There are very few books that I am willing to read more than once. Aunt Crete's Emancipation is one of them. I've read it several times and feel like picking it up again.
Grace Livingston Hill is famous for her romance books published between 1877-1949. They are cozy books rooted in courtesy and courtship. I've read many of them and am impressed that each book is different from the others. So many times you run across an author with a story structure that causes them to be so similar that it seems only the names have been changed. That isn't true for Grace's books.
Aunt Crete's Emancipation is a complete departure from any of her other books. Aunt Crete is an old maid, somewhere in her fifties. One of her sisters got married and moved west. She eventually died, leaving a son. Aunt Crete is living with her other sister Carrie and her niece Luella. In the beginning, she resembles an aged Cinderella, being maid and housekeeper to her two selfish relatives.
A telegram arrives stating that the Western nephew Donald is coming for a visit. Luella and Carrie decide to leave for the coast immediately to avoid the "countrified" nephew. He gets off the train as they get on the train headed east. He takes note of them and the things they say to friends on the platform.
When Donald finds the house, he meets Aunt Crete whose generous and loving nature charms him. He has come into a great deal of money and decides to take Aunt Crete on her first vacation.
The transformation of a quiet mousey woman into a fashionable society lady is wonderful and the gentle humiliation of Carrie and Luella is definitely satisfying to the depths of the heart.
It's old-fashioned, but wonderful in its own right and worth the whole 99 cents you pay for it on Amazon Kindle. If you follow the provided link, I will make a few cents as it is an affiliate link.
Thank you for visiting with me. Happy reading.
Kathi
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