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Thistle and Rose: A Story for Girls
This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.
- GenresFiction
120 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 15, 2007
3 people are currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Amy Walton
41 books1 followerAmy Walton (1845-1925) was the author who wrote Our Frank (1886), The Hawthorns (1886), Susan (1888), A Pair of Clogs (1888), White Lilac; or, The Queen of the May (1889), The Kitchen Cat and Other Tales (1890), Penelope and the Others (1893), Black, White, and Gray (1894), Thistle and Rose (1895), and Only Twice (1896).
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 28, 2020
So many words of wisdom in this one:
-"It is so easy to value the wrong things most. They often look so attractive, and the best things lie so deeply hidden from us. And yet, to find them out and treasure them, and be true to them, makes the difference between a worthy and an unworthy life. If you look for them, my dear Anna, you will find them. My last wish before we part is that you may be quick to see, and ready to do them honor, and to prize them as they should be prized. Bless you, my dear!" p. 2-3
-"Oh, well patience comes with years," he said. "You're too young yet to now much about it. It's often hard enough, even after a long life, to bear with the failings of others, and to understand our own. People are so different. Some are strong, and some are weak. And the strong ones are always expecting their way without caring for praise or blame. And, of course, they can't. It's not in them. They stumble and turn aside at little things that the others wouldn't notice. And the weak ones, to whom, perhaps, it is natural to be sweet-tempered, and yielding, and forgiving, expect those virtues from the strong--and they don't find them--and then they wonder how it is that they find it hard to forgive and impossible to forget, and call them harsh and unbearable. And so we go on misunderstanding instead of helping each other." p. 75
-"But now, God hath thus ordered it, that we may learn to bear one another's burdens, for no man is without fault; no man but hath his burden; no man is self-sufficient; no man has wisdom enough for himself alone. But we ought to bear with one another, comfort, help, instruct, and admonish one another." p. 75-76
-It's very hard for strong people to bear with weakness. It's such a disappointing, puzzling thing to them. They are always expecting impossibilities. Yet they are bound to help. It is a sin to turn aside-to leave weakness to trail along in the mire when they might be a prop for it to lean on and climb upwards by. The strong have a duty to the weak, lessons to learn from them. But they are hard lessons--hard lessons." p. 76
-"That's just it," said Delia. "He's so unselfish and good, he wouldn't let you or anyone know it for the world. He thinks so little of himself, it would be impossible to offend him. It's not what he says. Oh, Anna, if you really knew, and loved him, you couldn't let anything else come before him! Not all the Palmers, and Waverlys, and Aunt Sarahs in the world. You couldn't give him a minute's pain or disappointment." p. 92
-"You see, Anna, you must choose whether you'll pain the Professor or displease Mrs. Forrest. You can't possibly please both of them. You must choose which you think is right and stick to it. You can't serve God and mammon." p. 92
-So Anna was forgive, and it was in this way that, during her visit to Waverly, she began dimly to see what the best things are, adn to see it through sorrow and failure. It was a lesson she had to go on learning, like the rest of us, all through her life--not an easy lesson, or one to be quickly known. Sometimes we put it from us impatiently and choose something which looks more enticing and not so dull, and for a time we go on our way gaily--and then, a sorrow, or perhaps a sin, brings home to us that everything is worthless compared to Love, Truth, and Faithfulness to Duty, and that if we have been falst to them, there is no comfort anywhere until we return to serve them with tears of repentance." p. 106-107
-"It is so easy to value the wrong things most. They often look so attractive, and the best things lie so deeply hidden from us. And yet, to find them out and treasure them, and be true to them, makes the difference between a worthy and an unworthy life. If you look for them, my dear Anna, you will find them. My last wish before we part is that you may be quick to see, and ready to do them honor, and to prize them as they should be prized. Bless you, my dear!" p. 2-3
-"Oh, well patience comes with years," he said. "You're too young yet to now much about it. It's often hard enough, even after a long life, to bear with the failings of others, and to understand our own. People are so different. Some are strong, and some are weak. And the strong ones are always expecting their way without caring for praise or blame. And, of course, they can't. It's not in them. They stumble and turn aside at little things that the others wouldn't notice. And the weak ones, to whom, perhaps, it is natural to be sweet-tempered, and yielding, and forgiving, expect those virtues from the strong--and they don't find them--and then they wonder how it is that they find it hard to forgive and impossible to forget, and call them harsh and unbearable. And so we go on misunderstanding instead of helping each other." p. 75
-"But now, God hath thus ordered it, that we may learn to bear one another's burdens, for no man is without fault; no man but hath his burden; no man is self-sufficient; no man has wisdom enough for himself alone. But we ought to bear with one another, comfort, help, instruct, and admonish one another." p. 75-76
-It's very hard for strong people to bear with weakness. It's such a disappointing, puzzling thing to them. They are always expecting impossibilities. Yet they are bound to help. It is a sin to turn aside-to leave weakness to trail along in the mire when they might be a prop for it to lean on and climb upwards by. The strong have a duty to the weak, lessons to learn from them. But they are hard lessons--hard lessons." p. 76
-"That's just it," said Delia. "He's so unselfish and good, he wouldn't let you or anyone know it for the world. He thinks so little of himself, it would be impossible to offend him. It's not what he says. Oh, Anna, if you really knew, and loved him, you couldn't let anything else come before him! Not all the Palmers, and Waverlys, and Aunt Sarahs in the world. You couldn't give him a minute's pain or disappointment." p. 92
-"You see, Anna, you must choose whether you'll pain the Professor or displease Mrs. Forrest. You can't possibly please both of them. You must choose which you think is right and stick to it. You can't serve God and mammon." p. 92
-So Anna was forgive, and it was in this way that, during her visit to Waverly, she began dimly to see what the best things are, adn to see it through sorrow and failure. It was a lesson she had to go on learning, like the rest of us, all through her life--not an easy lesson, or one to be quickly known. Sometimes we put it from us impatiently and choose something which looks more enticing and not so dull, and for a time we go on our way gaily--and then, a sorrow, or perhaps a sin, brings home to us that everything is worthless compared to Love, Truth, and Faithfulness to Duty, and that if we have been falst to them, there is no comfort anywhere until we return to serve them with tears of repentance." p. 106-107
September 24, 2020
This is a highly moral story with some, but not enough, literary value and character interest. Young Anna goes to live with her aunt (her father's sister) in the country. Nearby in the small town of Dornton, her grandfather (her deceased mother's father), lives a humble life. The aunt tries to subtly keep Anna from seeing her grandfather, and Anna is held back by some half-truths she tells along the way. I liked the message of repentance and moral rightness, but I didn't find enough interest in the story or characters to love this novella.
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February 26, 2022Synopsis per The Good and the Beautiful website:
After a lifetime of loneliness in London, fourteen-year-old Anna is finally leaving the city to live with her aunt and uncle in the countryside town of Waverly. However, when she arrives, she finds that things are not what they seem. Her efforts to please everyone lead her to a desperate choice between what is right and what is easy. Surrounded by enticements for the finer things in life, she must search her heart and make a decision that will forever alter the course of her life.
After a lifetime of loneliness in London, fourteen-year-old Anna is finally leaving the city to live with her aunt and uncle in the countryside town of Waverly. However, when she arrives, she finds that things are not what they seem. Her efforts to please everyone lead her to a desperate choice between what is right and what is easy. Surrounded by enticements for the finer things in life, she must search her heart and make a decision that will forever alter the course of her life.
May 21, 2024
I am surprised at how many bad reviews this book has! I really loved it and can’t wait to read it again!
July 20, 2022
It felt like nothing ever happened in the book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews