|
|
Loading... Nancy of Paradise Cottage| 19 | 1 | 1,140,450 | 
(3.5) | 2 | "[...] They took up their bundles, said good-night to Mr. Simpson, and went out. It was a walk of three miles from the village-or, as it preferred to be called-the town of Melbrook to the Prescotts' house, which lay in the country beyond, a modest little nest enough, where the two girls had grown up almost isolated by their poverty from the gay life of the younger Melbrookians. Alma chafed unhappily against this isolation, chafed against every reminder of their poverty, and, like her mother, once a beauty and a belle, craved the excitement of admiration, luxury and fine things. She was ashamed of the little house, which was shabby, it is true, ashamed of having [...]".… (more) |
▾Will you like it?
Loading...
 Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. ▾Conversations (About links) No current Talk conversations about this book. » See also 2 mentions ▾Series and work relationships
|
|
| Canonical title |
|
| Original title |
|
| Alternative titles |
|
| Original publication date |
|
| People/Characters |
|
| Important places |
|
| Important events |
|
| Related movies |
|
| Epigraph |
|
| Dedication |
|
| First words |
"Let's see - bacon, eggs, bread, sugar, two cans of corn, and jam. Have I gotten everything, Alma?" Nancy, checking off the items in her marketing list, looked over toward her sister, who had wandered to the door and stood gazing out into the street where a gentle September rain was falling.  | |
|
| Quotations |
|
| Last words |
|
| Disambiguation notice |
|
| Publisher's editors |
|
| Blurbers |
|
| Original language |
|
| Canonical DDC/MDS |
|
| Canonical LCC |
|
▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English
None ▾Book descriptions "[...] They took up their bundles, said good-night to Mr. Simpson, and went out. It was a walk of three miles from the village-or, as it preferred to be called-the town of Melbrook to the Prescotts' house, which lay in the country beyond, a modest little nest enough, where the two girls had grown up almost isolated by their poverty from the gay life of the younger Melbrookians. Alma chafed unhappily against this isolation, chafed against every reminder of their poverty, and, like her mother, once a beauty and a belle, craved the excitement of admiration, luxury and fine things. She was ashamed of the little house, which was shabby, it is true, ashamed of having [...]". ▾Library descriptions No library descriptions found. ▾LibraryThing members' description
| Book description |
Nancy is the practical one in the family: her sister and even her mother think they still have lots of money, or at least that they're entitled to an easy lifestyle. This leads to all sorts of troubles, and it is up to Nancy to find a way to make ends meet. There's a miserly old uncle in the background -- he argued with Mother years ago, and now he won't help the family in its hour of need. Available online at The Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/nancyofpar...Also available at Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33554... | |
|
|
Current DiscussionsNone Google Books — Loading... |
1
Alma and Nancy are invited to a party hosted by a girl not in their social circle. They go; Nancy sacrificing any new clothing items so that Alma can have a very nice looking ensemble. Despite the fact that Alma is a social butterfly, Nancy attracts the attention of a local matron, Miss Bancroft and her bachelor/author nephew, George Arnold.
Nancy is interested in going to college as she realizes she will have to make her way in the world. Nancy’s mother hopes the girls will marry well. To that end she sends them to a boarding school/finishing school so they can meet other girls from good/wealthy families and marry well. While the educational aspect of school is not really encouraged, Nancy studies hard to achieve her dream of college. Both Alma and Nancy make friends. Alma gets into scrapes and Nancy gets her out of them. Right before they leave for school Uncle Thomas is persuaded by Miss Bancroft to meet the girls.
While the girls are at school Mrs. Prescott makes some bad investments and both girls have to leave school after one semester. Both come home and get jobs, and Alma begins to outgrow her lack of responsibility. Uncle Thomas gets involved in their lives and eventually starts supporting them after Alma becomes very ill. (She recovers.) Nancy marries the George Arnold who is 15 years older than she is.
The story is not bad. Nancy takes her responsibilities and their family honor seriously and seems to frequently be patching up some scrape that Alma has gotten herself in to, or that their mother has gotten the family in to. Nancy’s good character is what is holding the family together, and I appreciate the emphasis on good character and good reputation that is a part of much older fiction. That said some of the characters’ changes of heart were just not quite believable. Uncle Thomas had a change of heart right at their desperate moment. Mrs. Prescott also had a change of heart and stopped overspending. Also somewhat unbelievable was George Arnold falling in love with an 18 year old girl (even if she did have good character). Still, this book was a charming read and an enjoyable reflection of its times. (