Susan Coolidge (1835–1905)
Author of What Katy Did
About the Author
Susan Coolidge - pseudonym of Sarah Chauncy Woolsey (1845-1905) - was born in Cleveland, Ohio and spent much of her childhood in Connecticut. After serving as a nurse in the Civil War, she took up writing. By chance, her editor was also the editor for Louisa M. Alcott - famous for her Little Women show more books - and it is thought that he suggested Susan Coolidge try the same kind of story. Five books about Katy Carr and her family resulted. show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.
Series
Works by Susan Coolidge
The day's message 2 copies
Little Tommy Tucker 1 copy
For summer afternoons 1 copy
De nuevo Katy 1 copy
Katy Omnibus, The 1 copy
Associated Works
The Poetry Pharmacy: Tried-and-True Prescriptions for the Heart, Mind, and Soul (2017) 196 copies, 5 reviews
Poems in the waiting room : Issue 86 — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Coolidge, Susan
- Legal name
- Woolsey, Sarah Chauncey
- Birthdate
- 1835-01-29
- Date of death
- 1905-04-09
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- children's book author
nurse
editor
poet
girls' school story author - Relationships
- Woolsey, Gamel (niece)
- Short biography
- Sarah Chaucey Woolsey was born into a wealth and influential New England family living in Cleveland. One of her uncles was Theodore Dwight Woolsey, president of Yale College. The author and poet Gamel Woolsey was her niece. Sarah spent much of her childhood in New Haven after the family moved there. She travelled to Europe in 1870–1872 and then settled with her family in Newport, Rhode Island. She never married. She served as a nurse during the U.S. Civil War and then began to publish her writing, using the pseudonym "Susan Coolidge." She's best remembered for the classic five-volume What Katy Did series, but Susan Coolidge also was a prolific writer of verses and short stories for children. In addition, she edited several works including The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delaney (1879) and The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney (1880).
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
- Places of residence
- Cleveland, Ohio, USA
New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Newport, Rhode Island, USA - Place of death
- Newport, Rhode Island, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- Sarah Chauncey Woolsey wrote under the pen-name Susan Coolidge.
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Discussions
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Reviews
Eyebright is a three-hanky kind of story. It's beautifully written about childhood and growing up, but the idyllic loveliness is marred by parent death, loss of home, and a very frightening storm. Tweens who like sad stories, especially those who would enjoy Anne of Green Gables, will love this.
Eyebright - a nickname based on her first initial (I. Bright) - is 12 when the story opens. She lives in a perfect little village called Tunxet with her parents, Wealthy the live-in help and second show more mother, and several close friends. She loves imaginative play and stories, but is practical and helpful at home when she needs to be. The main hardship in her life is that her mother has been bed-tethered for as long as Eyebright can remember, with a mysterious illness. Mamma comes downstairs only a couple times a year and is always worse for some time afterwards, and she doesn't seem to tolerate sunlight or open windows very well. The description reminded me strongly of ME/CFS, which has made me bed-tethered, which built up my sympathy for Mamma and her family.
Sadly, Mamma dies, and within a year, Mr Bright loses his sources of income. The only option, as he sees it, is a small farm he owns on the coast of Maine. They must leave nearly everything and everyone behind, even Wealthy.
But Wealthy helps Eyebright as best she can to learn more housekeeping, and the first summer on Causey Island, very near to Canada, isn't too bad. The Brights make friends in the village nearest their little island, and Eyebright keeps herself busy. There's a chapter with gorgeous descriptions of tidepools when she accidentally gets trapped in a cave at high tide, having misjudged how long it took to reach.
Winter is much harder during Eyebright's 14th year, with sometimes weeks between seeing anyone but her father, and the ocean changed to a frightening thing with angry, sharp waves. She is very lonely, and her father has very little to occupy himself with - he's also lonely, and likely suffering depression. But spring and summer come again, and they do their best, though Mr Bright never quite regains his former energy, and Eyebright worries about what she'll do for clothes when her mother's dresses can no longer be mended.
And then in September, a most terrible storm sets in, with disastrous consequences. It may be a hurricane or a nor'easter, but it's terrifying, written with such vividness but also foreshadowing that things won't turn out well. My heart was in my throat the whole chapter, especially after the hard years Eyebright had endured.
But not all is tragedy, and Eyebright does get a happy ending and hopeful future.
I love how realistic the book is, and Eyebright herself. Several chapters detail her "naughtiness", which is often just pre-teen impulsiveness, thoughtlessness, or moodiness, and do very well to show that she isn't perfect, just a normal girl who wants to be helpful and kind but sometimes messes up. She could be a modern girl, for all that the book is from 1879.
