What I've Read This Week . . .
Abilene Tucker has been riding the rails and wandering around with her Daddy Gideon her whole life. Now she's 12 Gideon is sending her to the small town of Manifest, Kansas where he spent time as a boy. Manifest is a dry, dusty town hit hard by the Depression. Abilene wonders what the town was like when Gideon lived there and searches for answers in old newspaper columns from 1918. She uncovers a cache of letters from a boy named Ned to a boy named Jinx all those years ago in 1918. Abilene searches for connections to Gideon and tries to understand why he left her. She makes the acquaintance of a host of quirky characters, including the diviner Miss Sadie. From Miss Sadie she hear a tale of hope, joy, love and loss in a small Kansas town in 1918. Abilene helps her adopted hometown unbury the mysteries and tragedies of the past and learns how her father's past has affected her present and will affect her future if she doesn't bring old secrets to light. The story is told from the point-of-view of Abilene, who is a typical down-on-her-luck Depression era kid common in children's literature. Her story alternates with the story of Manifest in 1918 as told by Miss Sadie and through Ned's letters. Manifest was a town driven by greed, fear and prejudice, all of which factor prominently into the story. The reader comes to know and care about the inhabitants of Manifest in 1918 more than in 1936. The characters come to life not only for Abilene for for the reader as well. The story in Manifest in 1918 gripped me and sucked me in until I had to finish the book. I guessed at some of the mysteries shortly before Abilene did but that didn't stop me from wanting to know what happened. The plot has plenty of funny moment to counterbalance the sad ones. Abilene's best friends provide much of the comic relief. The writing is really good and the author stays away from heavy-handed lessons. This is one of those books that can be read and enjoyed by anyone ages 12 and up. I enjoyed it a lot but I did not think it was the best book I've ever read and I'm not sure I would have chosen it as the Newbery winner.
Miss Frances Armstead refuses to marry her childhood best friend, Bertie Yarwood as her uncle and his father wish. Instead, she plans to run off to Gretna with his older brother Evelyn when she comes of age. In order to get her uncle to stop pressing marriage with Bertie, Frankie decided to invent a secret fiance. She chose Lord Grenville Wainwright, whom she had briefly met at her Aunt Maria's house party. Lord Grenville was an easy choice for he was away at sea. When Lord Grenville was presumed drowned, Frankie found a convenient excuse to avoid marriage. Now Lord Grenville has returned in the flesh to settle on his estates and take up his duty as his grandfather's heir. Poor Frankie is in a pickle. She hopes she can bluff her way through the next six months when she can run off with her beloved. However, Lord Grenville is most uncooperative. He brought a beautiful lady from London which causes the neighbors to gossip. If that weren't enough to mortify Frankie, he refuses to listen to her explanation and threatens to expose her as a fraud. To avoid scandal, Frankie's Uncle Matthew sends her to Aunt Maria in London where Frankie discovers Lord Grenville living next door and still deeply angry over Frankie's scandalous plot. Fortunately for Frankie, the Yarwoods are in London too. Charming Evelyn manages to make a conquest out of every woman he meets while Bertie and Frankie attempt to save the Yarwoods from ruination. Frankie often runs afoul of Lord Grenville and shocks him with her plain speaking. Interestingly enough, Frankie discovers that she is after all, not the object of a scandal for Lord Grenville has not yet exposed her secret. Could it be that he's waiting for the right time or is it that he actually likes Frankie and finds her schemes amusing? This story is a poor imitation of Georgette Heyer's tried and true teenage heroine plots. Frankie is very young and immature and does not know what she wants yet. She invents one crazy scheme after another, barely escaping ruination. Lord Grenville is a typical stock character of the hot-tempered proud Lord. The story is not told from his point-of-view so the reader only seems him through Frankie's eyes and learns his story when she shares it with the reader. All of the secondary characters were pretty stereotypical: the impecunious rake, the young foolish guy pal, the greedy widow and the kindly old gentlemen. None of the characters seemed real to me or appealed to me. My favorite character was Bertie. The plot is rather incredible and I was hoping for a different outcome. This is not one of my favorites, but I'm not fond of silly teenage heroines. If you like Georgette Heyer's Spring Muslin, Arabella or April Lady you will probably enjoy this book.
