A review by cari1268
A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter

3.0

I thought I was going to enjoy this one far more than I did... As it was, Elnora was too syrupy sweet and perfect for me to like her or relate to her much. Her mother's transformation was too quick, sudden, and didn't quite make sense to my mind. (Loving someone and grieving for them makes you mean and realizing that they didn't love you in return makes you sweet? Huh???) Furthermore, the plot felt rather repetitive for the first half.

Spoiler

Elnora finds herself in a desperate situation made only worse by her mother, is too proud to consider the help offered, and is able to mostly fix the problem by herself. Oh, and her mother always does something nice for Elnora to make up for her earlier meanness.

I admit that it did get more interesting once Phillip started coming around, but even then, I had a hard time enjoying their story.

Spoiler

They're constantly alone with each other and yet never stray into any inappropriate territory due to Phillip being engaged to another woman. That's a little unrealistic, but bravo for them! Here's where the story lost me. When Phillip is finally freed from his engagement, he knows immediately that he wants to marry Elnora even though he had never dared allow such thoughts to run through his head before. Whaaaaat? Also, it was so unromantic that Elnora was his second choice.

The last thing that bothered me about this book was all the parts that involved moths. There were a lot of pages with moths in them! That insect absolutely grosses me out (I'm with Edith!) and so it was almost too much for me to have to read so much about them. Yuck.

Not everything about this book was awful. It reminded me a lot of "A Little Princess" or "Anne of Green Gables". It was quaint and sweet. I think little girls would love it. I liked the lessons about independence, hard work, and forgiveness. I would give this book 2.5 stars if I could, but I'll round it up.

Three Stars.