And the descriptions of nature or children at play are just wonderful, one of the things I love about Coolidge's writing. Despite the sadness, it's all very cosy and comforting, and Coolidge's occasional direct address to the reader feels like it's from a friend. I was rather amused by one aside when she talks about Eyebright going into the ice house on a hot day without explicit permission, then says "it's a wonder Eyebright didn't harm herself with the sudden temperature charge! But you, dear reader, won't do anything so foolish without permission first, right?" Yes, preachy, but nothing like the vast majority of books from the period, and mostly thanks to the friendly not lecturing tone.
Another interesting thing I wanted to note, but it doesn't really fit in the story summary: in one early chapter, the schoolchildren all visit a Shaker village. Eyebright makes friends with a Sister not much older than herself, and all the children buy something from the Shakers' little store. If you don't want to read the sad bits but are curious, this chapter can be read standalone.
This is the last of Coolidge's novels for me, and I'm a bit sad that there are no more for me to discover. They all seven were enjoyable to read and made me wish I'd known them at 12 - even this sad one, with so much beauty in it. show less
Eyebright - a nickname based on her first initial (I. Bright) - is 12 when the story opens. She lives in a perfect little village called Tunxet with her parents, Wealthy the live-in help and second show more mother, and several close friends. She loves imaginative play and stories, but is practical and helpful at home when she needs to be. The main hardship in her life is that her mother has been bed-tethered for as long as Eyebright can remember, with a mysterious illness. Mamma comes downstairs only a couple times a year and is always worse for some time afterwards, and she doesn't seem to tolerate sunlight or open windows very well. The description reminded me strongly of ME/CFS, which has made me bed-tethered, which built up my sympathy for Mamma and her family.
Sadly, Mamma dies, and within a year, Mr Bright loses his sources of income. The only option, as he sees it, is a small farm he owns on the coast of Maine. They must leave nearly everything and everyone behind, even Wealthy.
But Wealthy helps Eyebright as best she can to learn more housekeeping, and the first summer on Causey Island, very near to Canada, isn't too bad. The Brights make friends in the village nearest their little island, and Eyebright keeps herself busy. There's a chapter with gorgeous descriptions of tidepools when she accidentally gets trapped in a cave at high tide, having misjudged how long it took to reach.
Winter is much harder during Eyebright's 14th year, with sometimes weeks between seeing anyone but her father, and the ocean changed to a frightening thing with angry, sharp waves. She is very lonely, and her father has very little to occupy himself with - he's also lonely, and likely suffering depression. But spring and summer come again, and they do their best, though Mr Bright never quite regains his former energy, and Eyebright worries about what she'll do for clothes when her mother's dresses can no longer be mended.
And then in September, a most terrible storm sets in, with disastrous consequences. It may be a hurricane or a nor'easter, but it's terrifying, written with such vividness but also foreshadowing that things won't turn out well. My heart was in my throat the whole chapter, especially after the hard years Eyebright had endured.
But not all is tragedy, and Eyebright does get a happy ending and hopeful future.
I love how realistic the book is, and Eyebright herself. Several chapters detail her "naughtiness", which is often just pre-teen impulsiveness, thoughtlessness, or moodiness, and do very well to show that she isn't perfect, just a normal girl who wants to be helpful and kind but sometimes messes up. She could be a modern girl, for all that the book is from 1879.
And the descriptions of nature or children at play are just wonderful, one of the things I love about Coolidge's writing. Despite the sadness, it's all very cosy and comforting, and Coolidge's occasional direct address to the reader feels like it's from a friend. I was rather amused by one aside when she talks about Eyebright going into the ice house on a hot day without explicit permission, then says "it's a wonder Eyebright didn't harm herself with the sudden temperature charge! But you, dear reader, won't do anything so foolish without permission first, right?" Yes, preachy, but nothing like the vast majority of books from the period, and mostly thanks to the friendly not lecturing tone.
Another interesting thing I wanted to note, but it doesn't really fit in the story summary: in one early chapter, the schoolchildren all visit a Shaker village. Eyebright makes friends with a Sister not much older than herself, and all the children buy something from the Shakers' little store. If you don't want to read the sad bits but are curious, this chapter can be read standalone.
This is the last of Coolidge's novels for me, and I'm a bit sad that there are no more for me to discover. They all seven were enjoyable to read and made me wish I'd known them at 12 - even this sad one, with so much beauty in it. show less
I'm very glad I read this as an adult, rather than aa a child, because it is funny, but not in a way I would have recognized without being familiar with the context and references, and just general historical knowledge.