Miss Armstead Wears Black Gloves by Marian Devon -- Regency Romance
Miss Frances Armstead refuses to marry her childhood best friend, Bertie Yarwood as her uncle and his father wish. Instead, she plans to run off to Gretna with his older brother Evelyn when she comes of age. In order to get her uncle to stop pressing marriage with Bertie, Frankie decided to invent a secret fiance. She chose Lord Grenville Wainwright, whom she had briefly met at her Aunt Maria's house party. Lord Grenville was an easy choice for he was away at sea. When Lord Grenville was presumed drowned, Frankie found a convenient excuse to avoid marriage. Now Lord Grenville has returned in the flesh to settle on his estates and take up his duty as his grandfather's heir. Poor Frankie is in a pickle. She hopes she can bluff her way through the next six months when she can run off with her beloved. However, Lord Grenville is most uncooperative. He brought a beautiful lady from London which causes the neighbors to gossip. If that weren't enough to mortify Frankie, he refuses to listen to her explanation and threatens to expose her as a fraud. To avoid scandal, Frankie's Uncle Matthew sends her to Aunt Maria in London where Frankie discovers Lord Grenville living next door and still deeply angry over Frankie's scandalous plot. Fortunately for Frankie, the Yarwoods are in London too. Charming Evelyn manages to make a conquest out of every woman he meets while Bertie and Frankie attempt to save the Yarwoods from ruination. Frankie often runs afoul of Lord Grenville and shocks him with her plain speaking. Interestingly enough, Frankie discovers that she is after all, not the object of a scandal for Lord Grenville has not yet exposed her secret. Could it be that he's waiting for the right time or is it that he actually likes Frankie and finds her schemes amusing? This story is a poor imitation of Georgette Heyer's tried and true teenage heroine plots. Frankie is very young and immature and does not know what she wants yet. She invents one crazy scheme after another, barely escaping ruination. Lord Grenville is a typical stock character of the hot-tempered proud Lord. The story is not told from his point-of-view so the reader only seems him through Frankie's eyes and learns his story when she shares it with the reader. All of the secondary characters were pretty stereotypical: the impecunious rake, the young foolish guy pal, the greedy widow and the kindly old gentlemen. None of the characters seemed real to me or appealed to me. My favorite character was Bertie. The plot is rather incredible and I was hoping for a different outcome. This is not one of my favorites, but I'm not fond of silly teenage heroines. If you like Georgette Heyer's Spring Muslin, Arabella or April Lady you will probably enjoy this book.
I'd argue that silly teenage heroines make more sense than you'd first think in a Regency setting. In a world where girls were so completely sheltered from any kind of real contact with the opposite sex (other than a REALLY chaperoned conversation with little depth and mindless small talk) and they'd be considered hopeless spinsters by age 25 (give or take a few years), the young women just aren't emotionally mature.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're a teenager, everything is Melodrama and quite possibly The End of The World (Grand Passions are optional - I never had any, but I was acquainted with those who did) I know I'm not the same person I was when I was 18 by a long shot. Is Frankie sillier than most? Well yes, but she's a bit sheltered in a lot of ways - the standards of the time, living almost her entire life in the country with just her uncle (who probably didn't know the best ways to guide a young girl and may have allowed her more freedom than was considered proper), and just not really fitting into society's mold for a proper girl.
It's a bit like Romeo & Juliet - Romeo AND Juliet both act like complete idiots, but then she's like 13? 14? and Romeo is only a couple years older. I've always preferred the interpretation that it was - at least in part - a satire of how EVERYTHING is LIFE OR DEATH at that age and teenagers are universally morons.
I though Evelyn got a much better deal than he deserved, really (Aunt Maria on the other hand . . . well, it must make a nice change from two husbands old enough to be her father.)
And on that note, really, I don't see Frankie's Aunt Maria as "the greedy widow", the way you termed her. She's certainly not marrying Evelyn for money. She was married off very young to a man twice her age. That happened all the time back then and was considered perfectly socially acceptable. Why shouldn't she have a chance for, well, if not a love match, then at least a "like" match? (Still think Evelyn is despicable, though.)
It's not the best book Marian Devon ever wrote, but it has a special place in my heart for making me laugh when I desperately needed to and because it was my first ever romance novel.