Ok, breaking it down:

I wouldn't have picked it up out of a store, probably - or out of the library. But I'm really glad I read it. I think I would have loved it when I was 10 or 11. The friendships would have kept me reading the whole series, I expect.

It really played the long game with Joe (and the resolution I know happened because of the tip-off of the next book's title in the back of this one is a good conclusion).

I think it's always interesting to write with a foreknowledge of circumstances in historical fiction for younger readers so the hinting at German soldiers was deftly done. Also, my birthday is on June 28 so the murder of Franz Ferdinand is something I think about sometimes and I liked that it was in here specifically when so few dates are.

The character of Betsy seems exactly like what Louisa May Alcott would have come up with if she had been alive and writing when Maud Hart Lovelace was so it was also great that Little Women was mentioned (2x) in the book.

I really liked that the nuances between types of love and degrees of love were explored. The overall values of the Betsy (and the author) I could get behind - she was a very thoughtful and socially conscious writer.

My mom growing up loved the book Marjorie Morningstar which was written around the same time period (also about a strong willed young woman who wants to be an artist - actress instead of writer). It was written by Herman Wouk (so, a man). In that book, in what has always seemed to me to be a not uncommon approach to 1950's values (especially from a man's perspective; and that something like The Feminine Mystique would have been an answer to), Marjorie gets any angst or desire for more satiated when she falls in and out of love with Noel Airman before settling into the
inevitability of domesticity. And absolutely, there is nothing wrong with any choice a person makes about their life circumstances.

But, when I read that book as a pre-teen I was disappointed. She goes to live in a way she had never seemed to truly want, until she did. And she could have had more, she just didn't take her own aspirations seriously because no one else had, or if they did - it was only to use her.

In this book, I love that Betsy maintains her individuality and passion and insistence on her own dreams as career worthy. AND I LOVE THAT PEOPLE IN HER LIFE SUPPORT HER.

She has an admirable amount of agency and foresight and is a great character/would have been a great role model when I was a kid/might be a great role model now, too.

Loved these books when I was a kid! This is a good one to read to your children at night until they take over and read it for themselves.

This is the only Betsy-Tacy book I didn't give 5 stars to. This book was definitely different than the others. I bet lots of people were definitely dissapointed by this book, but it brings a lot of reality to the series. Main point: The realism in this book will lead to dissapointment by fans.

Reality: Since this series was written closely based on Maud's real life, a lot of realistic components of life's journey went into this series. Most authors would never create a story where the protagonist becomes the only character you can recognize steadily throughout the entire book, because it creates less depth in the story when the characters are always changing. Nevertheless, Maud stuck firmly to real life and her solo tour of Europe, and I must say that this proved hard for the reader. It was definitely confusing and not very fun to go from Betsy's familiar and exciting senior year with Joe Willard to only Betsy. All the others were gone, only mentioned in letters. There were some new characters, but whenever Betsy left that city she would leave them behind and there would be new ones. In a way, this was fun after a while. At first, this approach to the plot was not very interesting, but towards the middle of the book you warmed to this approach. The end strech I found deeply unsatisfying because of the fact that Betsy spent a lot of time in England when I was simply anxious for her to get home. At this time, she wasn't doing much and I was tired of hearing about yet another inn and its inhabitants. Suddenly, the book was not fun. I liked the last two pages when she wrote to Joe, that was definitely a big "FINALLY!" moment for a lot of readers.

Setting: The book skipped 3 years of Betsy's life, which I'm sure many were unhappy about. Completely skipping Betsy's college experience and beginning when Betsy was 21, jumping from when she was eighteen in the previous book. Apparently Maud had a very uninteresting and silly college experience, because she only mentioned it in a couple of pages at the beginning. However, this was a welcome touch of reality, showing that sometimes mistakes can be made in life and there are parts we'd rather erase. Although readers would have loved what every other series would have given them in a description of her college life after reuniting with Joe and the very promising and happy ending to the previous book, Maud stuck to what truly happened.

Joe: This kind of ties into setting. At the end of Betsy and Joe, Joe and Betsy have reunited in a loving relationship after a long separation. Joe has declared that he is looking forward to a world with Betsy. And then we flash into the next book where suddenly Betsy is at the dock on a ship sailing away to Europe when she should be in college, with some remarks about not thinking about Joe, without any explanation. This was definitely confusing. When we finally find out that we missed the breakup of Joe and Betsy, and even that it happened at all, we are angry. Even more, we are deeply hurt and shocked that Betsy was such a silly duck all through college with that strange character we only hear about in mystical accounts, Bob Barhydt. Betsy is definitely an annoying and silly character at times because she often goes and makes these resolutions, then promptly forgets them and acts like a weirdo (not very creative but I can't think of anything else). She just acts all silly, and then she'll make another resolution. It becomes quite tiring, but again brings a touch of realism about people's real character to the story. I just think that fans were definitely dissapointed in Betsy's behavior in college, and to learn that suddenly she was going off to Europe away from everyone (especially Joe!) was a betrayal of sorts. This was realistic, although not what a truly fictional book would have brought to the table.

