweather boys "play Indian," approximately midway through the book - plenty of shrieking, and talk of capturing the "squaws" - but this is thankfully brief, and is not, in my opinion, a central part of the story (although contemporary readers might want to bear it in mind, when approaching the book). All in all, this is an engaging entry in a very enjoyable vintage series, and I finished it with a strong desire to pick up the final title, Hildegarde's Harvest, to see how it all works out.

This third installment of Laura E. Richards' Hildegarde Series, originally published from 1889 through 1897, sees great changes in the Grahame family, with Hugh Grahame - beloved father of Hildegarde, and husband of Mildred - six months dead, and his widow and child left in somewhat reduced circumstances. Leaving behind their palatial New York City house, the pair move to Braeside, the country home left to Mrs. Grahame by her Uncle Aytoun. Once settled, Hildegarde, this time in the company of her mother, proceeds to befriend the locals, making good friends, and (as usual) doing good for them. From gruff Colonel Ferrers, living at nearby Roseholme, and his gangly nephew Jack Ferrers - whom Hildegarde and Mrs. Grahame discover is a cousin! - to Hugh Allen, a dreamy young boy in the care of the nouveau-riche social climbing Loftus family, the kindhearted mother-daughter duo soon have the neighborhood under their spell...

In many ways, I found Hildegarde's Home as charming as its two predecessors, with all the appealing characters - clumsy Jack, with his unexpected musical genius; blustery Colonel Ferrers, with his well-hidden heart - and entertaining incidents of the others. Sadly, however, it is not all sweetness and light, and there were a number of flies in the ointment of this reader's enjoyment. Vintage popular fiction often has the advantage of being better written than some of its contemporary equivalents, but it also sometimes contains social elements that we would now (I sincerely hope!) find unacceptable. The first two Hildegarde books were free from this sort of thing, but this third installment is not. There is "Auntie," the black cook (and former nurse of Mrs. Grahame), who speaks in the stereotypically broken English always assigned to African-American characters in such books (it's always a Southern-sounding dialect, even when the characters live in New York, and are not Southern at all), as well as a few unfortunately anti-Semitic references: Hildegarde accuses herself of being a "Jew" and a "Turk," after being insensitive to her mother; kind Mrs. Beadle, misunderstanding the name Giuseppe, thinks it is "Jew Seppy," and thinks it a "hard name," given that its bearer is not a Jew!

These socially outdated moments are few, in the book, and I would not say they ruin the story (I have certainly seen some vintage fiction where racism has been inextricably wound up in the story, and those books are far more difficult to read), but it's something for contemporary readers to bear in mind, as they approach Hildegarde's Home. Still, those who have enjoyed Queen Hildegarde and Hildegarde's Holiday will undoubtedly want to pick this one up, and I recommend it to them, and to readers of vintage girls' fiction, with the foregoing caveat.

Hildegarde Grahame - erstwhile spoiled society girl, whose reformation, during the course of a summer in the country with her mother's former nurse, is chronicled in Queen Hildegarde - returns in this second novel devoted to her adventures. A year has passed since the events of that earlier season, and Hildegarde, together with Rose Chirk - a once crippled young woman, formerly known by the sobriquet 'Pink' (her given name being the rather outlandish Pinkrosia), whom Hildegarde had befriended, together with her younger brother Bubble, during that fateful summer stay in Glenfield - now recovering from the surgery that would allow her to walk once more, embark on another fun-filled summer holiday. Invited to visit Hildegarde's cousin, Miss Wealthy Bond, at her home in Bywood, Maine, on the banks of the beautiful Kennebee River, the two friends pass a pleasant summer - swimming, resting, and keeping fussy, but goodhearted Cousin Wealthy company. Not unexpectedly, opportunities for doing good arise, even on holiday, and Hildegarde and Rose rise to the occasion, helping not just a group of convalescent children in need of some cool refreshment, but Cousin Wealthy herself, who has long been nursing a terrible hurt...

Although I wouldn't say it had quite the same appeal as the initial title, I still found Hildegarde's Holiday to be an immensely engaging story, with plenty of appealing characters and entertaining narrative incidents. Cousin Wealthy herself, so fussy and exact, but so very loving and kindhearted; good Martha, the saintly housekeeper who keeps her aureole hidden (and I love the little aside, when Hildegarde asks her about it, and she thinks her inquisitor is asking about orioles! haha!); the gardener Jeremiah, whom the girls consider a "melancholy prophet;" the reputedly insane old miser, Galusha Pennypacker, who is not so crusty but that kindness can win him over; and Hildegarde and Rose themselves, always eager to learn more, each in her way, each exerting, all unaware, a wholesome pull on those around them. All of these make for pleasant reading, as do the many little subplots - the story of Aunt Caira Pennpacker, and the Queen of Sheba; the tale of Cousin Wealthy's love affair with Victor La Rose; the visit to the sick children at hospital - that make up the whole.

I was struck, in my reading, by how literary these heroines are, always quoting Shakespeare and Marlowe, and passionately discussing Ben Jonson and Sir Walter Scott. I have difficulty imagining sixteen-year-olds of today doing so! And I was likewise struck by the fact that each feels herself in need of more education, keeping little notebooks in which to jot down questions, to be investigated later. This sounds like something I would do! All in all, a sweet addition to the Hildegarde series, one that convinces me that I need to immediately pick up the next, Hildegarde's Home.

Fifteen-year-old Hildegarde Graham, the much-indulged only daughter of a wealthy New York family, was truly fortunate in almost every respect: beautiful, stylish and popular - her adoring friends considered her the "queen" of their social set - she was also very much loved by her parents. It was only natural that, with all these blessings, she should become a little complacent, and that, with all the admiration she received, she was rather vain and thoughtless. Mrs. Graham, the 'commander in chief' of the Graham home, as her loving husband was wont to call her, and a true lady in every respect, was disturbed by the unkind habits of word and thought into which her daughter was being led, by some of her sophisticated city friends, and decided that something needed to be done. When she and Mr. Graham were required to travel to California on family business, she saw the perfect opportunity to introduce Hildegarde to the beauty of country life, and sent her to the farm-home of her former nurse, now Mrs. Lucy Hartley.

Thus Hildegarde, reluctant and resentful, found herself in rural Glenfield for the summer, amongst the uncouth "savages" of a farming community. But an overheard conversation between Farmer and Dame Hartley, and the realization that even her own parents found her a little wanting, soon set Hildegarde on the path to finding her better self - that nobility of nature lurking underneath the spoiled society girl exterior. Befriending local farm-boy Bubble (Zerubbabel) Chirk and helping him with his studies, and becoming acquainted with his sister Pink, a wheelchair bound cripple, Hildegarde was soon a different girl...

I enjoyed this first entry in Laura E. Richards' five-book Hildegarde series immensely, and plan to read the sequels as soon as possible. Hildegarde is an engaging heroine, and if her transformation is a little too quick and convenient, well, it was quite satisfactory to witness, all the same. The "angelic invalid" is alive and well in Pink Chirk, but knowing that she is a 'type' (like all the characters, really) in no way detracts from her appeal. Heartwarming and fun, with a little excitement thrown in (a missing puppy! a moonlit night!) Queen Hildegarde is a book I would have enjoyed reading, as a girl, and one I am glad to discover, today. Highly recommended to those readers who enjoy vintage girls' fare, ala L.M. Montgomery, Louisa May Alcott, or Maud Hart Lovelace.

Very formulaic Victorian novel for girls. 2 1/2 stars.

1st ed dw. Many authors represented.

I just found that this is an old classic of children's literature. The whole book is composed with strong imaginative sense, however, I wonder how much it can say or reach the modern young reader. What I also like about this collection of poems is the "morals" that the author introduced at the end of some of the poems, offering some guidance to the reader, as a way to increase the communicative involvement between author and reader.

Half the book is about her living in "The Yellow House" in Gardiner Maine