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T. Tembarom
surprise heir corrects mistake
ebook
First published January 1, 1913
13 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
About the author
Frances Hodgson Burnett
1,478 books4,969 followersFrances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886), A Little Princess (1905), and The Secret Garden (1911).
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, Manchester, England. After her father died in 1853, when Frances was 4 years old, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, settling in New Market, Tennessee. Frances began her writing career there at age 19 to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines. In 1870, her mother died. In Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1873 she married Swan M. Burnett, who became a medical doctor. Their first son Lionel was born a year later. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their second son Vivian was born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C. Burnett then began to write novels, the first of which (That Lass o' Lowrie's), was published to good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of children's fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped to produce stage versions of Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.
Beginning in the 1880s, Burnett began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there, where she wrote The Secret Garden. Her elder son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townesend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, New York, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
In 1936, a memorial sculpture by Bessie Potter Vonnoh was erected in her honor in Central Park's Conservatory Garden. The statue depicts her two famous Secret Garden characters, Mary and Dickon.
Frances Eliza Hodgson was born in Cheetham, Manchester, England. After her father died in 1853, when Frances was 4 years old, the family fell on straitened circumstances and in 1865 emigrated to the United States, settling in New Market, Tennessee. Frances began her writing career there at age 19 to help earn money for the family, publishing stories in magazines. In 1870, her mother died. In Knoxville, Tennessee, in 1873 she married Swan M. Burnett, who became a medical doctor. Their first son Lionel was born a year later. The Burnetts lived for two years in Paris, where their second son Vivian was born, before returning to the United States to live in Washington, D.C. Burnett then began to write novels, the first of which (That Lass o' Lowrie's), was published to good reviews. Little Lord Fauntleroy was published in 1886 and made her a popular writer of children's fiction, although her romantic adult novels written in the 1890s were also popular. She wrote and helped to produce stage versions of Little Lord Fauntleroy and A Little Princess.
Beginning in the 1880s, Burnett began to travel to England frequently and in the 1890s bought a home there, where she wrote The Secret Garden. Her elder son, Lionel, died of tuberculosis in 1890, which caused a relapse of the depression she had struggled with for much of her life. She divorced Swan Burnett in 1898, married Stephen Townesend in 1900, and divorced him in 1902. A few years later she settled in Nassau County, New York, where she died in 1924 and is buried in Roslyn Cemetery.
In 1936, a memorial sculpture by Bessie Potter Vonnoh was erected in her honor in Central Park's Conservatory Garden. The statue depicts her two famous Secret Garden characters, Mary and Dickon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
February 5, 2019
Una storia sommariamente semplice e magari anche già sentita: T. T. Tembarom, da ragazzo squattrinato di Brooklyn a erede di un enorme patrimonio in Inghilterra, dovrà abituarsi con non poche difficoltà agli usi e costumi inglesi dell'epoca.
L'apparente banalità della trama non sminuisce tuttavia una penna lineare e brillante, dai modi arguti e spassosi, portando una storia deliziosa, rivelatasi davvero una lettura divertente, farcita di un piccolo mistero da risolvere. Rinnovo la mia idea che la Burnett debba essere stata un vero spasso per chi l'ha frequentata a cavallo tra fine '800 e' 900.
L'apparente banalità della trama non sminuisce tuttavia una penna lineare e brillante, dai modi arguti e spassosi, portando una storia deliziosa, rivelatasi davvero una lettura divertente, farcita di un piccolo mistero da risolvere. Rinnovo la mia idea che la Burnett debba essere stata un vero spasso per chi l'ha frequentata a cavallo tra fine '800 e' 900.
January 4, 2017
What happens when a New Yerk newsie just gaining manhood is called to take a heir's place in a stuffy English estate?
Really good story!
Really good story!
September 26, 2015
The antique shop was a crowded, cluttered maze of intriguing bits and pieces and tucked away in a forgotten corner was a leaning stack of books. This is what I look for in antique shops....antique books. I scanned the titles looking for something familiar.....'T. Tembarom'....never heard of it. But, wait, by Francis Hodgson Burnett?! Really??!! I read 'The Secret Garden' so many times that the hard back copy that belonged to my mother is literally in tatters, even after my Dad rebound it in his printing shop. I had read and loved 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' and 'The Little Princess'. I bought T. Tembarom on the spot for a mere $4.
