In the High Valley

Carr Family #5

by Susan Coolidge

Lionel Young and his sister, Imogen, set out for the picturesque but remote High Valley in Colorado, leaving their hometown in Devonshire, England behind. Lionel wants to take the share in Geoffrey Templestowe’s cattle business. Imogen, owing to her prejudices against America and the American way of life, finds it hard to adjust to life over there.

Clover Templestowe, now happily married and living in the High Valley, at first finds it very trying to get on with Imogen.
A lot of events ensure in the course of which we meet again with Rose Red, get news from Cousin Helen and of course meet Katy again…

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Childrens, Young Adult, Childrens Classics, Historical

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1890

About the author

Sarah Chauncey Woolsey was an American children's author who wrote under the pen name Susan Coolidge.

Woolsey was born January 29, 1835, into the wealthy, influential New England Dwight family in Cleveland, Ohio. Her father was John Mumford Woolsey (1796–1870) and mother was Jane Andrews. She spent much of her childhood in New Haven Connecticut after her family moved there in 1852.

Woolsey worked as a nurse during the American Civil War (1861–1865), after which she started to write. The niece of the author and poet Gamel Woolsey, she never married, and resided at her family home in Newport, Rhode Island, until her death.

She edited The Autobiography and Correspondence of Mrs. Delaney (1879) and The Diary and Letters of Frances Burney (1880). She is best known, however, for her classic children's novel, What Katy Did (1872). The fictional Carr family was modeled after the author's own, with Katy Carr inspired by Susan (Sarah) herself, and the brothers and sisters modeled on Coolidge's four younger Woolsey siblings.

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars (8/10 hearts). This is the last What Katy Did book—and it brought the series to an end perfectly!! After having three books featuring Katy (1, 2, & 3) and three featuring Clover (2, 4 & 5) it’s nice to finally get Elsie featured! This book is set in Colorado, at the “ranch,” but also partly in England, which was very fun. It was sooo delightful seeing the grownup Carrs! Johnnie & Dorry & Phil were all awesome. Each sister and her husband make the perfect pair! Imogen is an interesting character, slightly frustrating but a good lesson. The plot was so nice and sweet and well done, and the romances were the most adorable things. I love how we get a glimpse of Phil’s marriage without doing the “this is how they all ended” wrap-up. The theme of this book, like the other Katy books, is all about being a nice, loving, hard-working person, pleasant to be around, and I love it. Overall, this is an epic last book for the series and Coolidge did a splendid job with making all her characters grow up!

A Favourite Quote: “...and through all and every contingency they managed to look pretty and bright and gracious, and make sunshine in the shadiest places.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “...and on the dining-table stood, most beautiful and fragile of all, a bowlful of Mariposa lilies, their delicate, lilac-streaked bells poised on stems so slender that the fairy shapes seemed to float in air, supported at their own sweet will.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “Lionel patted her back, and told her she really was quite a little brick when she wasn't a big goose,—a brotherly compliment which was more gratifying than it sounded.”

[Lillerina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The sole purpose of this book was to marry off the remaining children. Whatever.

[A.R. Collins · Rating 1 out of 5]

None of the What Katy Did sequels lives up to the original for me, but this is something else. I did like the setting, and the idea of running a ranch in a valley with only a few family members in close proximity (I don't suppose for a moment that I've got what it takes to do something like that, but I love the idea all the same). The historical context was very interesting too, with pioneering in the western USA. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to save this book.

For starters, there's Imogen Young. Her numerous flaws are blamed entirely on her 'Englishness', when clearly Susan Coolidge knew nothing about British people and culture; and since Imogen's most lamented characteristic is her prejudice against Americans, this makes the first half of the book pretty much one huge exercise in hypocrisy. It comes to an end when Imogen finds redemption at the other end of a great ordeal - the only way she could possibly redeem all the terrible qualities that come of being English.

There was also a pointless appearance about halfway through by Mrs Watson, last seen in Clover. She had her role in that book, but not this, and if Coolidge thought I'd be amused to see her then she was sorely mistaken.

Looking at this as a Carr family story, it's particularly disappointing. Clover and Elsie, as happy and helpful ranchers' wives, might just as well have been anybody - I saw little or nothing of the characters I first met in What Katy Did. When Johnnie turned up, she had become just as flat and generic. The treatment of the boys was better; both Dorry and Phil had retained a little more character than their sisters, on the rare occasions we saw them, but frankly not much.

Clearly Coolidge wanted to let her readers know what happened to the Carrs in the end, but couldn't come up with anything very interesting for them. There came a time when I saw exactly where the story was heading: right into a neatly packaged little ending where everything slots into place in the most dull, unoriginal and contrived way imaginable. Very disappointing!

