I liked this ... didn't LOVE it. I LOVE Anne of Green Gables, written around the same time, but that might be some childhood connection (having read Anne in my youth, and experiencing this the first time as an adult). This was a book club selection, although I had picked up a physical copy at a thrift store (for the LFL) before that. I was able to borrow the audiobook  (there are a few versions, different narrators including a full cast version, I went with one off Libby with Christina Moore narrating) and the library had the e-book, but not the Kindle copy. I really prefer Kindle, and was able to find it for $1 on Amazon. 

While I think many consider this a stand-alone, it's listed as the second in the Limberlost series, with Freckles being book #1. I went ahead and read Freckles right before reading this, and while not necessary, I was glad I did. Freckles and Angel are mentioned and even appear in this book as secondary characters. I was glad I was familiar.

I was very disappointed that the Table of Contents in both the Kindle Copy and Audio (and the physical copy doesn't even provide a TOC) didn't include the headers. I realize they are long, and could even be considered "spoilers" at times, but I like to see them all together in the TOC, to re-read them after finishing the book and remembering what was in each chapter (as these are quite descriptive). I manually highlighted them in my Kindle copy ... it's not as clean as a TOC, but I have them saved. Like Freckles, they all start with "Wherein ..." (what's in that chapter). Like Freckles, the chapters a numbered with Roman numerals. 

Some notes I made - possible discussion topics at book club ...

*Aunt Margaret's pondering how Elnora might have turned out if she had been raised by them, in love, rather than her mother's neglect. Wondering if the hard life is what made her who she is ...

*As Margaret runs into girls while shopping for Elnora, and the girls wonder themselves if they treated the "poor girl" shabbily, and if she had been dressed better (better than them) if she would also have been snubbed for that ...

*Pete storyline - taking the money (thinking he was stealing from the bird woman, not a girl), replacing the money. I was glad ... but also unsure of its inclusion? 

*Prayer - in your own time (God's time)

*Song Spoken (wonder if any of the other audio sang it?)

*Can someone just pick up a violin and play it? Without training?

*Ejaculated (as in "exclaimed" ... but the connotation today ...)

*Mrs.Comstock ... very unlikeable character. Any truth to her blaming others for not telling her about her husband's infidelity earlier? It was still her choice to be the way she was ...

*** in my copy, intro by Girlebooks.com said (and I agreed) "On a personal note, my one complaint of the novel is a tendency to overestimate appearances. In one episode Elnora is faced with the prospect of not wearing new dresses to graduation, as is the custom of the occasion, but her dresses from the last year that have been cleaned and ironed. This is terribly problematic for her, and everyone agrees that the better option is not to attend rather than wear old dresses. Maybe I don't understand the cultural significance of the new dresses, and of course the episode was written to show us how selfish and clueless her mother was. But I would have loved to see Elnora put on those old dresses and march down to graduation with her head held high."