Upon closer investigation I found I had in my hands a fine copy of a 1913 first edition.
As much as I treasure the purchase of a fine old book, I have to say that the true treasure in this find was the story itself. I devoured the book in a just over a week. Unlike her other books that I had read, this story's main character was not a child and there was a stronger 'love story' woven in to the tale, with just as many colourful and interesting characters as Francis Hodgson Burnett is apt to create in her tales.
T. Tembarom is simply a really good story, full of all the ultimate goodness and righteousness that makes you want to be a better person regardless of how fallen the world around you is! If you are a fan of Francis Hodgson Burnett, you will love this book. It has become my favourite and I will read it again, and again.
Upon closer investigation I found I had in my hands a fine copy of a 1913 first edition.
As much as I treasure the purchase of a fine old book, I have to say that the true treasure in this find was the story itself. I devoured the book in a just over a week. Unlike her other books that I had read, this story's main character was not a child and there was a stronger 'love story' woven in to the tale, with just as many colourful and interesting characters as Francis Hodgson Burnett is apt to create in her tales.
T. Tembarom is simply a really good story, full of all the ultimate goodness and righteousness that makes you want to be a better person regardless of how fallen the world around you is! If you are a fan of Francis Hodgson Burnett, you will love this book. It has become my favourite and I will read it again, and again.
January 21, 2018
Valutazione 4,5
Piacevolissima lettura questo terzo romanzo "per adulti" di Frances H. Burnett. Una storia rocambolesca con un mistero che s'infittisce man mano che si procede nella narrazione, fino allo svelamento finale. Il personaggio centrale, il giovane T. Tembarom, su cui ruota tutta la vicenda è davvero strepitoso, ragazzo dalla personalità accattivante, onesto fino al midollo, imprevedibile, pittoresco, disarmante, riflessivo e con una forza interiore davvero sorprendente. Ma mi son piaciuti anche i personaggi secondari, tutti ben caratterizzati: dalla deliziosa e assennata "piccola Ann", alla dolce Miss Alicia, all'eccentrico e simpatico Duca di Stone, a Lady Joan, mirabile da parte della Burnett la descrizione del suo rapporto con la madre, crudo, senza filtri. Insomma una bella storia edificante, divertente, non priva di tensioni. I temi trattati solo quelli che già conosciamo: lo scontro tra culture, la condizione della donna, in questo caso di quelle indigenti, lo stile narrativo scorrevole e chiaro. Se prima amavo la Burnett adesso, dopo la lettura di questi tre romanzi, l'adoro!!
Piacevolissima lettura questo terzo romanzo "per adulti" di Frances H. Burnett. Una storia rocambolesca con un mistero che s'infittisce man mano che si procede nella narrazione, fino allo svelamento finale. Il personaggio centrale, il giovane T. Tembarom, su cui ruota tutta la vicenda è davvero strepitoso, ragazzo dalla personalità accattivante, onesto fino al midollo, imprevedibile, pittoresco, disarmante, riflessivo e con una forza interiore davvero sorprendente. Ma mi son piaciuti anche i personaggi secondari, tutti ben caratterizzati: dalla deliziosa e assennata "piccola Ann", alla dolce Miss Alicia, all'eccentrico e simpatico Duca di Stone, a Lady Joan, mirabile da parte della Burnett la descrizione del suo rapporto con la madre, crudo, senza filtri. Insomma una bella storia edificante, divertente, non priva di tensioni. I temi trattati solo quelli che già conosciamo: lo scontro tra culture, la condizione della donna, in questo caso di quelle indigenti, lo stile narrativo scorrevole e chiaro. Se prima amavo la Burnett adesso, dopo la lettura di questi tre romanzi, l'adoro!!
March 22, 2016
Mi piace decisamente, la Burnett in versione 'non infantile', e mi piace questo suo tessere storie tra le due sponde dell'Atlantico. In questo romanzo, l'autrice riprende in mano un carattere secondario di 'The Shuttle', quello di un giovane e intraprendente newyorchese, e ne fa il protagonista di una serie di clamorose vicende, incentrate sulle alterne sorti di un'antica dimora inglese. I personaggi son ben disegnati e la storia (pur con i vari colpi di scena, propiziati da un destino decisamente benevolo) è senz'altro avvincente.
