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The Revolt of Sarah Perkins
Adult historical fiction by the author of the beloved Shadow Castle.
The spinster schoolmarm from New England had an idea or two about education... and the wild Colorado territory had a lot to learn!
When prim Sarah Perkins arrived in Belle City, the townspeople were delighted. She looked tired, meek, manageable and — best of all — unmarriageable. A schoolmarm who would stay a schoolmarm in the woman-hungry Colorado territory.
But they hadn't reckoned on Sarah's downright defiance of the town's written and unwritten rules... nor on the fact that in addition to "learnin" their children, Sarah Perkins had a thing or two to teach them.
The school board revolted. So did Sarah. And when the women organized against her, she called for help from the men. They came to offer moral support, financial backing — and proposals of marriage...
The spinster schoolmarm from New England had an idea or two about education... and the wild Colorado territory had a lot to learn!
When prim Sarah Perkins arrived in Belle City, the townspeople were delighted. She looked tired, meek, manageable and — best of all — unmarriageable. A schoolmarm who would stay a schoolmarm in the woman-hungry Colorado territory.
But they hadn't reckoned on Sarah's downright defiance of the town's written and unwritten rules... nor on the fact that in addition to "learnin" their children, Sarah Perkins had a thing or two to teach them.
The school board revolted. So did Sarah. And when the women organized against her, she called for help from the men. They came to offer moral support, financial backing — and proposals of marriage...
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1965
3 people are currently reading
113 people want to read
About the author
Marian Cockrell
13 books8 followersMarian Cockrell was a talented screenwriter as well as novelist, best known for the enchanting Shadow Castle.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 9, 2012
This has been my all time favourite book since my grandmother gave it to me at the age of 11. I've read it so often its fallen to pieces and can no longer be handled. Sometimes I just stand and look at it wistfully....
**UPDATE** My gorgeous sister has outlaid an enormous amount of money to have an ex-library hardcover version imported from the US!! (Many kisses xxxx). Publishers, someone re-publish this book!!
**UPDATE** My gorgeous sister has outlaid an enormous amount of money to have an ex-library hardcover version imported from the US!! (Many kisses xxxx). Publishers, someone re-publish this book!!
May 11, 2008
A small 19th century frontier town has so few single women that every time someone is hired to teach at the local school she marries quickly and leaves the children without a teacher. Determined to avoid this situation, the school board decides to hire someone so plain she will remain single. Thus, Sarah Perkins, a single lady from the East Coast ventures out West, without knowing why she was chosen for the job.
A gifted teacher, Sarah will also teach the locals a little about the best laid plans going astray...
This is by the author of the beloved Shadow Castle. Cockrell was a noted screenwriter, as well as gifted writer.
A gifted teacher, Sarah will also teach the locals a little about the best laid plans going astray...
This is by the author of the beloved Shadow Castle. Cockrell was a noted screenwriter, as well as gifted writer.
January 19, 2011
This is one of my comfort books that I read again and again. It is a funny romance without any explicit sex. For me it is similar to Georgette Heyer in terms of the strong heroine, humor, historic setting and non explicit romance; however it is set in Colorado in the US so if you read Heyer for the English setting you might not care for it.
May 21, 2008
I LOVED this book, and I am eternally grateful to Constance for recommending it. I don't know how I missed it growing up, but I'm glad I got to read it.
October 30, 2017
This book is awesome! Funny and sweet in turns. I have read this book an embarrassing amount of times.
November 9, 2012
Here's is a summary I found on paperbackswap.com (an excellent site if you are unfamiliar with it):
The spinster schoolmarm from New England had an idea or two about education... and the wild Colorado territory had a — lot to learn! — When prim Sarah Perkins arrived in Belle City, the towns-people were delighted. She looked tired, meek, manageable — and - best of all - unmarriageable. A schoolmarm who would stay a schoolmarm in the woman-hungry Colorado territory.
But the hadn't reckoned on Sarah's downright defiance of the town's written and unwritten rules... nor on the fact that in addition to "learnin" their children, Sarah Perkins had a thing or two to teach them.
The school board revolted. So did Sarah. And when the women organized against her, she called for help from the men.
They came to offer moral support, financial backing - and proposals of marriage...
I was LUCKY enough to find a copy at my local library as it is out of print and ridiculously expensive. I cannot remember where I found a recommendation for this book, but it is truly a delight. It is quite witty and at times laugh out loud funny. Although it is a little light in the romance category, I barely missed it as the story is very enjoyable.
My only quibble is in regards to an extremely brutal attack from an indian raiding party, but I've never been overly fond of violence so I am biased.
Anywho, if you can find it, I hope you enjoy "The Revolt of Sarah Perkins" as much as I did.
The spinster schoolmarm from New England had an idea or two about education... and the wild Colorado territory had a — lot to learn! — When prim Sarah Perkins arrived in Belle City, the towns-people were delighted. She looked tired, meek, manageable — and - best of all - unmarriageable. A schoolmarm who would stay a schoolmarm in the woman-hungry Colorado territory.
But the hadn't reckoned on Sarah's downright defiance of the town's written and unwritten rules... nor on the fact that in addition to "learnin" their children, Sarah Perkins had a thing or two to teach them.
