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"'I've lived a long time and made a great many mistakes,'... 'The trick is tae remember yer mistakes and learn from 'em. After a while ye get auld enough that ye begin tae run oot o' new ones tae make'" (Wiley 117).
This is yet another great piece of old-fashioned advice from the third Little House book in the series about Laura's great-grandmother, Martha Morse. I think this book had better development with the plot and characters. Martha is such a high-spirited girl that I figured right away she would have troubles with a governess. (The dismissal of Miss Norrie, her first governess, is very dramatic but entertaining too.) She actually grows to love her second one, and I appreciated how Miss Crow took time to show interest in Martha's hobbies and get to know her personally. This is what made the difference!
Some of my favorite chapters were about the penny wedding (I won't spoil who it is for), Auld Mary's tale about the lass with the wool, and Handsel Monday. Handsel Monday is a holiday shortly after New Year's where Martha and Grisie make the food for all the servants. I also enjoyed watching several suitors try to court Grisie, and we also get to see Martha tease Lewis Tucker (her future husband) in a few chapters. I wish we got to see the rest of their romance and the Martha series had been finished. (The author decided not to finish the series after she was asked to condense and abridge her books. See my earlier review of Little House in the Highlands for the full details.) Overall, I think this is a good addition to the series, but I did not like how it ended on a cliffhanger. I sure hope Wiley explains what is going to happen to the sick family in the next book. I'm off to hurry up and see if she does!
This is yet another great piece of old-fashioned advice from the third Little House book in the series about Laura's great-grandmother, Martha Morse. I think this book had better development with the plot and characters. Martha is such a high-spirited girl that I figured right away she would have troubles with a governess. (The dismissal of Miss Norrie, her first governess, is very dramatic but entertaining too.) She actually grows to love her second one, and I appreciated how Miss Crow took time to show interest in Martha's hobbies and get to know her personally. This is what made the difference!
Some of my favorite chapters were about the penny wedding (I won't spoil who it is for), Auld Mary's tale about the lass with the wool, and Handsel Monday. Handsel Monday is a holiday shortly after New Year's where Martha and Grisie make the food for all the servants. I also enjoyed watching several suitors try to court Grisie, and we also get to see Martha tease Lewis Tucker (her future husband) in a few chapters. I wish we got to see the rest of their romance and the Martha series had been finished. (The author decided not to finish the series after she was asked to condense and abridge her books. See my earlier review of Little House in the Highlands for the full details.) Overall, I think this is a good addition to the series, but I did not like how it ended on a cliffhanger. I sure hope Wiley explains what is going to happen to the sick family in the next book. I'm off to hurry up and see if she does!