Clearly, Coolidge (like many of her contemporaries, I'm sure) took some inspiration from Twain's "The Innocents Abroad", as she pokes gentle fun at her American travelers and their expectations of the grand European tour. This satire appears most heavily in the early part of show more the trip, especially when Katy and her companions attempt to visit "storybook" England in rainy October, but also shows up to describe Lilly Page's own Grand Tour as a shopping list.
There's a lot of really very lovely bits, too, particularly a description of Rome later on:
Katy feels very lucky that her friend Mrs Ashe invites her on the trip as her companion. Though her father is a doctor and they are comfortably well off, the expense of a year abroad is far beyond the family's ability. This is undoubtedly the case for most of Coolidge's readers, too, which makes me think this story of all the things that could go wrong is partly to dash some realism on dreams. The whole party gets terribly seasick on the voyage over, then it's rainy and miserable in England, and likewise in Paris with the added complication of Amy contracting an awful cold. Then, of course, they wait too long to go to Rome and risk being unable to get a place to stay because of Carnival, which they almost entirely miss when poor little Amy is sick again, this time with Rome Fever (malaria), and nearly dies.
Katy's good temper and optimism are certainly tested. At one point, she's so tired of making up stories for Amy about a pair of little girls that she decides once and for all to kill them off. "They went up the hill and were crushed. They never lived again. The end." (It's very funny!) She regrets making Amy cry, but can't regret getting rid of the awful, endless story. I love how Katy remains herself, even though she's grown into a young woman. As when she was a child, she has little interest in overly feminine stereotypes, loves stories and children, and still acts rashly when her patience runs out. But she has learned the benefits of keeping a tidy appearance and not running too contrary to society's expectations.
Amy is in some ways the liveliest of the main characters, at 8 years old. She carries a doll with her everywhere, and repeats "Mabel's" opinions for the others, calls Mabel a naughty child, and so on. Amy grows bored with shopping and dressmaking and grown up things, and often makes funny observations. She is particularly taken by an effigy of a baby in Westminster Abbey, and insists on having Mabel give it a kiss on a second visit. I wonder if this might have started a fad among American girl tourists? The tour guide is amused: "English girls never notice one statue over another."
It should be no surprise that there are a lot of stereotypes here. Everyone in Europe, it seems, is quaint or exotic, and no country or people is as advanced and intelligent as the United States!
In focusing on the European part of the book, I've failed to mention the first section. Before crossing the Atlantic, Katy spends several days in Boston with her dear friend Rose Red, now married and with a baby of her own. This section dates the story to 1870-1871 by specifying what Katy saw - and what she couldn't see for it not existing yet. It was fun to look up all the places and learn what a visitor to Boston would have been interested in at the time.
This is growing a bit long, and I still haven't enthused about the depiction of Katy's romance! I just love this book so much and what Coolidge does in it. She acknowledges that Katy isn't the type of girl that turns young men's heads, very unlike her cousin Lilly. But she's honest and kind, and not selfish or conceited, which means when she has reason to spend a lot of time with someone, they will grow to like her. Coolidge is very clear, too, that there's nothing wrong with someone like Lilly who enjoys fashion and boys, but being too self-involved isn't a good way to create a lasting relationship.
I really don't think I would hand this book to any 12-year-old without guidance. It's just too old, with too many outdated references and stereotypes. But to read it together with a tween, to laugh at the funny parts and research the sites together or similar? it could be a great time. And adults who are interested in 19th century stories for young girls should find it worthwhile, too. show less
Clearly, Coolidge (like many of her contemporaries, I'm sure) took some inspiration from Twain's "The Innocents Abroad", as she pokes gentle fun at her American travelers and their expectations of the grand European tour. This satire appears most heavily in the early part of show more the trip, especially when Katy and her companions attempt to visit "storybook" England in rainy October, but also shows up to describe Lilly Page's own Grand Tour as a shopping list.
There's a lot of really very lovely bits, too, particularly a description of Rome later on:
Below lay the ancient city, with its strange mingling of the old and the new, of past things embedded in the present; or is it the present thinly veiling the rich and mighty past,—who shall say?
Katy feels very lucky that her friend Mrs Ashe invites her on the trip as her companion. Though her father is a doctor and they are comfortably well off, the expense of a year abroad is far beyond the family's ability. This is undoubtedly the case for most of Coolidge's readers, too, which makes me think this story of all the things that could go wrong is partly to dash some realism on dreams. The whole party gets terribly seasick on the voyage over, then it's rainy and miserable in England, and likewise in Paris with the added complication of Amy contracting an awful cold. Then, of course, they wait too long to go to Rome and risk being unable to get a place to stay because of Carnival, which they almost entirely miss when poor little Amy is sick again, this time with Rome Fever (malaria), and nearly dies.