The school board revolted. So did Sarah. And when the women organized against her, she called for help from the men.
They came to offer moral support, financial backing - and proposals of marriage...
I was LUCKY enough to find a copy at my local library as it is out of print and ridiculously expensive. I cannot remember where I found a recommendation for this book, but it is truly a delight. It is quite witty and at times laugh out loud funny. Although it is a little light in the romance category, I barely missed it as the story is very enjoyable.
My only quibble is in regards to an extremely brutal attack from an indian raiding party, but I've never been overly fond of violence so I am biased.
Anywho, if you can find it, I hope you enjoy "The Revolt of Sarah Perkins" as much as I did.
May 8, 2017
I love all the five stars reviews for this, I first read it as a teenager and it has been a favorite ever since. Hadn't re-read it for awhile, and it was still fab. I'm sure Marian must have had a great sense of humor...her characters make such wonderfully smart remarks. This needs to be reissued! E-book at least!
June 20, 2012
If I was going to compare it to another book, it reminds me in feeling and flavour of The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.
Thirty year old spinster Sarah Perkins is very much like Valancy Stirling - intelligent, not ugly but not beautiful, suppressed by her unenlightened family and brimming with unfulfilled potential. No one can imagine, least of all Sarah herself, that her days of drudgery and misery are soon to be over.
When the school board advertise to fill the position of school teacher in the town, they are so tired of the women coming, marrying and leaving the post that their only solution is to try to pick someone who is homely and unmarriageable. When none of the applicants are downright homely, they pick Sarah because she looks the most patient and 'plain'. Lucas Ferguson, a widower, a father and chairman of the school board still isn't happy, saying: "But I sure wish she was wall-eyed or something." :D
When Sarah makes the long and exhausting journey West, she has no idea that she is going to find herself in a completely new world with new challenges to overcome, new friendships and even love.
Cockrell's writing style is a delight. She's so funny without being slapstick and I loved Sarah's constant trials and tribulations and the way she overcomes them all.
Cockrell's characters are also wonderful - vivid and lively they almost seem to come dancing off the page and you can see and hear them.
Sarah is generally very serious, but has a wry and incisive wit about her - she's likeable and a suitable heroine without being over the top heroic. You can sympathise with her as she's daunted by the less than ideal conditions of the school - insufficient benches and stools, sub-par reading materials, students who don't want to be there,a leaking roof, a single co-ed toilet and parents who like to interfere a lot without providing much assistance.
Lucas Ferguson is a testy, energetic but oddly hilarious man and you can't help liking him despite his habit of losing his temper. His relationship with his hilarious son Russell is absolutely wonderful.
George and Alice Bailey are among the first to befriend Sarah and they're a warm and loving couple who clearly have their own troubles and a Past that we only learn about much later in the book. Their little son Georgie is as irrepressible and hilarious as Luke's son Russell.
Cockrell peppers her book with many, many characters and yet you never lose track of them and they all have a voice and a face. Whether it's Kate Feather and her fallen ladies, the righteous Martha Higgins or the malevolent Charlotte Limpsey, they all come to life and you can't help being interested in their fate.
While the story is very much a reflection of the time - for instance, the fact that a married woman can't continue teaching and must retire, Cockrell appears to have a very modern and enlightened sensibility about race. She makes Sarah a staunch abolitionist yet also introduces sympathetic Southerners who used to own slaves in the form of the Baileys. She never excuses slavery, she deplores it and yet she draws out the humanity in her characters. Similarly with her treatment of the Native American characters. While many of the characters refer to them as savages and 'uncivilised Injuns', Cockrell is very meticulous about ensuring that the reader is fully aware of the injustices meted out to the Native American people and is careful to present both sides of the argument.
One of the most exciting and tragic sections of the novel is a savage attack by a group of drunken Indians - the alcohol having been supplied by an unscrupulous white merchant and the battle being the result of simmering, unresolved tensions. That is tempered by Sarah's stubborn determination to allow a young mixed blooded Native American girl to study at her school - the same way she fought for the right of a prostitute to send her daughter to the school. Cockrell also doesn't try to make the Native Americans into the 'noble savage' with the whites being dastardly and evil. When some parents refuse to let their children attend the school because of the presence of little Redbird, although some of them are plain racist, we learn that some of the parents have had children killed by the Native Americans and that they are still coming to terms with the loss.
Humour, pathos, tragedy, violence and every day stoicism are all dealt with by Cockrell in a matter-of-fact, entertaining and engaging way. Even the 'bad' characters aren't entirely evil and you can't help being interested in what they have to say and why they do the things they do.
My favourite sections are the funny ones. I love the way that the normally composed and serene Sarah just can't seem to stay out of trouble and keeps butting heads with Luke. Somehow, when the two of them together, they argue like five year olds! For instance, when Sarah is trying to convince Lucas that the current reading books are appalling and they need new ones and Luke is insisting that they're fine.
Being a small town, it's reliant on infrequent supplies from the city and it's always a big and exciting event when new consumer goods come to town, brought in by a trader named Fish Williams. There's a rather droll section in which Sarah and Alice gather with the rest of the townsfolk to wait for supplies so that they can buy fabric for new dresses.