[J. Boo · Rating 2 out of 5]

A dull close to the series. Imogen is jealous of Clover and behaves irritatingly until Coolidge's typical deus ex machina of an illness sets her right, whereupon she becomes irritating in a pro-Clover direction. Characters you recognize from earlier in the series show up explicitly to make a final bow. Some funny bits (a description of New York as a frontier town subject to Indian attacks from an American pulling an Englishwoman's leg, a few jokes about servants, etc) keep it above one star, but this is definitely is not Coolidge at her best. Available on Gutenberg.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't even know that this existed until I found it free for my Kindle. Fifth in the series about 'Katy' and her family, this is set mostly in Colorado, and features a young English brother and sister, Lionel and Imogen, who move out to work with Clover and Elsie's husbands. I very much appreciated the gradual culture adjustment that Imogen struggles with, having gone through very similar feelings despite living nearly a century later.

The plot inevitably involves a rather too tidy double romance and a delightful happy-ever-after (or at least for the next year) conclusion, which makes it a fitting end to this series; I read and loved the first three books several times as a child and teenager and always wished that there was more.

[Hilary Tesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final volume of the five Carr Family stories in which Lionel and his sister Imogen join the small community in High Valley, where we are unsurprised to discover Elsie has married Clarence and the two couples, with their children, are all living happily under one roof. This is a story about adjustment of attitude and lifestyle, as Imogen finds it hard to settle into the valley at first but ...well to say more would to be to give away an albeit predictable but happy ending! Yet again, Susan Coolidge writes vividly, clearly with first hand knowledge, of the landscapes both of Devon and Colorado. She also waxes lyrical about all manner of flowers, sending me to "google" to check out the many varieties she mentions!

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the whole series, although this was perhaps my least favorite. I still enjoyed the book but it felt like the author was frantically trying to marry everyone off and tie it all up with a nice bow. I thought that there wasn't enough time and effort put into developing the relationships between the sweethearts. That said, I once again enjoyed how the author takes high-minded concepts and brings them into real life situations. We all like to think of ourselves as good people who are willing to help others ... until those others are pains in the neck. It is hard to love the unloveable. Seeing it happen in this book is a good reminder to me. Real love is not easy and that's OK. It is still worth doing, even when it hurts.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2015/08...

OK, I think I see why these last two weren't in print when I was a kid--they are super boring compared to the first three. This last one in particular is kind of a dud. It introduces a couple of new characters, but one isn't interesting and the other is pretty insufferable, at least until Clover teaches her otherwise, of course. And they then inevitably get married off, also of course. There's no conflict in these last two books and there's less cute stuff in this one, because Clover and Elsie are grown and married. What a disappointment this was!

[Karin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as good as the other Katy books but a nice closure to the series.

It felt like i was being told about their lives rather than being pulled into their lives.

[Kathleen Vincenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Why make the protagonist perfect?

This seems to happen in many older books with a female protagonist. In the first books in a series, the protagonist is a spitfire, but in the subsequent books about her adulthood, she is perfectly bland and boring and would much rather decorate her home.

This happened in this series and in Anne of Green Gables. You end up pushing through the final books only to find out how many children they had or who got match up. I never did make it through the Anne of Green Gables because of that.

Long live flawed characters!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great conclusion to the Katy series! I have enjoyed these old-fashioned stories immensely. I like the characters - they feel so real to life, as though they may have been people that the author actually knew. Colorado may no longer be the high, wild, lonesome place it was in this story, but it can live on in our imaginations!

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 5th and final book in the Carr family series. A lovely set of stories in each of the books. This last one sees all the Carr children grown up and married, some with children of their own. The books are very much of their time - simple tales which focus more on great descriptive writing rather than lots of action taking place. My only regret is that I waited so long to read them!

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure comfort reading. It was nice to encounter some of the characters from the "Katy" books again but nothing much happened.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This edition was horribly presented. Some of the sentences would randomly cut off and start again on the next line, the spacing was all over the place, and there were a fair few spelling errors, as well.

The story is really just an add-on to give each Carr sibling a spouse (here, Clover and Elsie are already married, and Johnnie and Dorry find their spouses). We are given a Clarence-like character who magically changes her manners and ways after an illness (which seems to be the trope that the author likes to use to mould her characters into agreeable people).

Again, the story highlights how great it is to be a proper little homemaker and not at all like Mrs Watson.

I wish these books didn't exist, and then I could have finished with the third and just imagined them all living happily ever after. I know the first three have the same tropes and messages - Katy herself is the prime example of this, but I read them as an inexperienced child, not knowing then what I know now. I still have a fondness for these characters, but I didn't enjoy this book at all.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

In which Susan M Coolidge ties up all the loose ends by way of two English siblings (she does sibling relationships very well). I'm not entirely convinced Miss Joanna Carr will settle properly in the High Valley - she seems more of a society girl than Clover or Elsie, but maybe I've misjudged her.