Katy's good temper and optimism are certainly tested. At one point, she's so tired of making up stories for Amy about a pair of little girls that she decides once and for all to kill them off. "They went up the hill and were crushed. They never lived again. The end." (It's very funny!) She regrets making Amy cry, but can't regret getting rid of the awful, endless story. I love how Katy remains herself, even though she's grown into a young woman. As when she was a child, she has little interest in overly feminine stereotypes, loves stories and children, and still acts rashly when her patience runs out. But she has learned the benefits of keeping a tidy appearance and not running too contrary to society's expectations.
Amy is in some ways the liveliest of the main characters, at 8 years old. She carries a doll with her everywhere, and repeats "Mabel's" opinions for the others, calls Mabel a naughty child, and so on. Amy grows bored with shopping and dressmaking and grown up things, and often makes funny observations. She is particularly taken by an effigy of a baby in Westminster Abbey, and insists on having Mabel give it a kiss on a second visit. I wonder if this might have started a fad among American girl tourists? The tour guide is amused: "English girls never notice one statue over another."
It should be no surprise that there are a lot of stereotypes here. Everyone in Europe, it seems, is quaint or exotic, and no country or people is as advanced and intelligent as the United States!
In focusing on the European part of the book, I've failed to mention the first section. Before crossing the Atlantic, Katy spends several days in Boston with her dear friend Rose Red, now married and with a baby of her own. This section dates the story to 1870-1871 by specifying what Katy saw - and what she couldn't see for it not existing yet. It was fun to look up all the places and learn what a visitor to Boston would have been interested in at the time.
This is growing a bit long, and I still haven't enthused about the depiction of Katy's romance! I just love this book so much and what Coolidge does in it. She acknowledges that Katy isn't the type of girl that turns young men's heads, very unlike her cousin Lilly. But she's honest and kind, and not selfish or conceited, which means when she has reason to spend a lot of time with someone, they will grow to like her. Coolidge is very clear, too, that there's nothing wrong with someone like Lilly who enjoys fashion and boys, but being too self-involved isn't a good way to create a lasting relationship.
I really don't think I would hand this book to any 12-year-old without guidance. It's just too old, with too many outdated references and stereotypes. But to read it together with a tween, to laugh at the funny parts and research the sites together or similar? it could be a great time. And adults who are interested in 19th century stories for young girls should find it worthwhile, too. show less
How much fun I had reading this! It was interesting to see so many tropes of school stories here, but in a nascent sort of way: the snooty, jealous rival; the secret society; sneaking food into the room for a party; the nice teacher vs the "crabby martinet"; and so on.
As a story to be mined for bits of material culture and social expectations, it's very rich. For just one example, Katy and Clover are aghast to discover the "lavatory" at school, a gathering room where all 48 girls have wash show more basins to perform their morning ablutions together. The principal thinks it's a very clever idea, but Dr Carr insists upon a washstand in the girls' room, which leads to a fad for them amongst the students, and eventually discontinuation of the shared washroom.
The plot is fairly gentle, not lingering too long on any one incident over the course of the year, mostly about the good times Katy and Clover have. I was terribly amused by the reputational sabotage that occurs against Katy, and how it was such a standard piece of school stories 50 years later, but here it doesn't quite follow those usual, later patterns. But that is probably the only bad thing that happens!
It is, of course, aspirational for the readers and gives examples of good behavior vs. bad. Katy is mostly "good", though she is amused by the innocent naughtiness of her friends - and shocked and dismayed by the less innocent flirting and carrying on with boys from the nearby college. It was, after all, not the done thing for young ladies to have relationships with young men they weren't related to.
I was gratified that Katy's back injury wasn't forgotten. She is given a special, cushioned chair for studying, and explicit instructions to lie down flat if her back begins to ache, even if during the study hour.
This certainly isn't going to be the enjoyable read for everyone that it was for me, but I love girls' books and school stories and found it to be a lovely example. show less
As a story to be mined for bits of material culture and social expectations, it's very rich. For just one example, Katy and Clover are aghast to discover the "lavatory" at school, a gathering room where all 48 girls have wash show more basins to perform their morning ablutions together. The principal thinks it's a very clever idea, but Dr Carr insists upon a washstand in the girls' room, which leads to a fad for them amongst the students, and eventually discontinuation of the shared washroom.
The plot is fairly gentle, not lingering too long on any one incident over the course of the year, mostly about the good times Katy and Clover have. I was terribly amused by the reputational sabotage that occurs against Katy, and how it was such a standard piece of school stories 50 years later, but here it doesn't quite follow those usual, later patterns. But that is probably the only bad thing that happens!
It is, of course, aspirational for the readers and gives examples of good behavior vs. bad. Katy is mostly "good", though she is amused by the innocent naughtiness of her friends - and shocked and dismayed by the less innocent flirting and carrying on with boys from the nearby college. It was, after all, not the done thing for young ladies to have relationships with young men they weren't related to.
I was gratified that Katy's back injury wasn't forgotten. She is given a special, cushioned chair for studying, and explicit instructions to lie down flat if her back begins to ache, even if during the study hour.
This certainly isn't going to be the enjoyable read for everyone that it was for me, but I love girls' books and school stories and found it to be a lovely example. show less
Katy Carr goes to Europe in this third novel about the Carr children, following upon the 1872 classic, What Katy Did, and its boarding school sequel, What Katy Did at School (1873). Opening shortly after the preceding book, when Katy and Clover have returned home to Burnet, the story follows the Carrs, and especially Katy, as they come to the aid of widowed Mrs. Ashe, taking in her young daughter Amy, when that lady must care for a sick and infectious nephew. As a reward for this kindness, show more Mrs. Ashe—or Polly, as Katy eventually comes to know her—invites our heroine on a year-long trip abroad, something of which she had only ever dreamed. After a brief visit with her friend 'Rose Red' in Boston, now a married woman with a baby girl, Katy sets out with Mrs. Ashe and little Amy, visiting England, France and Italy, and seeing many of the storied sites of which she'd read. All is not smooth sailing, and the travelers experience a number of challenges, from seasickness on the way over to the proverbial English weather. In the process, Katy shows her quality once again, always ready to help her friend. It is this goodness of character which eventually wins her the admiration of Mrs. Ashe's brother, a young seaman on an American frigate stationed in the Mediterranean. Although the trip is cut short after Amy suffers an extended illness, it ends up being a very worthwhile one for Katy, both for what she has seen, and what she has gained in personal attachments...
Published in 1886, What Katy Did Next is the last of what some people call the "Katy Books," but is in fact only the third of the five books about the Carrs altogether, being followed by the 1888 Clover and the 1891 In the High Valley. Having greatly enjoyed this one, I certainly look forward to reading those subsequent two titles! I always find stories of Americans abroad entertaining, particularly when the author manages to capture the sense of wonder the travelers experience. Susan Coolidge does that here, while also gently poking fun at some of the expectations of her heroine, and highlighting some of the less positive aspects of being away from home. Encountering Cousin Lily again was a surprise, and not a particularly welcome one, although I did like the way that Coolidge contrasted the two young women, highlighting the fact that what attracts at first glance might not be the most appealing, in the end. Katy's fine qualities are the kind best appreciated through closer acquaintance—the more one knows her the better one like hers—and this certainly proves true with Ned Worthington. Lily, on the other hand, dazzles at first, but then begins to reveal her true character as one proceeds. I thought it was interesting that the final straw, in terms of Ned's disenchantment, was Lily's lack of true concern for little Amy's illness. This proved quite engaging, and is one I would recommend to those who read and enjoyed the previous two titles, or who enjoy vintage girls' fare and/or travel narratives. show less
Published in 1886, What Katy Did Next is the last of what some people call the "Katy Books," but is in fact only the third of the five books about the Carrs altogether, being followed by the 1888 Clover and the 1891 In the High Valley. Having greatly enjoyed this one, I certainly look forward to reading those subsequent two titles! I always find stories of Americans abroad entertaining, particularly when the author manages to capture the sense of wonder the travelers experience. Susan Coolidge does that here, while also gently poking fun at some of the expectations of her heroine, and highlighting some of the less positive aspects of being away from home. Encountering Cousin Lily again was a surprise, and not a particularly welcome one, although I did like the way that Coolidge contrasted the two young women, highlighting the fact that what attracts at first glance might not be the most appealing, in the end. Katy's fine qualities are the kind best appreciated through closer acquaintance—the more one knows her the better one like hers—and this certainly proves true with Ned Worthington. Lily, on the other hand, dazzles at first, but then begins to reveal her true character as one proceeds. I thought it was interesting that the final straw, in terms of Ned's disenchantment, was Lily's lack of true concern for little Amy's illness. This proved quite engaging, and is one I would recommend to those who read and enjoyed the previous two titles, or who enjoy vintage girls' fare and/or travel narratives. show less
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