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Robinetta
Robinetta Loring is a 22-year-old widow from America who comes to visit her forbidding aunt-by-marriage in England. She's hoping for a warm and fuzzy welcome, but what she gets is cold and stiff. Regardless, she finds friendship with her mother's old nurse, her young male cousin, and the lawyer who does business for the estate. Episodes of romance and family tension follow.
Hardcover
First published February 1, 1911
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About the author
Kate Douglas Wiggin
396 books164 followersKate Douglas Smith Wiggin
Kate Douglas Wiggin, nee Smith (1856-1923) was an American children's author and educator. She was born in Philadelphia, and was of Welsh descent. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the "Silver Street Free Kindergarten"). With her sister in the 1880s she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Her best known books are The Story of Pasty (1883), The Birds' Christmas Carol (1886), Polly Oliver's Problem (1893), A Cathedral Courtship (1893), The Village Watchtoer (1896), Marm Lisa (1897) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).
Kate Douglas Wiggin, nee Smith (1856-1923) was an American children's author and educator. She was born in Philadelphia, and was of Welsh descent. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the "Silver Street Free Kindergarten"). With her sister in the 1880s she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Her best known books are The Story of Pasty (1883), The Birds' Christmas Carol (1886), Polly Oliver's Problem (1893), A Cathedral Courtship (1893), The Village Watchtoer (1896), Marm Lisa (1897) and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 27, 2021
What a washy, directionless book this was! It starts out with Robinetta, Our American Cousin, who is now a very wealthy widow seeking out her English mother's noble, cash-poor relations who of course despise her for being a half-pi Colonial. I settled back expecting to see how she won them all over; no dice. Oh, she wins over the male characters, but they're not up to much either. One is a very young (for the time) 15 year old heir-to-all, the other a rather spineless young lawyer. No wonder he didn't like being sent to deal with the old termagant, Mrs de Tracey--he can't even express himself half the time, 30 year old solicitor that he is. She is supposed to be the Main Problem, but she ends up being very much a background scribble. I had hoped to see Our Heroine champion the downtrodden companion, but not even that chance for development was taken. Robinetta spends her time drifting around dressed in white, doing not very much at all. No can-do American girl this!
Along comes Robinetta's only female friend, her mother's old nurse who is now living in picturesque (ie unsanitary, uncomfortable) poverty. Will she rescue the old woman and set her up in comfortable style?
The book just kind of petered out, as once again Wiggin appears to have either filled the requisite number of pages, or simply lost interest. I know I did.
Meh. A star and a half.
Along comes Robinetta's only female friend, her mother's old nurse who is now living in picturesque (ie unsanitary, uncomfortable) poverty. Will she rescue the old woman and set her up in comfortable style?
The book just kind of petered out, as once again Wiggin appears to have either filled the requisite number of pages, or simply lost interest. I know I did.
Meh. A star and a half.
October 13, 2016
Robinetta by Kate Douglas Wiggin tells the story of 22-year-old, American Mrs. Robinetta Loring, orphaned and widowed, who travels to England to visit her Aunt de Tracy in the ancestral mansion.
While there, she sets about trying to save her mother's old nurse from being evicted, pals around her young cousin (the unfortunately named Carnaby de Tracy) and flirts with Paul Lavendar, her aunt's besotted lawyer. Carnaby and Paul compete for her attention.
This synopsis makes it sound more dramatic as it really is. Carnaby-Robin-Paul do not exactly make a love triangle, and the old nurse is not saved in the way one would expect. The plucky American does not save the day for an oppressed and grateful English peasantry. Nor does Robinetta exactly rehabilitate the wicked lady, who is not exactly wicked. In a way, this makes the novel boring. In a way, it makes it refreshing, by pushing away from situations that have been done to death.
Really, this is a low-key romance, old-fashioned and wholesome. Not much happens; the characters poke around and talk. This is a mild, pleasant read.
While there, she sets about trying to save her mother's old nurse from being evicted, pals around her young cousin (the unfortunately named Carnaby de Tracy) and flirts with Paul Lavendar, her aunt's besotted lawyer. Carnaby and Paul compete for her attention.
This synopsis makes it sound more dramatic as it really is. Carnaby-Robin-Paul do not exactly make a love triangle, and the old nurse is not saved in the way one would expect. The plucky American does not save the day for an oppressed and grateful English peasantry. Nor does Robinetta exactly rehabilitate the wicked lady, who is not exactly wicked. In a way, this makes the novel boring. In a way, it makes it refreshing, by pushing away from situations that have been done to death.
Really, this is a low-key romance, old-fashioned and wholesome. Not much happens; the characters poke around and talk. This is a mild, pleasant read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2014
I think what I liked about this quiet, early 20th century novel was the way the two main characters balanced each other. They are two good, imperfect characters who are both made better and wiser for their association and who realize that.
There is enough conflict created by secondary characters that the authors (there are four listed) do not have to create it by making the primary ones go through gross misunderstandings that could be resolved if only they'd talk to each other (a common and annoying ploy in way too many works of common fiction). And that gives the authors the opportunity to have the main characters actually talk in a thoughtful manner with each other and learn from that interaction.
As one of them says to the other as they realize this process, "it isn't a question of how great you are or how wonderful: it's a question of what we can be to each other."
There is enough conflict created by secondary characters that the authors (there are four listed) do not have to create it by making the primary ones go through gross misunderstandings that could be resolved if only they'd talk to each other (a common and annoying ploy in way too many works of common fiction). And that gives the authors the opportunity to have the main characters actually talk in a thoughtful manner with each other and learn from that interaction.
As one of them says to the other as they realize this process, "it isn't a question of how great you are or how wonderful: it's a question of what we can be to each other."
December 26, 2014
This wasn't outstanding, but it was fine. Robinetta Loring is a 22-year-old widow from America who comes to visit her forbidding aunt-by-marriage in England. She's hoping for a warm and fuzzy welcome, but what she gets is cold and stiff. Regardless, she finds friendship with her mother's old nurse, her young male cousin, and the lawyer who does business for the estate. Episodes of romance and family tension follow.
August 21, 2016
Not riveting. Fairly predictable. Even so, the writing was good and I was still happy to see things work out in the end. First published in 1911.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews