Carolyn Wells (1) (1862–1942)

What a delight this volume of the Patty series is! It's just about everything I love most in girls' series: melodrama, ridiculous escapades, and plenty of attention to material culture. A lot is packed into this little book, so that it has no time to drag or become boring.

It opens with Nan and Papa Fairfield's wedding in Philadelphia, where Mrs Allen has gone all out to create a wonderful party for her only daughter. Patty remains at the Allens' house through Easter break (with a week-end show more trip to Atlantic City!), then returns to New York with her parents for the last term of school.

She has determined that with extra study, she can graduate early, and stay home the following year. This is greatly appealing, but the demands of studying, the commencement play she and her friends are putting on, and the social obligations she has with Nan all add up to overwork and nearly cause a nervous attack. When she faints on the stage at the end of the play, the doctor insists on pure rest and relaxation for some months, and no reading at all until autumn.

The city is not the place for her that summer, but where should she go? The Farringtons solve the question: Mr. and Mrs. Farrington, Roger, and Elise are planning a long motor trip throughout New England, and they propose that Patty join them. The first few days prove to be too exciting for Patty, however, and when she and Elise are invited to make a longer visit at Bertha Winthrop's country house, they do just that. One of the highlights is a "Christmas in Summer" themed party for the Fourth of July.

The summer finishes with more adventures on Long Island, where the Fairfields have rented a house near the Hurly-Burly where Patty has visited before. The big event here is a World Bazaar charity fundraiser, with a number of different booths built by locals with various attractions. Unfortunately, the stereotypes of 1905 are vividly present, with booths representing the American West, Japan, and a "Romany" camp with fortune telling, as well as Italian vineyards, an English dairy, Swiss toys, etc.

There is some strangeness in the first section with Mr Hepworth, who is 34 and has decided he is in love with 16-year-old Patty. I suppose young readers might think it romantic, but the narrative keeps pulling back from it and suggesting that it's definitely not a good thing. Patty certainly has no notions of romance with him, or any others among the young men who surround her. Roger Farrington is one of them, of course, as are Kenneth Harper and new friend Warner Winthrop. But perhaps she'll be waking up to romance soon. show less

Seventeen-year-old Patty is greatly disappointed when her father decides she shan't have a year at home without studying, despite her plans the previous spring. She's still schoolgirl age, so he thinks she ought to be at college or boarding school. It's with great luck that the Farringtons invite her to be their guest in Paris for the winter season, complete with lessons in French and music.

Thus begins the trio of volumes about Patty's year abroad.

I loved this book, but I'm very fond of show more girls' stories that talk about travel, and there are plenty of ridiculous adventures to have me shaking my head in amusement.

A lot of detail is given to the trip across, and how things are arranged for the passengers' enjoyment during the ten days. Patty makes several friends, who will later invite her and Elise Farrington to events in Paris. Once in the city, they stay at the Ritz, then rent a house near others of the "American colony".

There is some sightseeing: the Château de Chantilly north of Paris and Versailles receive special attention, though several other places are mentioned as well. There is a lot of shopping, too! Marian has provided Patty with a very specific list of souvenirs, including a rare, exclusive perfume. The search for this sends Patty and Elise off in a cab to "less reputable" parts "across the Seine" (that is, in or near the Latin Quarter), which, well, a lost purse full of francs isn't such a bad result.

An older Frenchwoman from the steamer invites the girls to her château in St Germain for the new year festivities. More adventure is to be had! Of course, they are enchanted by the antique building and its fittings, and thrilled to be loaned actual antique dresses as costumes for the themed party. (The people of 1907 were almost obsessed with pre-revolutionary France and attributed to it a quaint romanticism.) But alas! Ma'amselle's nephew has broken his arm and there is a mixup with telegrams. When he appears unexpectedly, Patty decides to undergo a dangerous race to reach the station before the old lady departs for the city. She drives one of the estate's motorcars at breakneck speed, barely arriving in time - absolutely a feat of strength and bravery in those days!

Several other parties occur during the story, with amusing themes and games, and it's generally a fun, light read. show less

A re-issued 'classic' that I really, truly wanted to love, but am rating 3 stars only because I feel like I have to give it the benefit of the doubt. The writing might have been farcical; it might have meant to be satiric.

If it was either of those things, I didn't get it. Instead the writing came across as profoundly amateurish and at times, dare I say it, twee.

I've been sitting on writing this review for weeks, and of course I've forgotten a lot of relevant bits, but amongst the things I show more can remember:

The scene of the crime is an antiquarian bookshop, which the deceased and his librarian have just broken into. When the owner of the shop appears to find the man dead, the librarian standing over the body, he assures the police that 1.) no way the librarian did it, and they should just skip investigating him, and 2.) yes, they broke into his shop, but he was sure they had a very good reason.

If this had been written by a man, we'd have called him a misogynist. There's a lot of something akin to mansplaining going on here, where the deceased's wife should be a suspect but really isn't - or, at least, the PI investigating the case can't bring himself to suspect her, because she's so wonderful, and fragile, and beautiful. Nothing in the text would give testament to the former two, and the latter - who knows?

The 'mastermind' was a joke. Think villain from Scooby Doo kind of joke. And don't even start me on the finale. If not for those meddling kids...

Everything, in fact, was so blown out of proportion that I have to believe I've missed something; some tone, rhythm, inside information contained in the writing. Otherwise there's no way this is something that qualifies to be re-issued.

Other evidence that I'm missing something here: there's a short story at the end about a mystery concerning a first edition Shakespeare that is good. Clever, if simple, and much more competently written; the only female character is the mind behind the solution too.

So in short, I don't know what the hell I read; tread at your own risk. show less

Some of the dialogue here is a bit creaky and stilted, especially when trying to sound detectivey early on in the book. But otherwise, wow! what fun! Carolyn Wells has an eye for personality types and a skill with writing them that is really engaging.

I was honestly shocked by the death when it comes, despite the story synopsis and the painting from the cover on my digital edition. And then, despite heavy-handed clues as to the murderer, I was disappointed about the identity, much like the show more characters I was reading about.

I absolutely love Kitty and Rob as the amateur sleuth couple, sort of bumbling but with best intentions. Rob agrees to investigate because Kitty is attractive, but later becomes fully invested in the mystery himself. Meanwhile they can't stop flirting with each other. Many of their scenes are mostly dialogue, yet the pauses in the lines, the choice of words - it was all so vivid to me. And likewise other dialogue heavy scenes with other characters.

I cared very little about Fleming Stone when he appeared, to be honest. I was ready for a series of hare-brained adventures with our two lovebirds egging each other into trouble and then accidentally getting out of it again. They were just so much fun and so deftly written.

But I'm already a fan of Wells from her Patty Fairfield series, so I will gamely try the next Fleming Stone book, too, and look forward to more of her great characters. show less