I just love her work so much!!

So it seems that I have more in common with Carney than I originally thought. I adored this book! It was a wonderful companion to a childhood series.

Edit, 10/17/10
Just finished rereading this book. Oh, but it's wonderful. Lovelace has such a deep love of her characters, and since they're all based on her friends, it's no wonder why.

What a delightful book! I found it in a curious book sale where one could buy boxes of different values and take away as many books as would fit into that box.

The book's title made me think of the modern house parties popularised by American teen movies, full of high school tropes (jock, cheerleader, nerd, drama kid, geek) and rife with alcohol, awkward/problematic sex capers. But the cover with its windowpane opens (like a door) to reveal a rather old-fashioned but cheerful-looking young woman in grandmotherly gear. It turned out to be a book about teenagers on vacation - in 1911

It was fun to reread this as an adult and one who has relocated to Minnesota. This semi-biographical novel comments on the difference between the East and Midwest with a New York Vassar classmate visiting Deep Valley (Mankato) in 1910. I also enjoyed the descriptions of the flora and fauna that I now know and love.

I read several of the Betsy, Tacy and Tib books with my daughters when they were quite young and we all enjoyed Maud Hart Lovelace's stories.

Reading Carney's House Party was equally as fun. And easy and entertaining read of a bygone era.

Not technically part of the Betsy-Tacy series but just as enjoyable, Carney's House Party is about one of Betsy's crowd of friends, Carney Sibley, and a house party she gives between her sophomore and junior years at Vassar.

I loved the Betsy-Tacy books and forgot that I had started this one a long time ago. It was fun to go back into this world with Carney and her summer house party and her eventual discovering of love.

Such a peaceful, cheerful book, choc full of girlhood spirits, and home. Makes for a lovely read!

Carney is back from her sophomore year of college at Vassar, and is taking stock. I enjoy how Carney approaches her decision-making and how she holds herself to high standards of behavior in matters large and small. Carney's Vassar roommate, Isobel, a demure and hard-to-read East Coaster, comes to visit Carney in Deep Valley at the same time her best friend Bonnie is coming to visit after an absence in Europe of four years. Betsy Ray unexpectedly completes the party. Carney has to get to know herself better and figure out her feelings. I love this world and these characters.

I wanted to like this book more, I really did. It's about a fine, upstanding girl who learns about sincerity and about genuineness in people. But there was cognitive dissonance; she was a (I want to insert Protestant) well-off girl from a hard-working family, wealthy enough to go to Vassar when most girls did not do college, and saving enough to be bothered considerably when other people throw money around. She's from Minnesota, I think. I picture her as one of the well-meaning girls who was characterized by another author as one of those college-educated women who invaded Appalachia in the early 1900s, in an effort to educate and enlighten the be-knighted hillbilly families. The other author expressed that they tried to teach culture's ways by things like beaten biscuits, when the mountain women would much rather make a fast-baking, simple cornbread. The thing about beaten biscuits is: they're very time-and-labor-intensive, excessively so. (I tried to make some a few times; there is No Way to do them in under an hour, Not counting shaping and baking. Plus the effort threatened to break my table.) Wealthy families considered them a cultured item because they had Servants to make the biscuits. A hard-working family would make certain the daughter knew how to make them, so she could teach her staff, but she would not expect to make them every day.
This book does not mention beaten biscuits, nor even servants beyond a passing reference. But the servants are mentioned briefly, and the family women, even when preparing for the house party, hardly lift a finger to prepare anything. They're more concerned with appearances than with doing the cleaning and moving furniture, dishes and laundry. The activities they do with their guests all involve traveling, sports, or sitting around, holiday activities to be sure, but one gets the impression that physical labor is a no-no, that the life of the mind and of the church, charities and such, are the main occupations. I gave this book as a gift to my eldest daughter, which puzzled her mightily. She thought they were shallow, not entirely uplifting characters, too. At least then we could discuss it.

I finally got to read this book after reading all the Betsy-Tacy books annually for several years. I was fortunate enough to come across the first edition with this beautiful cover. I paid a tidy little sum for it, but it was worth it! I enjoyed getting to see more of Deep Valley and Lovelace's writing is just as charming here as with the Betsy-Tacy books.

The book starts with Carney reflecting on her sophomore year at Vassar, and she goes home for summer vacation. She throws a house party and invites her roommate from college and many high school friends. While Carney should be having loads of fun, she is distracted by something. She longs to meet her high school sweetheart Larry Humphreys. Larry's family moved away during high school, but they have been faithfully writing letters every since he left. Both of them strongly feel they must see each other again to find out if they still like each other. Neither of them can date because they feel they are betraying each other. Carney finally gets to discover if she loves Larry when he comes to visit.

Naturally I got to know Carney through Betsy's eyes during the high school years, but it was great to see Lovelace writing from another person's perspective. I think I can relate to Carney better in some ways. She is very organized, detailed, and diligent in everything she does. Betsy is more artistic and carefree at times. I try to be like Betsy, but then I analyze my problems just like Carney and must have everything "just so." Also, I have wanted to know for years what happened between Carney and Larry. (I already knew the outcome of this book because of reading the Betsy-Tacy series, but I never got to see this develop.) Most of my questions were answered although, and without giving away any spoilers, I must say I'm surprised by her decision. The ending also came too fast for me, but Emily of Deep Valley sort of picks up where this leaves off and fills in some of the gaps from a bystander's perspective.

All in all, this was a great addition to the Deep Valley world. I like Betsy's point of view better, but it is a nice break to switch over to Carney and see all the fun she has during this summer. I highly recommend reading this in chronological order right after Betsy and Joe, and you could even read it during summer as I did to have the proper mood and setting to compliment this carefree read.

Please don’t make me leave Deep Valley. I know I didn’t love a couple of books in the middle, but reading Carney’s House Party, I fell in love all over again, and I never want to leave.

Told from the perspective of Carney, the book opens at Vassar College, and I love the research Ms. Lovelace did into Vassar and its traditions (adult me was totally berating teenage me for not applying to Vassar after reading this). The story then takes us to Deep Valley, where Carney hosts high school and college friends for summer hijinks.

I wish I had read this one between Betsy and Joe and Betsy and the Great World. It would have made the transition between the two much less jarring. Highly recommended.