Tracy Park

by Mary Jane Holmes

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 1886

About the author

Mary Jane Holmes (a.k.a. Mary J. Holmes) was a bestselling and prolific American author who wrote 39 popular novels, as well as short stories. Her first novel sold 250,000 copies; and she had total sales of 2 million books in her lifetime, second only to Harriet Beecher Stowe.

Mary Jane Holmes, nee Hawes (1825-1907) was an American author who wrote many popular novels. Holmes was born in Brookfield, Massachusetts. At age 13 she taught in a school. She married Daniel Holmes and they settled in Versailles, Kentucky. In 1854 she wrote her first novel, Tempest and Sunshine. The theme for most of her novels was domestic life. Other works include: The English Orphans; or, A Home in the New World (1855), 'Lena Rivers (1856), Homestead on the Hillside (1856), Meadow Brook (1857), Dora Deane; or, The East India Uncle (1859), Cousin Maude (1860), Rosamond Maude (1860), Darkness and Daylight (1864), Hugh Worthington (1865), Family Pride; or, Purified by Suffering (1867), Ethelyn's Mistake (1869), Edna Browning; or, The Leighton Homestead (1872), West Lawn (1874), Edith Lyle's Secret (1876), Forrest House (1879), Christmas Stories (1885), Bessie's Fortune (1885), Tracy Park (1886), Gretchen (1887), Paul Ralston (1897), The Cromptons (1899) and Bad Hugh (1900).

Portraying domestic life in small town and rural settings, she examined gender relationships, as well as those of class and race. She also dealt with slavery and the American Civil War, with a strong sense of moral justice. Her popular work was excluded from most 19th-century literary histories, but she has received recognition and reappraisal since the late 20th century.

Reviews

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who grew up on Little Women, What Katy Did, Anne of Green Gables et al will love Mary Jane Holmes, who writes the same kind of stuff but for semi-grownups... This is my favourite so far, but I will be working my way through some more. They are a little tedious with their blonde blue-eyed heroines and tall dark handsome heroes BUT the characters are surprisingly subtle and the period detail is fantastic. Also the plots are compelling. No wonder she was the Maeve Binchy of her day!

[natalie harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the story I give 4 stars

I'm a lover of classics and I've read at least a hundred, and I enjoyed this story......BUT I have never found one with so many typos. I can easily overlook a few, or even several, but this book contained so many that it became beyond irritating...misspelling, words left out, extra words added, grammatical errors, as in "could of" instead of "could have or could've"....you get the paint...( point....that was one of the actual typos, I remember). This doesn't include the vernacular for some of the characters....It seemed that the further into the book, the more mistakes there were, until there seemed to be at least one on every page. Apparently this book was not proofread. I know a lot of these classic books are copied into e-books by volunteers, and I really appreciate the time and effort someone put into this book, just so people like me can enjoy it....so I thank this person....but dang, dude!! Put on your spell check, and slow down a bit, so you can see what you're typing.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story revolves around Arthur Tracy's return to his home, Tracy Park, where he has allowed his brother and his brother's family to live for many years. Not long after his return, a baby ( Jerrie) is found almost frozen to death near Tracy Park by Hal Hastings. Hal is the son of the woman Arthur loved, but the woman ran off and married his best friend. The plot revolves around who Jerrie is and her relationship to Arthur Tracy and the love that grows between Jerrie and Hal Hastings.

The strength of the novel is its' characters. Some of Holmes' most interesting characters are in this novel. Namely the eccentric Arthur Tracy, the obnoxious and ill-mannered Peterkin, and the haunted Frank Tracy. The hero of the novel, Hal Hastings, is also well-done. The primary weakness in the novel comes when the heroine receives three marriage proposals in 24 hours. One is explainable, as the man is so vain he would have asked with no encouragement. But the other two come across as either silly or cruelly led on by the supposed heroine. Either way, it comes across as kind of silly and unnecessary drama. But it in no way would keep me from recommending the novel. The two main threads of the plot are well-done, as are many of the characters. This makes up for the weakness mentioned above.

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish it. Life is too short

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a snowstorm, young Harold finds a baby in an old abandoned shack. The baby, Jerrie, is in the care of a woman who died protecting the baby. Harold's grandma takes the baby in and she grows into a beautiful lovable teenager. Meanwhile, Arthur Tracy has never gotten over the loss of someone named Gretchen. He's a very rich and crazy recluse. Circumstances bring young Jerrie and Arthur together. He takes her under his wing and educates her. Is there more of a connection between the two?

Mary J. Holmes was considered the US Jane Austen. While her books haven't stood the test of time, they are a very enjoyable, wholesome alternative to today's chick lit.

[Hope · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vintage novel that is maudlin and silly for the most part.