Patty In Paris

Patty Fairfield #5

by Carolyn Wells

After an argument about schooling, Mr. Fairfield sends Patty and her friend to Paris with the Farringtons.

Genres: Fiction

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1907

About the author

Carolyn Wells was a prolific writer for over 40 years and was especially noted for her humor, and she was a frequent contributor of nonsense verse and whimsical pieces to such little magazines as Gelett Burgess' The Lark, the Chap Book, the Yellow Book, and the Philistine.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Alisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sparkling and light. Really pleasant to read. Patty has now finished her education. Her father thinks she should go to some type of finishing school, or perhaps even college, but when her friends invite her to spend a few months in Paris, her father decides that's just as good as higher education!! Then Patty proceeds to have the most splendid time imaginable on the transatlantic voyage, and after arriving in France. These pre-1914 books are often so light-hearted! There's very little dramatic tension in the Patty books, they're mostly just about a nice girl having loads of fun in amazing surroundings and making friends with virtually everyone around her. In this book, Patty is about 18, but she's not formally considered a young woman yet, so her life is quite uncomplicated. Of course, nearly every young man she meets seems to fall at her feet, but she does quite a good job of diffusing those situations or ignoring them, because after all, in the context of her family, she's still more or less a child, and she's okay with that. With the end result that she has a really huge circle of friends, both guys and girls, and they are always up for fun and adventures.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just love the style of old books. Books that were written in a time where there weren't as many of the rules we have today in writing. Sometimes that means the quality isn't great by our standards, but it also means the author shines through more.

Patty was a bit more of a showoff in this book, and I didn't like that. Mr. Hapworth (the artist) is a bit creepy thankfully he isn't in much of it.

I felt sorry for Kenneth. When will Patty realize that she should accept the attentions of that dear boy? When will she stop being a "little girl?"

My favorite part of this story was hearing of Paris of long ago. How The City of Lights had very poor lighting at night at this time. There were many other little details that made this book delightful.

I recommend this book for those who love old books and glimpses into the way things were.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite of the Patty books; very funny, and a neat look at Paris as it was in the early twentieth century--some things have changed completely, but so much is still the same.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Patty goes to Paris with the Farringtons. Nice period piece of fluff, showing the era and French and American societies with a small bit of history and geography to boot.

[Reading with Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vintage glasses firmly in place for this one — Patty is perfectly perfect in every way and every person who encounters her loves her instantly.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 5th in the series of Patty books, by Carolyn Wells. In this book, written in the early 1900's, Patty is done with school, and family friends offer to take her to Paris for 6 months. It's fun to read about Paris at that time, and all the adventures Patty has while there.