October 30, 2012
I am reading this as part of a project, I'd love for you to join me or follow my progress on my blog! My review of this book is at this link:
http://walkinginelsiesreadingshoes.bl...
http://walkinginelsiesreadingshoes.bl...
July 29, 2025
What an odd book! Tembarom is born in poverty in New York City, and left orphaned at a tender age. Living on the streets, he's scrappy and determined. Being more familiar with Burnett's children's books, I thought we would spend more time on this aspect of his life, but this adult novel (in terms of intended audience, not substance) skips swiftly through Tembarom's childhood to where he starts working for a newspaper office as an adult. Living in a small, inexpensive boarding house, he falls in love with perhaps the most boring heroine of all time, "Little" Ann (so-called because her mother was also Ann, and also because she's very diminutive in size, as Tembarom goes on about constantly). Little Ann spends all of her time catering to her father's every whim. Originally from England, he has come to NYC to try and sell his brilliant invention, but no one is buying, so he mostly sits around complaining. When Little Ann's mother was on her deathbed, she apparently spent about three days telling Little Ann all the things she should do to keep her father happy/how to manipulate him because he's not as smart as he thinks he is.
Look, I'm not a raving feminist, and books that spend a great deal of time on supposed subservient position of women in society tend to rapidly bore me. But even I found Little Ann's attitude very wearing, as she pretty much doesn't breathe unless she's sure it will make dear old daddy happy. Meanwhile, she takes care of everyone in the boarding house, doing all the mending, laundry, cooking special treats, cleaning rooms (seriously, what does the actual boarding house matron even do all day???), etc. just because she's that sweet and angelic. And BORING. Wow was she boring.
Of course Tembarom falls madly in love with her, and is constantly thinking weird things like how he wishes he could just pick her up (he thinks this a LOT). Blah blah blah turns out that Tembarom is heir to a massive estate in England. Little Ann refuses to marry him until he spends some time getting used to being rich because obvs he is going to want to marry someone from his (new) class, and not a lowly girl like her. Consequently, Tembarom tries to get to know various young women from around the neighborhood, all while yearning for Little Ann and his old, simple life.
The problem was that this book should have been about half its size. There is wayyyy too much time spent repeating Tembarom's thoughts. The twist at the end can be seen about five miles away, so it felt like we also took way too long to get there. Little Ann is obnoxiously perfect. And I kept thinking to myself that it would have been much better if she had married Tembarom when he wanted her to so that she could help him navigate his new life.
There are some funny/fun parts of this book, with Tembarom being awkward but clever, some entertaining side characters who think they can take advantage of Tembarom (who isn't as naive as they think he is), and some drama with the other missing heir, but all of that is just bogged down by page after page of nothing really happening except Tembarom wandering around thinking about Little Ann and running mysterious errands.
All in all, while I did find this one a mildly entertaining read, it's not one I'll pick up time and again like I do some of Burnett's other books.
Look, I'm not a raving feminist, and books that spend a great deal of time on supposed subservient position of women in society tend to rapidly bore me. But even I found Little Ann's attitude very wearing, as she pretty much doesn't breathe unless she's sure it will make dear old daddy happy. Meanwhile, she takes care of everyone in the boarding house, doing all the mending, laundry, cooking special treats, cleaning rooms (seriously, what does the actual boarding house matron even do all day???), etc. just because she's that sweet and angelic. And BORING. Wow was she boring.
Of course Tembarom falls madly in love with her, and is constantly thinking weird things like how he wishes he could just pick her up (he thinks this a LOT). Blah blah blah turns out that Tembarom is heir to a massive estate in England. Little Ann refuses to marry him until he spends some time getting used to being rich because obvs he is going to want to marry someone from his (new) class, and not a lowly girl like her. Consequently, Tembarom tries to get to know various young women from around the neighborhood, all while yearning for Little Ann and his old, simple life.
The problem was that this book should have been about half its size. There is wayyyy too much time spent repeating Tembarom's thoughts. The twist at the end can be seen about five miles away, so it felt like we also took way too long to get there. Little Ann is obnoxiously perfect. And I kept thinking to myself that it would have been much better if she had married Tembarom when he wanted her to so that she could help him navigate his new life.
