Sea Change

by Kathryn Worth

Poignant young teen sensitivity surrounds the Saturday summer romance of Kristy Nicholson, shy offshoot of an old North Carolinian family of wealthy aristocrats, to whom only Episcopalians and Presbyterians are among the elect, while Catholics are scorned as Papists. Then lonely, poetic Kristy, at odds with her socially minded cousins, meets bridgeworker Francis O'Hanlon, devout Irish Catholic, a 17-year old, working his way through college. Wild words and wild promises are exchanged; esoteric poetry quoted; and Kristy introduced to the mysteries of Francis' faith. The historical period of the 1890s is vague; the emphasis is on the symbolism of their love, the adolescent intensity, the evaluation of the shallow ethics and goals surrounding Kristy; and the positive values in the Catholic bridge builders although scorned by the locals. Can this romance endure?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Romance, Young Adult, 19th Century

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

From NCpedia:

Kathryn Worth, writer, was born at the family summer cottage at Wrightsville Beach, the youngest of three children of James Spencer (1869–1900) and Josephine McBryde Worth. Her brother was David Gaston Worth II, her sister Frances McBryde Worth. The Worths were English Quakers who went to North Carolina in 1771 from Nantucket, Mass. The McBrydes moved into the Laurinburg area about 1788 from Argylshire, Scotland. Kathryn Worth's maternal grandfather was Duncan D. McBryde, a prominent Presbyterian preacher; her great-grandfather on her father's side was Governor Jonathan Worth. In 1905 the James Worths moved from Wilmington to Davidson, and during 1910–12 they were in Europe, where the three children attended private schools in Geneva and Neuchâtel.

Kathryn Worth was graduated from Converse College in 1920 and, after a period of teaching and writing, did graduate work at Radcliffe College in 1922; she received a bachelor of letters from the Pulitzer School of Journalism, Columbia University, in 1923. Soon she began publishing in national periodicals. On 27 July 1927 she married Walter Clyde Curry, professor of English at Vanderbilt University, and made her home in Nashville, Tenn. After the birth of her only child, Josephine (Mrs. Harold McNatt), her writing activity increased, with hundreds of poems appearing in a wide variety of publications. Sign of Capricornus (1937) is a book of poetry in which, she said, she "attempted to interpret metaphysically and intellectually the half world of very young childhood, as I have observed it in my daughter," who, at age eight, "memorized the poems as they were written; and though she does not wholly understand their meaning, she is very proud of them."

When Josephine asked her mother for a book she could "understand" as well as "memorize," Kathryn Worth wrote The Middle Button (1941), a juvenile novel using as its setting the Cumberland County home (Linden) of her mother's people and narrating the story of a Scottish girl in 1883 who wants to become a doctor. They Loved to Laugh (1942) recalls the Guilford County boyhood of Governor Worth in 1831–33, its central character a shy girl among five boys in a household of thrifty, fun-loving Quakers. After Poems for Josephine (1943), a collection of verses for children, came New Worlds for Josie (1944), a juvenile novel of two American sisters in a Geneva boarding school. Sea Change (1948), a love story for teenagers, comes to grips with religious prejudice on the Carolina seacoast in 1893; in it a southern girl decides to accept the attentions of an attractive Irish Catholic boy who had come to an unfriendly region to help in the building of a bridge.

Kathryn Worth was a Democrat and a Presbyterian. She was buried in the churchyard of Dials Church, near Fountain Inn, S.C

Reviews

[Meg W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this book was so simplistic and beautiful.

The setting of the book sounds so serene and pretty, I would love to vacation there myself. Kristy, a dreaming and poetic 16 year old, is unhappy with growing up and taking the responsibilities of a young lady in society. She meets a young man named Francis O'Hanlon, who is not only Irish but a Catholic! Kristy has heard of the evils of a Catholic "Popery" from both her Grandmother and Aunt, but they never give her any solid reasons. Throughout the book Kristy is confronted with different thoughts on faith, which causes a conflict within.

I'm an Irish Catholic myself so the portrayal of Francis John O'Hanlon fascinated me. The author, being a Presbyterian herself, I thought, took a thoughtful approach on the subject of Catholicism. Another note is I wish this was in print again. I was fortunate to read a scanned copy on the archives website.

[Maria Therese · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It only took me one day to read. My only complaint would be that the ending seemed a little abrupt. They way Stephen was brought into the story made me think there would be some conflict towards the end of the book, but then the end came and nothing of the sort had happened. So I just thought Stephen was forgotten a little too easily.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable. Makes you long to be out on a summer holiday, walking the beaches, roasting oysters and swimming in the surf.