What a lovely book! My Kindle edition had wonderful information about the people who were the inspiration for this tale. My book group also loved this title. One of Lovelace's best! You will see I was inspired to read How to Live On 24 Hours a Day, which is mentioned here. We found lots of what Emily was going through resonated with us. As I consider retirement, I am heartened by her attitude and look forward to using some of her ideas. ( )

This book reminds me of Anne of Green Gables, because the female protagonist Emily was intelligent, ambitious, loving and kind like Anne. And reading the book makes you feel good, the way you do when reading the Anne series. The book is set in Minnesota around the 1900s. Emily was top of her class, but she decided not to attend college in order to stay home and care for her ailing grandfather. She was at first depressed about her time at home, but then she identified different things and activities she could do at home to flourish socially and intellectually, and eventually devoted herself to the purposeful endeavor of befriending and helping a Syrian refugee colony near her town. I enjoyed this book a lot and will check out other works by the author. ( )

This is an unassumingly brilliant book, filled with lovely stories for the introvert in your life.

Emily's life is not going the way she would like. She wants to go to college, have a social life, date her long-time crush. Instead, she is forced to watch her friends leave her small town, while she stays home to care for her ailing grandfather. In some ways, this is a Cinderella story but, in other ways, it is not. No fairy godmother comes, there is no castle ball, and no stepmother. Instead, there is a slice of life as it was and as it is.

I was amazed by how relevant it is today. It addresses immigration, education, equality, and growth. I absolutely loved the depth to Emily's character, the old friends, the lessons on growing up, the way Don gets pushed aside at the end, and the old-fashioned love of tradition. I highly recommend this book. ( )

This has been on my to-read list for so many years that I can’t remember what particularly motivated me to add to it that list. But I am very glad to finally have read it! It’s delightful.

It begins in May 1912, as Emily graduates high school. Her friends are all headed for college, but Emily doesn’t want to leave her grandfather on his own. So instead, Emily finds her own way to purposefully fill her time, to build connections beyond her school friends, and further her education.

This offers a fascinating insight into community life in a Minnesotan town in 1912. I was surprised by things like the size of her graduating class and the number of girls going off to university.

I also thought it effectively captured the emotional experience of navigating a period of transition in one’s life, something that’s far more timeless -- and more relatable -- than details about debating or dances, to pick a couple of alliterative examples.

She wrote more letters than she received.
“They certainly are slow in answering,” she thought, beginning a letter to Nell who already owed her a letter. “But then,” she admitted to herself, “they’re not living in my life in the way I’m living in theirs.”
That was what she was doing, she realised. It was wrong, but what else was she to do? ( )

This was such a good story—nostalgic in the best way, with realistic, well-drawn characters. I loved that the heroine is “restfully quiet” and “builds her life out of what materials she has.” And it’s not surprising that a novel framed by Memorial Day grave-tending would win my heart. ( )