There are some funny/fun parts of this book, with Tembarom being awkward but clever, some entertaining side characters who think they can take advantage of Tembarom (who isn't as naive as they think he is), and some drama with the other missing heir, but all of that is just bogged down by page after page of nothing really happening except Tembarom wandering around thinking about Little Ann and running mysterious errands.
All in all, while I did find this one a mildly entertaining read, it's not one I'll pick up time and again like I do some of Burnett's other books.
February 6, 2025
'La vita inusuale di T. Tembarom' è una delle ultime opere di Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849-1924) ed è stata pubblicata per la prima volta nel 1913 (quattro anni dopo 'Il giardino segreto'). Arrivato in Italia solo nel 2017 grazie ad Astoria (che ci ha già regalato ultimamente anche 'Un matrimonio inglese' e 'L’imprevedibile destino di Emily Fox-Seton'), si tratta di un piccolo gioiello dimenticato capace di raccontare con arte magistrale le differenze tra gli americani e gli inglesi ad inizio Novecento (cosa che l’autrice fa spesso nei suoi romanzi a partire dall’intramontabile 'Il piccolo Lord').
T. Tembarom è lontano dai classici cliché dei romance moderni. Si tratta infatti di un giovane molto povero che riesce a trovare sempre qualche soldo per andare avanti settimana dopo settimana e che, sebbene non sia brillante (né tantomeno furbo), ha dalla sua una capacità di farsi voler bene da tutti (forse perché si prende cura di tutti con il suo buon cuore), tanta buona volontà e un codice etico fortissimo (cosa che ultimamente viene messa molto da parte, specialmente per i cosiddetti “eroi” maschili dei romanzi moderni).
La piccola Ann, viceversa, pur essendo fondamentale nella storia con i suoi consigli, il suo immenso giudizio e la sua dedizione al padre, viene completamente oscurata dalla presenza di T. Tembarom e il lettore, proprio come tutti i personaggi che gli girano attorno, impareranno ad amarlo pagina dopo pagina, quasi dimenticandosi di Ann.
Un discorso a parte per Miss Alicia, la zia alla lontana dell’erede americano. Si tratta di una donna che vive ancora nell’epoca vittoriana, impaurita da tutto e da tutti, e che grazie alla gioia di vivere di T. Tembarom troverà le sue ore più liete. Un personaggio che colpisce il lettore fin dalla sua apparizione improvvisa, come se fosse spuntata dalla penna della Burnett senza che neppure l’autrice lo volesse ma ne fosse rimasta talmente affascinata da non volerla cancellare.
Complessivamente il libro mi è piaciuto molto, compreso il suo ritmo lento e pacifico. Così come ho apprezzato molto il messaggio di fondo del romanzo: ovvero la bellezza, anzi la magnificenza, dell’essere umano normale, che ama e viene riamato. E che, in questo mondo, è rappresentato dalla grande maggioranza degli esseri umani, anche se spesso ce ne dimentichiamo perché l’occhio dei media si focalizza solo sulla deviazione della natura umana. Consigliatissimo.
Leggi la recensione completa nel mio blog: https://dilettanicastro.blogspot.com/...
T. Tembarom è lontano dai classici cliché dei romance moderni. Si tratta infatti di un giovane molto povero che riesce a trovare sempre qualche soldo per andare avanti settimana dopo settimana e che, sebbene non sia brillante (né tantomeno furbo), ha dalla sua una capacità di farsi voler bene da tutti (forse perché si prende cura di tutti con il suo buon cuore), tanta buona volontà e un codice etico fortissimo (cosa che ultimamente viene messa molto da parte, specialmente per i cosiddetti “eroi” maschili dei romanzi moderni).
La piccola Ann, viceversa, pur essendo fondamentale nella storia con i suoi consigli, il suo immenso giudizio e la sua dedizione al padre, viene completamente oscurata dalla presenza di T. Tembarom e il lettore, proprio come tutti i personaggi che gli girano attorno, impareranno ad amarlo pagina dopo pagina, quasi dimenticandosi di Ann.
Un discorso a parte per Miss Alicia, la zia alla lontana dell’erede americano. Si tratta di una donna che vive ancora nell’epoca vittoriana, impaurita da tutto e da tutti, e che grazie alla gioia di vivere di T. Tembarom troverà le sue ore più liete. Un personaggio che colpisce il lettore fin dalla sua apparizione improvvisa, come se fosse spuntata dalla penna della Burnett senza che neppure l’autrice lo volesse ma ne fosse rimasta talmente affascinata da non volerla cancellare.
