This one is still relatively new to me, when I think how many times I've read it compared to the rest of the Betsy series. It was out of print for so long, yet is such an important part of the books. Both Betsy and Joe make an appearance, too. Focusing on Betsy's friend Carney, this story takes place the summer between her sophomore and junior year at Vassar, and finally solves the mystery of what happened with her and her high school crush Laurence.

This is a lovely snapshot of summers in the midwest, month-long "house parties", and a glimpse into Vassar at the beginning of the 20th century.

I definitely should've read this before the last two Betsy books.. I wouldn't have been so stupidly lonely for The Crowd and also NOW I get Winona/Dennis
But this was ADORABLE I loved it through and through. And Bonnie came back! And Betsy! There was even one mention of Tony (none of Dave though where'd the man go lol)
Seven Sisters for the win :)

Love it. Love it, love it, love it.

07/03/2015

Yep. I still love it.

2015 Reading challenge: a book you can finish in a day.

*Read: January 2012, 07 March 2015

Absolutely delightful. Maud Hart Lovelace writing is whimsical yet vivid. Makes me want to reread the whole Betsy-Tacy series, especially the high school and older books.

I honestly prefer Carney as a protagonist to Betsy. The romance here has real chemistry, and I loved the parts about 1910s women's college life!

Finished my Maud Hart Lovelace binge read with this book, and this one is my least favorite of all the Betsy-Tacy books I loved as a kid as well as the other Deep Valley books I have read in this binge. I still love the wonderful period details and Lovelace's ability to capture the thoughts and feelings of teenage / college-age young women in a way that feels authentic and relatable all these decades on. But the character of Carney rubbed me the wrong way. In part I think this was inconsistent characterization by Lovelace as Carney was continually described externally as sensible and practical yet fun-loving and warm, but in her internal dialogues, she was continually judgy, stuck up, and uptight. She alone among her hometown friends was at an "elite" Eastern college but she had no ambitions beyond marriage (Yes, it is set in 1911, but most of Lovelace's other Deep Valley young women had personal and career ambitions to go along with their marriage aspirations and no character ever once told them they couldn't do both). Carney was just boring. The romance plot had no spark - I think Lovelace was trying too hard to be true to her real life friend that Carney was modeled on while shoehorning in fictional drama that just wasn't all that.

Why did Vassar ever go co-ed? My kid read this and wanted to go there....but alas...

This book was absolutely amazing!! I always have loved Carney in the Betsy-Tracy series but for some reason have never read her stand alone book. It did not disappoint!! Lovelace wrote her perfectly and completely different from Betsy which made me very happy! Everyone should read all of the Betsy-Tracy books, but do not skim out on her Deep Valley Books!

Takes place between “Betsy and Joe†and “Betsy and the Great World.†It’s the summer after Carney’s sophomore year at Vassar. Back home in Deep Valley she hosts a month-long house party with Betsy, Bonnie and Carney’s Vassar roommate Isobel. Besides the parties and picnics, Sam Hutchinson becomes part of the crowd and there’s much excitement over Carney’s Lloyd coming out from California. Everyone expects he will propose to Carney...but how does Carney feel about it?

I always enjoy a visit to Deep Valley.

It could be just me, but I really think the writing style changed in the middle. I expected to like Carney because I thought I liked her in the BT books, and partly because I've never totally liked Betsy--she's way too in charge of the world, etc. I'd always have liked for Tacy to be a more developed character. (So I automatically thought Carney, being on the "other side," would be infinitely more likeable)

Anyway, partly based on the writing style of the first half, I didn't like Carney either. And at the end I still didn't totally love her. But it was a fun book to read and I can only wonder if other people would be able to make out the personalities of almost any of the characters in this book. They all half seem so multi-faceted it's no wonder Carney doesn't know what to think about any of them. Preserve me from ever trying to make friends with anyone I can't figure out in real life.

I adored the Betsy-Tacy books growing up but never read this sequel of sorts about Betsy's friend Carney and the summer between her sophomore and junior years at Vassar. It's a romance (and very much of its time with college girls getting engaged and making hope chests). But I like Carney and her sensible ways and it is lovely to return to Deep Valley.