War: The introduction of the war to Betsy's world right after she left the countries that had declared war was definitely scary. It was actually really boring and strange right in the middle of the otherwise joyous and homebound plot to introduce England and its talk of war. This was, again realistic as this is what happened to Maud in real life. I also enjoyed hearing about the opinion that Americans had that the world was too civilized for war, so there would never be another. I had not known that this was the general opinion at the time, and it was inetersting to learn that.

Overall, a very charming book. I realize I have not mentioned much about the actual story, but there's not much to say. There were so may cities and place she visited that I can't possibly remember much of any of them. If you stick it through, it gets better and interesting to read. At the end, I was just very happy to finally move on to the very pleasant and familiar Betsy's Wedding and Tacy's pregnancy! This book was definitely very realistic, although not what the readers may have liked.

I love the Betsy-Tacy books but this was the most boring book in the series. It could have been written and summed up in one chapter. I hope the last book does not disappoint.

I loved that this book took her to places that I am exploring right now and perfectly describes the up and down emotions that come from living in another land

I loved this series growing up and this was my favorite book of the series. Joe wrote to Betsy, “The Great War is on, but I hope ours is over.” ♥️

One of my favorites--read over and over

I must re-read this childhood favorite at least once a year. It is January 1914 and Betsy Ray is 21. Because she has been ill and is now a year behind all her friends at the U, her father thinks a year abroad might be perfect for her ambition to become a writer. Shipboard life, sliding down the hills of the island of Madeira, train travel, a student pension in Munich, the doll manufacturing town of Sonnenburg, two weeks in Oberammergau, a romantic interlude in Venice and a glorious last day in Paris, complete with Longchamps models and lunch in a sidewalk cafe with a famous novelist, all conspire to enchant me every time. But the clouds of war are building on the horizon and by the time Betsy arrives at her student hostel in London, war is being declared.
The emotional scene as the Brits sing "Rule Britannia!" in the streets is touching. And the way Betsy gets in touch with Joe and then gets on the last passenger ship out of England makes for a very happy ending. All the glimpses into what travel was like a hundred years ago and what each city looked, smelled and tasted like is a treat every time.

I read the first four Betsy-Tacy books many years ago but somehow missed the high school and beyond books in this delightful series. I loved this one and immediately went on to the next one, Betsy’s Wedding. I then went back and just reread the first four again!! Sure, they are a bit dated now but they are still fun, quick reads. I enjoyed the series so much i listened to a few podcasts about the author and discovered she was a prolific diarist from an early age and she used quite a bit of that historical information in her books so the fashion, books, music, slang, etc. are quite accurate for the early 1900’s. There’s now a Betsy-Tacy Society and tours of the author’s home and the Minnesota town she grew up in. Pick up this book for a walk down our grandparents’ memory lane.

Love this series. I love how Betsy is always a true friend to those she meets and to those she’s known for years. It’s sobering to see the world begin to change as Betsy spends her last days in Europe during the start of WWI.

When I was a teenager, I was in love with the idea of the 'year abroad' - not so much backpacking and hostels, but more along the lines of the glorious European Grand Tour. Who knows what books formed my romantic notions, but I'm sure this would have been one of them. This novel, the penultimate in the Betsy-Tacy series, is an anomaly in some ways: no Tacy and Tib, very little of the Ray family, and almost nothing of Joe Willard. The family closeness, the Ray family rituals, the seasonal traditions - all of them are missing from this book. But what the reader gets instead is a fascinating slice of social history, and a glimpse of what Europe was like in the prosperous decades before World War I. It begins with a Betsy who has lost her 'grounding' in many ways. She has completed two fairly unsatisfactory years at the U (University of Minnesota in Minneapolis), she has fallen out with Joe, and she has more or less lost her way. It's a painful time for Betsy, and I think it's a painful time for her loyal readers, too! Both of us (Betsy, and the reader) have to adjust; we have to have our horizons gradually broadened. The novel follows Betsy's progress through Europe: first her long ship journey, with a stopover at the Azores and a crush on a charming Irish purser; then her time in Munich, where she befriends two German girls from very different social classes; then her trips to Bayreuth and Oberammergau; another romance in Venice; and finally, brief visits to Paris and London. While Betsy is in London, the war breaks out and she scrambles to get passage back home. I'm not quite sure how to classify this book; in some sense, the older books could be described as classic Young Adult, but I think this book will appeal mostly to adult readers who have some context for the people and places described in the book. It's not the most emotionally satisfying of the Betsy-Tacy books, but it is a unique pleasure to read.

Oh my goodness. So good! I loved the descriptions of Europe, and that last chapter is magic!