Complessivamente il libro mi è piaciuto molto, compreso il suo ritmo lento e pacifico. Così come ho apprezzato molto il messaggio di fondo del romanzo: ovvero la bellezza, anzi la magnificenza, dell’essere umano normale, che ama e viene riamato. E che, in questo mondo, è rappresentato dalla grande maggioranza degli esseri umani, anche se spesso ce ne dimentichiamo perché l’occhio dei media si focalizza solo sulla deviazione della natura umana. Consigliatissimo.
Leggi la recensione completa nel mio blog: https://dilettanicastro.blogspot.com/...
January 17, 2019
A pleasant enough winter read, this is by the author's own admission a grownup version of Little Lord Fauntleroy. The main character is a young newspaperman who grew up on the streets of New York as an orphan, rather like Danny Wilde of the old "Persuaders" TV series. Instead of working his way up as a Wall Street magnate, he is instead discovered to be the heir apparent of an old English fortune--though there is apparently no noble title involved this time. Of course there's another missing heir involved, and accusations of everything short of murder abound.I especially enjoyed the mention of a "minor novelist" who writes the whole thing up to great success, only to have a sequel fall flat--rather like Fauntleroy's runaway success vs. Tembarom's much milder reception.
A pleasant little read, but I'm not sure where to shelve it. I thought I had read it several years ago but apparently I hadn't. Unfortunately, the book is a bit overlong for my taste, and what could have been the most exciting part is deadened by being told at one remove. We have no idea what Tembarom is up to when he pulls his vanishing act, because the author chooses to remain in England where it's all less than hearsay.
The Delphi ebook edition is littered with strange misspellings and what have to be misreadings of the original text, perhaps caused by the digitalisation process.
A pleasant little read, but I'm not sure where to shelve it. I thought I had read it several years ago but apparently I hadn't. Unfortunately, the book is a bit overlong for my taste, and what could have been the most exciting part is deadened by being told at one remove. We have no idea what Tembarom is up to when he pulls his vanishing act, because the author chooses to remain in England where it's all less than hearsay.
The Delphi ebook edition is littered with strange misspellings and what have to be misreadings of the original text, perhaps caused by the digitalisation process.
April 2, 2021
The rags to riches to rags story of Temple Temple Barholm, shortened to Tembarom for your convenience. Orphaned at an early age, Tembarom survives the streets of New York City until he starts to slowly climb his way up the newspaper gig. (This was back in the day when all you needed was a fifth grade education - if that - to qualify as a published journalist.) Then one day Tembarom becomes the story himself when he discovers he is the sole living heir to a family fortune in England. (Or is he?) Tembarom travels to England and struggles to fit in to the elite life that has been thrust upon this Yankee pauper.
I'm giving this only one star because gosh, nothing really happens. Once in a blue moon there's a little spark of something, but most of it is dead air.
I'm giving this only one star because gosh, nothing really happens. Once in a blue moon there's a little spark of something, but most of it is dead air.
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August 2, 2019Like her more famous later book (The Secret Garden) this one includes a spoilt invalid boy and a wise woman who speaks a broad dialect (Lancashire here though not Yorkshire). It is also set in a large and rather gloomy grand house. However, this earlier novel is for adults. Although the plot hinges on a very unbelievable coincidence it is an enjoyable read. The author's ideas about reincarnation come through at one point and there is too much misuse of God's name which mars the book for this particular reader.
November 27, 2024
Somewhere between three and four stars. Not an absolute fave but worth the read. This book has a bit of a mystery, culture clashes, and a wide variety of characters with flaws, pain, poor decisions, and strength. It's barely historical fiction due to the plot with the coincidences and drama, but still a fun read. I was terribly bored for the first few chapters, but all that set up prepared me well to grasp the many scenes and misunderstandings that followed.
I'm exploring Burnett and her books for grown ups. She uses a lot of the same themes and tropes but it's all in good fun.
I'm exploring Burnett and her books for grown ups. She uses a lot of the same themes and tropes but it's all in good fun.
February 3, 2020
I really enjoyed reading this - such a great story. I'm really glad to have seen this recommended by a blogger as I hadn't even realised that Frances Hodgson Burnett had written any fiction for adults. A really good plot, interesting characters and enough twists to keep you turning the pages!
February 13, 2020
Good story overall. It was really hard for me to connect with the book, but I’m glad I finished it.
September 11, 2024
Wonderful story, could not put it down
December 30, 2025
a good yarn!
June 8, 2022
I read one chapter of this for Librivox
https://librivox.org/t-tembarom-by-fr...
YouTube:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyBHd...
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va41w...
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z6TQ...
https://librivox.org/t-tembarom-by-fr...
YouTube:
Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyBHd...
Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va41w...
Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z6TQ...
December 2, 2010
T. Tembaron is a complete fairy tale and is full of sentiment. Regardless, this and the other books for adults by Frances H. Burnett are some of the best books I have read. Her adult novels are very comparable to her well known classics for young people. And if you look collectively at her books for either audience, they may hold fairy tale qualities, but parents still die and children all but starve. Women are abused, humiliated, in danger of rape, and conspired against. Of course, I believe A.S. Byatt says that the authentic fairy tale is constructed to take us to the edge of comfort and beyond.
The keen portraits of humans included within this fairy tale prove that a novel need not fit within one genre though. Her characters, regardless of the action of the plot, are shown to be folks in search of what is meaningful and true. And perhaps her tales of reversals of fortune or lack of fortune where fortune should be (idealistically speaking) were a favorite method of the author. This sentimental storytelling is what also makes the novel T. Tembarom a joy and an optimistic novel.
T. Tembarom is a young New York man, orphaned at an early age and bringing himself up from the very bottom of the ladder in the 1910’s. He lives in a tiny room in a friendly boarding house and hopes and works to gain a real career. His big break comes when he is hired to write a newspaper column. He soon learns of unlikely family connections in England, and his life begins to change in ways most men would gladly welcome. However, change is change, so he must learn to adapt without losing sight of who he really is.
It is a fulfilling story with writing that flows from the beguiling pen of Frances Burnett and exactly the sort of novel I always search for in classic and current literature alike. For Burnett devotees, T. Tembarom was first published in 1913, two years after The Secret Garden. My two other Burnett favorites, were published a few years before: A Little Princess (1905) and The Shuttle (1906).
Special note: If you are shopping for the actual book, the edition listed here has some print quality issues so it would be hard for me to recommend it. And, again for those looking for other Burnett novels, I also warn against the Persephone edition of The Shuttle, which is heavily abridged.
April 6, 2009
This is the first of Burnett's many adult novels that I've read, and while it had some surprises, it seemed something like an adult version of Little Lord Fauntleroy. The hero is a poverty-stricken New York orphan of English descent who manages through intellect and hard work to become a society journalist. He falls in love with the daughter of a Lancashire inventor, rescues an amnesiac gentleman with mental problems, and then receives Unusual News from Britain...
I think what I found most interesting about the novel was the way in which it melded the tropes of sentimental fiction (reversals of fortune, hopeless love, devoted daughters) with those of sensation fiction (amensiac gentlemen, insane asylums, gambling scandals). Given how late it was written I suspect it was following in a lot of footsteps, but if I was still in the paper-writing world I could imagine doing a research project on when & how these tropes got brought together. I suspect that the sentimental did much to defang the sensational.
All in all a reasonably enjoyable book, particularly for some of the characters; I really liked Miss Alicia, who seemed like she could have walked out of Cranford.
I think what I found most interesting about the novel was the way in which it melded the tropes of sentimental fiction (reversals of fortune, hopeless love, devoted daughters) with those of sensation fiction (amensiac gentlemen, insane asylums, gambling scandals). Given how late it was written I suspect it was following in a lot of footsteps, but if I was still in the paper-writing world I could imagine doing a research project on when & how these tropes got brought together. I suspect that the sentimental did much to defang the sensational.
All in all a reasonably enjoyable book, particularly for some of the characters; I really liked Miss Alicia, who seemed like she could have walked out of Cranford.
June 2, 2013
Frances Hodgson Burnett is the British third of my favorite female author trifecta, which also includes Louisa May Alcott and Lucy Maud Montgomery. Finding her work isn't easy as a lot of the print versions are expensive and not easily available. However, I ran onto the most delightful 100 year old copy of T. Tembarom in Powell's last year and had to have it. I finally picked it up this week and loved every last minute of it.
