Queechy

by Susan Bogert Warner, Elizabeth Wetherell

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Genres: Classics, Christian Fiction, Historical Fiction

424 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1852

About the author

Born in 1819 in New York City, American novelist and children's author Susan Bogert Warner was the daughter of lawyer Henry Warner, and his wife, Anna Bartlett. Her early life was one of wealth and privilege, until her father lost his money in the Panic of 1837, and the family were forced to sell their home in St. Mark's Place (NYC), and move to a farmhouse they owned on Constitution Island, near West Point, NY.

Warner and her sister, Anna Bartlett Warner (author of the well-known children's hymn, Jesus Loves Me, This I Know), began writing in 1849, in order to improve their family's financial situation. Their work, for both children and adults, was largely evangelical. Susan Bogert Warner is primarily remembered for her debut novel, The Wide, Wide World (1850), although she wrote close to thirty additional titles, all under the pseudonym 'Elizabeth Wetherell."

Reviews

[Abigail Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fleda Ringan is an 11 year old orphan who lives with her grandfather in Queechy, Vermont. After a tragic incident, Fleda has to live with her aunt, Mrs. Rossiter, in Paris. She travels to Paris under the care of young Mr. Carleton and his mother, a rich Englishwoman. Every young man who meets Fleda loves her, but she adores only Mr. Carleton. Once Fleda's aunt Mrs. Rossiter looses all her money, they return to America where Fleda learns to farm and cook to support her family. Mr. Carleton is always around to help out but never utters a word about love to Fleda.

Throughout the book, Fleda learns to trust God for help in times of trouble as well as in pleasant times. This book was an encouragement to me; Fleda's character is a good example while still being a young girl easy to relate to.

I recorded this book for LibriVox as a duet with another volunteer. You can download the book for free here: http://librivox.org/queechy-by-susan-...

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never reviewed this one, though I read it first about ten years ago and have reread it periodically ever since. This is on my short list of save-in-case-of-fire books! Very strong Christian message and a delightful setting.

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult one to rate. The passages set in Queechy, where the heroine has to turn farmer to save her family, are very readable, but otherwise the plot is uneven, the rich English hero absolutely unbelievable, and the heroine cries too much. There's lots of overt Christian piety, which I rather like, and the best ever description of how it feels to have a migraine. I searched this book out because it is referred to in the 'Chalet School' series, but I don't see it having wide appeal.

[Lydia Poteet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorites!! What a good read!

[Alyssa Skinner · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many emotions in this review. . .
For starters, I am a Christian. So, the overall message of Christianity in this book is pretty good. . . the death of Hugh, in which he begs his parents to convert to Christianity, in order to be with him again, is actually very touching. . . although, he seems to be able to talk pretty clearly, and act energetically for someone who's supposed to be dying of a wasting disease, but then, I've never died, so I don't know much about it.
On the other hand, Christianity seems like a pretty loose thing in here. No one speaks of baptism (the most common form of conversion in those days) or even of praying a prayer. It appears that the author was of the opinion that all you had to do was say, "I'm a Christian now", and you were good to go.
But the "romance" in this book is what truly turns my stomach, and I'm shocked that no one mentioned this in any of the other reviews. When Guy and Fleda meet, he is already a grown man, and she is a little girl, of, I think, about six years old. He's introverted, and dislikes the company of most of his friends and other adults, but becomes obsessed with this little girl, and delights in taking her off by himself. He likes touching her, mostly stroking her hair, but they also seem to develop a sort of code language, and enjoy discussing things that "No one else would understand."
The little girl is also an introvert, and suffers from terrible migraines, usually brought on by her need to take care of everyone else. Her aunt, uncle, and cousins, while insisting that they think the world of her, expect her to cook, clean, mend, sew, garden, and, eventually, run the entire farm by herself. One of her cousins (Hugh) also works himself into an early grave, while his sister marries some creep, his brother is a dandy in the army, and his parents are lazy nouveaux poor. His mother sits around and cries all of the time, and his father is a total idiot, spending money he doesn't have, and even other people's money, as well.
I can strongly identify with Fleda, as I tend to overdo and give myself a sick headache, but she is clearly being exploited by narcissists.
Guy Carleton returns to America, and lets his mother know upfront that he intends to find the little girl, and marry her. She is now a teenager. They meet up, and slip into their old code language and habits, and, thrilled to see that his grooming has been successful, he begins intense pursuit. In the meantime, a more obviously creepy man, who Fleda has distrusted since childhood over his abuse of a dog, decides to use the fact that her uncle used his father's name on a check as means of blackmailing her into marrying him, becomes the "villain". Fleda, not knowing what else to do, turns to her "friend" Guy, and tells him all about it. The villain had told her that the debt would be resolved if she married him, and Guy instead pays him off, and the debt is hushed up and forgotten. This then convinces Fleda to marry Guy. Sure, the idea is that he would have paid her uncle's debt even if she hadn't said yes, but let's be real. It was manipulation.
After marrying her, he rushes off to England to settle "unrest among the poor", and leaves his bride in the hands of his mother. He refers to her as his wife, but it seems that the author's idea of marriage is much like her idea of salvation. . . there is no mention of a wedding of any kind, not even an elopement, just "She said yes", and "Mother, take care of my wife for me."
She is so young and naive that I really, really can feel nothing but pity for her, and even in the end, Guy is manipulative, and makes her vow to always let him heal her hurts, or something like that, after she says she can't promise to never cry unless she is in his arms, because tears have a will of their own. (Why does he get a thrill out of her crying??)
There are also many mentions that make it known that he's not ignorant of the fact that she's still a child; in fact, he tells her that "She will no longer be her uncle's child, but his now."
Maybe I've just seen too much (I'm not unspoiled by the world, as Fleda is), but this book made me cringe, and even though I stuck it out to the end, it took some serious willpower after Guy came back into the picture. In short, he made a perfect Guy of himself.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Eleven-year-old Fleda has a hard life. Already orphaned, she's living with her grandfather, who's living in poor health and about to lose the family farm. And things don't get better from there. But Fleda has faith and perseveres, working hard to keep her lazy (for the most part) relatives fed and clothed. As she grows older, various men are attempting to court her, but she seems oblivious or indifferent to all of them.

After several years, a childhood friend comes back into the picture. Will things finally change for the better?

I did enjoy this book but it seemed rather long. I felt that if the chapters setting forth the author's opinions on various things (America versus England, slave trade versus factory workers, educating women and the poor, being Christian helping you see beauty where others don't...), passed off as conversations between the characters, had been cut, things would have moved faster without affecting the plot.

[Cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Susan Warner’s The Wide, Wide World and then delved into this one. As I read the first few chapters I found that the storyline was much the same in the two novels. Little girl, nice guy, tragic circumstances change her life, then the adventure begins. But the adventure was noticeably different, and I for one found it better than Warner’s previous book. I found the storyline more complex in this book—just more happened, you know? And there was a twist I wasn’t expecting, which obliged me to stay up late reading chapter after chapter before being able to lay it down.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Heartwarming Story That Will Never Grow Old

I will admit that the book is long and the language a bit antiquated, but the story itself is well worth the journey through all of the pages. The author centered the story on the life of one girl, and what a story of is. I enjoyed the journey very much!

[Rileysfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful

This book would've rated five stars except it was somewhat difficult to follow at times. Delightful story. It made me cry.