Lady Betty Across the Water by C.N. & A.M. Williamson
My Eighteenth book for ljbookbingo is Lady Betty Across the Water by C.N. & A.M. Williamson for the Chosen Based on the Cover Square, table found here:
I found this book when I happened upon a hole-in-the-wall used book store. The store was packed with books floor to ceiling. I had been there for forty-minutes looking in all the nook and crannies and had talked quite a bit to the elderly woman who was sitting in a rocking chair by the cash register. I felt like I should buy something after being there for so long, so I looked around and I happened to see this dusky mauve book with a beautiful script on the front alongside a delightful picture of a young woman. It was published in 1908 and had a handful of lovely illustrations in it. I had no idea what the book was about but I end up buying it.
Lady Betty is a young woman from England not yet out, as she is still waiting for her elder sister to get married. Betty gets sent to visit acquaintances in America, so she won't be a distraction for her sisters suitors.
Good things first. I enjoyed Betty's take on all the differences between England and America. She goes into great detail about the various cities and people she meets, but I was never bored instead I really loved getting to see what New York and Chicago looked like back then. It was like getting a personal view of a historical time and place and also seeing what was important to people back then. The author also has a great turn of phase that at times was quite humorous. The gentle romance between Betty and Jim was very sweet. What I didn't like about it was how Betty spoke about anyone who wasn't white. She basically thought of them as almost like children even if they were adults. Her casual racism, although probably common at the time, made me very uncomfortable.
This entry was originally posted at https://under-the-silk-tree.dreamwidth.org/54351.html
I found this book when I happened upon a hole-in-the-wall used book store. The store was packed with books floor to ceiling. I had been there for forty-minutes looking in all the nook and crannies and had talked quite a bit to the elderly woman who was sitting in a rocking chair by the cash register. I felt like I should buy something after being there for so long, so I looked around and I happened to see this dusky mauve book with a beautiful script on the front alongside a delightful picture of a young woman. It was published in 1908 and had a handful of lovely illustrations in it. I had no idea what the book was about but I end up buying it.
Lady Betty is a young woman from England not yet out, as she is still waiting for her elder sister to get married. Betty gets sent to visit acquaintances in America, so she won't be a distraction for her sisters suitors.
Good things first. I enjoyed Betty's take on all the differences between England and America. She goes into great detail about the various cities and people she meets, but I was never bored instead I really loved getting to see what New York and Chicago looked like back then. It was like getting a personal view of a historical time and place and also seeing what was important to people back then. The author also has a great turn of phase that at times was quite humorous. The gentle romance between Betty and Jim was very sweet. What I didn't like about it was how Betty spoke about anyone who wasn't white. She basically thought of them as almost like children even if they were adults. Her casual racism, although probably common at the time, made me very uncomfortable.
This entry was originally posted at https://under-the-silk-tree.dreamwidth.org/54351.html