Ms. Burnett is at her very best in the writing of this book. The characters are so 3D, so lively, and their idiosyncrasies so delightful that I almost felt I was reading Dickens. But she doesn't go off into the weeds to tell 'have nothing at all to do with this' short stories like Dickens does in the middle of his novels. Ms. Burnett managed to make witty commentary on the social classes of two major players at the turn of the 20th century (New York and country England) all while spinning a delightful story. Her cast of characters is just wonderful, well fleshed-out, and not one is unnecessary. (I especially loved her descriptions of Lady Joan. What life and breath she brought to that wonderful character!!)
While the story is wildly predictable in most senses, it's the comfy kind of predictable. I appreciate knowing that this book full of beloved people will not end badly. Even though I know where it's going, she still managed to make me grin, giggle, and turn pages as fast as I could. NO ONE writes like this anymore. All the sadder for us.
Ms. Burnett is at her very best in the writing of this book. The characters are so 3D, so lively, and their idiosyncrasies so delightful that I almost felt I was reading Dickens. But she doesn't go off into the weeds to tell 'have nothing at all to do with this' short stories like Dickens does in the middle of his novels. Ms. Burnett managed to make witty commentary on the social classes of two major players at the turn of the 20th century (New York and country England) all while spinning a delightful story. Her cast of characters is just wonderful, well fleshed-out, and not one is unnecessary. (I especially loved her descriptions of Lady Joan. What life and breath she brought to that wonderful character!!)
While the story is wildly predictable in most senses, it's the comfy kind of predictable. I appreciate knowing that this book full of beloved people will not end badly. Even though I know where it's going, she still managed to make me grin, giggle, and turn pages as fast as I could. NO ONE writes like this anymore. All the sadder for us.
May 30, 2010
[These notes were made in 1984; I read this in the Toronto: Briggs, 1915 edition]. Well, you know, I read it to the end, this Prince-And-Pauper / Connecticut Yankee story, without complaining, but my principal memory is that it was rather too sweet on the palate. The heroine is called Little Ann, which is already a danger signal. The conceit is that of a forthright, up-and-coming American lad thrust into the decadent and incomprehensible world of the English aristocracy; the deus ex machina which relieves him from this terrible fate is the discovery of the real heir (providentially rescued from delirium and starvation by Mr. Temple Barholm - T. Tembarom - himself in an early chapter); the unmistakeable strong point of the novel is the depiction of Tembarom's poverty-stricken childhood in New York; the chief weakness of it is the inability to get very far past the "quaintness" of England. As Nanki-Poo says, "Modified rapture!"
September 11, 2012
This is one of those classic stories of the self-made man who makes good through honest hard work. From very humble begins of being orphaned at age 10 and self-supporting thereafter, Tembarom looks for opportunities to improve himself and is willing to work hard (without being overtly ambitious)to better himself and his lot. It is emphasized that he isn't clever or educated but instead has good sense, a cheerful disposition, and a solicitous and caring nature. He is one of those people that others like and cheer on to win. His fortunes take off when he establishes himself in a shabby boardinghouse where he makes friends, lands a job with the newspaper, and falls in love with fellow boarder and devoted daughter Ann. Happy endings abound.
February 19, 2013
Melodramatic? Well, yes. Predictable plot? Pretty much, but also a suspenseful page-turner that kept me up late to see that everything turned out all right for the hero, the unexpected American heir to an English mansion and fortune.
September 23, 2015
Okay book. Very long. Rags to riches story combined with a romance. About the same reading level as Jane Austen books. Probably not a very good book for guys to read because they wouldn't enjoy it and the description of why he's attracted to the girl is a bit too graphic.
January 31, 2009
sentimental and fun
March 14, 2010
Very sweet story - a bit predictable. Makes me want to reread Secret Garden. And, I need to check into Hereward - the last of the English by Broadway.
September 15, 2011
Another turn on the missing-heir-grows-up-in-America-and-shows-the-British-what-true-nobility is. Little Lord Fauntleroy was better.
August 4, 2012
Not the best of her novels, but still interesting.
September 19, 2013
A grown up tale to match the author's prize winning children's book, The Secret Garden.
June 22, 2014
I enjoyed the story but it was dragged out too long after you basically knew what was going to happen. Would rate it 3.5 stars if I could.
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