Not really that bad, I just got impatient with the main character toward the end. She suddenly randomly decided to believe somebody she had never before trusted, without even verifying the information. Also I didn't like the implications, present in other D.E. Stevenson books as well, that a kid with undesirable personality traits can't change. Her version of good and bad kids and adults can sometimes be a little too exaggerated. ( )

A novel by D. E. Stevenson that follows the story of a widowed mother of four children—sign me up! Unfortunately, while this was written in Stevenson's usual enjoyable style, overall Young Mrs. Savage fell a little flat. The casual use of the N word (by children :( ) in one passage is regrettable, but the bigger problem is threaded throughout the story, as we see how easily led the heroine Dinah Savage is. She just doesn't have much of a mind of her own. At the end when she and her suitor are settling matters, she says "I'm not in the least strong-minded. I want everything to be arranged for me, always. I want to be ordered about and taken care of for the rest of my life. This is the first and last time I shall want to have my own way—honestly, [suitor name]" (310).

Now, I am no feminist but this is a bit much. You could argue that Dinah is just a realistic character and there are truly women who think and feel that way (especially in that period). And you could note that she had been widowed for several years at that point and was bone-tired of struggling to make all the decisions for her family. But it still doesn't make her particularly likable. She did show some guts with Edith Grover, but that's with another woman (a rival, at that) so it doesn't really count.

I didn't think Nigel's story was successfully wrapped up; we want to see him on the road to redemption rather than treading the path of his father. I liked Polly and Mark and Margy, of course. The successful suitor was all right, not very memorable. This is probably my least favorite of Stevenson's novels so far, but even with that I still enjoyed it. ( )

“Stories always end happily in the People’s Friend,” says Dinah, young Mrs Savage of the title, a widow with four children. “I wouldn’t read them if they didn’t,” her old nanny replies. “There’s enough trouble in this world without stories ending badly.” This is Dorothy Stevenson’s literary philosophy and as necessary now as when she was writing after the Second World War. She assembles a beautiful and happy Scottish seaside world with a cast including a gentle honourable industrialist, faithful retainers, shopkeepers and seaside visitors who remember or come to love the Dees – Dinah and her happy jolly sailor brother Dan. And of course there are twists and turns that are heart-warming and cheering enough to keep nanny and all readers of the People’s Friend contented.

Beware any collector of first editions because the Miss Stevens have firsts of Kate Greenaway, Shock-headed Peter and Alice in Wonderland and given them quite happily to the Savage children. “Yes, we know they’re valuable,” nodded Miss Clara, “but the children will do them no harm – no harm at all.” “Don’t worry, Dinah,” said Miss Jean smiling. “Books are meant for reading. They like to be read. It’s dull for them to lie in a cupboard from year’s end to year’s end.” How true are these good women’s opinions!