Betsy is coming home from her visit around the Great World (her father sent her to Europe in the hopes it would help expand her horizons and train her as a writer). All she can think about is Joe. And there he is, cane in hand, hair so blonde it's almost silver, meeting her at the boat.

This Betsy-Tacy novel is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. In many ways Joe is the perfect husband. Adoring, ambitious, kind. But in other ways married life is not easy. Joe gets into dark moods. And when he is feeling blue he almost forgets that Betsy exists.

Betsy, as usual, has challenges of her own. She is so self-centered and self-absorbed that she forgets to open her heart to Joe's aunt when she needs her most. A visit to church sets her on the right path and Joe's aunt living with them while she is grieving the loss of her store ends up being one of the best thing that happens to the young couple.

Tacy has a baby and an attentive husband. But Tib. Poor Tib. Diminutive, professional, impatient, gorgeous, Tib is tired of young men thinking she is dumb and easy because she is blonde and petite. She goes through a lot of trials in this book, as Betsy and Tacy hold their breath watching.

Highly recommended.

Re-read 12/2001.

Re-read 8/2008.

Re-read 12/2013 - pulled out my copy to check Homer's name for the ornament exchange and then kept right on going.

Re-read April 2025 - for Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Reading Challenge, prompt #2, Reread a childhood favorite book.

Enchanting.

I love a happy ending ❤️

Just wonderful. I'm so glad to have read this series this year. So so glad.

I've grown to love and relate to Betsy so much throughout this series and am so sad to see it end but know that I will reread these for years to come!

Parting is such sweet sorrow. I will miss you, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib!

In the final Betsy-Tacy book, Betsy gets married! … within like the first few chapters lol. Joe is determined to wed her immediately. When his temporary unemployment is raised as a potential barrier, Joe sets to finding himself a job as soon as possible, hopping right off the taxi taking them home from the train station to pop into a few businesses and quickly securing himself some work. A go-getter! The rest of the book shows the early days of her marriage with Joe, as they make a home together, further their writing careers, and learn the domestic arts.

Betsy and Tacy also have go at matchmaking for Tib, who they fear is having too much of a good time being a career woman and enjoying her own independent life (ah, I said fondly, sometimes I do not miss the old days AT ALL). Tib remains such a favourite for me, I love her practical ways and her pragmatism, loving to make and do things. I was so annoyed when they kept trying to push her together with unsuitable men! Leave her be, she's living her best life!

Tib does of course get married off but in a rather perfunctory way to a man she meets literally accidentally at a skating rink. There isn't time for much of a courtship, because the Great War which has been raging in Europe the entire time has finally reached the USA, and narratively we need that happy ending before the boys heads off for war.

It's been such a good journey with Betsy, Tacy and Tib, I can easily see why these books are so iconic and beloved in the USA (though they never made it over here to Australia). Some things haven't aged well but I did love Betsy and Joe's commitment to the writerly life and their creative dreams, that was really lovely.

Finishing this book was bittersweet, because it is the end of the series. If you want to know what it was like for a young, middle-class girl at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th in small-town Minnesota, you can't go wrong with this semi-autobiographical series. It beginning when Betsy is just a small child and progresses through the early years of her marriage, just as her young talented husband is about to go off to WWI.

I just love this sweet series. I read the first 4 books to the girls and kept going with the rest myself. I’m sad to end my time with Betsy. Their lives were so filled with community and joy, it just warms my heart,and I long for the same simple joy filled life.

one of my favorites in the series as it explores the early days of marriage and shows a relationship blossom from high school love to a mature, devoted marital union. Feels like the last warm hug from a friend before saying goodbye for a little while!

BETSY AND JOE AND BETSY AND JOE AND YES. THIS WAS THE BOOK I WANTED.

Maybe I will come back here later and write actual words. Or not. Because that's a pretty accurate reaction, honestly.