Imogen is, frankly, a pain in the neck, but her home country is captured well (bits of Devon are still like that today) and her misplaced superiority rings very true. Nice to see the awful (but amusing) Mrs Watson again - she's a direct literary descendent of Miss Bates in Emma and I assume this is Susan M Coolidge's little tribute to her own favourite author.

And I so want to go and see the canyons!

[Jennifer Ricks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't believe she's done it again!

I was expecting this to be a continuation of Clover, especially as it's about the High Valley, but instead she's created another totally new story. I'm so impressed!

Starting in England and being in Imogene's perspective is so different and new. I know she'll tie into the Carr family somehow in the end, but I'm still so excited to find out how. I'm going to be sad when the series is over!

LATER
I loved that it was a travel story about crossing the U.S. I thought at first that it was a little far-fetched how everything worked out perfectly between couples, but she convinced me that it was possible. It was cute and sweet and new. This has definitely been a cute little series.

[Susan Grossey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been a Katy fan since I was little, and a few months ago my lovely husband came home clutching "Clover" and "In the High Valley" - the two sequels that I had not read.

To be honest, they are not quite as engaging as the original three Katy books, and perhaps a little heavy on the religious overtones, but it was such a pleasure to read about the early days of settlement in Colorado - what an adventure! And there is always something so pleasing to see people paired off in happy couples - I won't say who ends up with who, of course! Susan Coolidge's light style is still in evidence, along with her humour and her sometimes waspish character studies... For any Katy addict, these book is well worth reading - although there's not enough Katy in it for me!

[Lilian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the least enjoyable of the five books in the series. Maybe it was because the (nominal) main characters did not seem to be the subject of the book - rather the focus switched back and forth without any true protagonist, but also without managing to make me feel quite as involved in any of the characters lives as I have previously done. I also knew how the book would end very early on - with the other four, there was an element of surprise that is sorely lacking here. Still, a very easy read, and it ties up some ends long-term fans might have otherwise not realised were left loose. Elsie's character, in particular, blossomed out right into its own.

[Clare · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was pretty boring at the beginning, but it picked up a lot towards the middle and end. Honestly, though, I would probably just read the first one or maybe two.

[Meredith Galman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stiff English girl comes to Colorado, is won over by the wonderfulness of the Carr sisters. Notable for the hint of homoeroticism when Imogen presses her gratitude on Clover, leaving Clover to exclaim that it's like a declaration of attachment. Fortunately for the tender sensibilities of her innocent early-twentieth-century readers, there quickly comes along the dull brother (Dorry) we haven't heard so much about to nip the same-sex romance in the bud. Meanwhile, Imogen's brother marries the remaining Carr girl, leaving brother Phil the only one unhitched.

[Duckpondwithoutducks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This last book in the Carr family series, or What Katy Did series, is sweet like all the others. It pairs up all the remaining family members who weren't married yet. The book starts out in England, following a character named Imogen, and at first it only seemed like we would see the Carr family tangentially, but then Imogen arrived in Colorado, and we did get to see the family. In this series, I prefer the first three books, I think, but it was nice to read this series finale!

[The Bookish Wombat · Rating 2 out of 5]

The fifth and final Katy book (well, more a Carr book I suppose), in which everyone who has not previously married is matched up and everyone moves out West who is not already there.

It's nice to have the series finished off, but I felt this was the weakest of the books as it's entirely taken up with romances, mariages and babies. Characters who exhibit any (quite normal) personality flaws are made to see the error of their ways and end up in the Carr way of thinking.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed reading these. I know they are 'childrens' books but sometimes a little nice light reading!! Glad that What Katy Did Next was a 2nd reading group choice though it did lead me to continue reading the series. They are really Mills & Boons for young girls! All very predictable but hey .....

[Lara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Last of the series, not my favourite. Less of the 'snapshot in time' of the previous novel, lacking in the charming anecdotes of the '...at school' novel, lumbered with an unpleasant character and generally very predictable. Nice to have the series finished off, and lovely to revisit Colorado through the eyes of an author who clearly loved the place.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last of the Katy series. More interesting than the previous two, but the ending was not very satisfying and all of the female characters seem to end up having the exact same personality. They all live happily ever after, as polite well-dressed housewives who are good at decorating but not too snobby.

[C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly thought that this series didn't need to be continued after the third book and I was disappointed in this book. While it was nice to read about Clover and Elsie and their families, I didn't find this book enjoyable at all.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book in the Katy series. There's not much about Katy in this one, it's mostly about Clover. But it's a good book.
The formatting of the printing wasn't that great, making it a little harder to read, but on the whole it was a nice way to end the series.

[Yorky Caz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a lovely book and so great to tie up all the loose ends highly recommend

[Lisa Rowles · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little twee as it winds up the stories of Katy, Clover, Elsie, Dorry, Johnnie and Phil but an enjoyable read all the same.

[Kaitlyn Wb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very sweet ending. So glad to know how everyone ended up. My one complaint is that there wasn't enough Katy!