Also hilarious but far too long to discuss here are Sarah's attempts to introduce her students to Shakespeare and also the town's first encounter with a performance of Shakespeare ... too funny.
Sarah goes from challenge to challenge, handling each matter with aplomb, growing as a character and also demonstrating the ability to be a good friend as well as good teacher.
It's such a shame this book is out of print and only available from libraries or second-hand at ridiculous prices!!!
If you ever get your hands on this book ... grab it and read it. And read it again :)
Thirty year old spinster Sarah Perkins is very much like Valancy Stirling - intelligent, not ugly but not beautiful, suppressed by her unenlightened family and brimming with unfulfilled potential. No one can imagine, least of all Sarah herself, that her days of drudgery and misery are soon to be over.
When the school board advertise to fill the position of school teacher in the town, they are so tired of the women coming, marrying and leaving the post that their only solution is to try to pick someone who is homely and unmarriageable. When none of the applicants are downright homely, they pick Sarah because she looks the most patient and 'plain'. Lucas Ferguson, a widower, a father and chairman of the school board still isn't happy, saying: "But I sure wish she was wall-eyed or something." :D
When Sarah makes the long and exhausting journey West, she has no idea that she is going to find herself in a completely new world with new challenges to overcome, new friendships and even love.
Cockrell's writing style is a delight. She's so funny without being slapstick and I loved Sarah's constant trials and tribulations and the way she overcomes them all.
Cockrell's characters are also wonderful - vivid and lively they almost seem to come dancing off the page and you can see and hear them.
Sarah is generally very serious, but has a wry and incisive wit about her - she's likeable and a suitable heroine without being over the top heroic. You can sympathise with her as she's daunted by the less than ideal conditions of the school - insufficient benches and stools, sub-par reading materials, students who don't want to be there,a leaking roof, a single co-ed toilet and parents who like to interfere a lot without providing much assistance.
Lucas Ferguson is a testy, energetic but oddly hilarious man and you can't help liking him despite his habit of losing his temper. His relationship with his hilarious son Russell is absolutely wonderful.
George and Alice Bailey are among the first to befriend Sarah and they're a warm and loving couple who clearly have their own troubles and a Past that we only learn about much later in the book. Their little son Georgie is as irrepressible and hilarious as Luke's son Russell.
Cockrell peppers her book with many, many characters and yet you never lose track of them and they all have a voice and a face. Whether it's Kate Feather and her fallen ladies, the righteous Martha Higgins or the malevolent Charlotte Limpsey, they all come to life and you can't help being interested in their fate.
While the story is very much a reflection of the time - for instance, the fact that a married woman can't continue teaching and must retire, Cockrell appears to have a very modern and enlightened sensibility about race. She makes Sarah a staunch abolitionist yet also introduces sympathetic Southerners who used to own slaves in the form of the Baileys. She never excuses slavery, she deplores it and yet she draws out the humanity in her characters. Similarly with her treatment of the Native American characters. While many of the characters refer to them as savages and 'uncivilised Injuns', Cockrell is very meticulous about ensuring that the reader is fully aware of the injustices meted out to the Native American people and is careful to present both sides of the argument.
One of the most exciting and tragic sections of the novel is a savage attack by a group of drunken Indians - the alcohol having been supplied by an unscrupulous white merchant and the battle being the result of simmering, unresolved tensions. That is tempered by Sarah's stubborn determination to allow a young mixed blooded Native American girl to study at her school - the same way she fought for the right of a prostitute to send her daughter to the school. Cockrell also doesn't try to make the Native Americans into the 'noble savage' with the whites being dastardly and evil. When some parents refuse to let their children attend the school because of the presence of little Redbird, although some of them are plain racist, we learn that some of the parents have had children killed by the Native Americans and that they are still coming to terms with the loss.
Humour, pathos, tragedy, violence and every day stoicism are all dealt with by Cockrell in a matter-of-fact, entertaining and engaging way. Even the 'bad' characters aren't entirely evil and you can't help being interested in what they have to say and why they do the things they do.
My favourite sections are the funny ones. I love the way that the normally composed and serene Sarah just can't seem to stay out of trouble and keeps butting heads with Luke. Somehow, when the two of them together, they argue like five year olds! For instance, when Sarah is trying to convince Lucas that the current reading books are appalling and they need new ones and Luke is insisting that they're fine.
Being a small town, it's reliant on infrequent supplies from the city and it's always a big and exciting event when new consumer goods come to town, brought in by a trader named Fish Williams. There's a rather droll section in which Sarah and Alice gather with the rest of the townsfolk to wait for supplies so that they can buy fabric for new dresses.
Also hilarious but far too long to discuss here are Sarah's attempts to introduce her students to Shakespeare and also the town's first encounter with a performance of Shakespeare ... too funny.
Sarah goes from challenge to challenge, handling each matter with aplomb, growing as a character and also demonstrating the ability to be a good friend as well as good teacher.
It's such a shame this book is out of print and only available from libraries or second-hand at ridiculous prices!!!
If you ever get your hands on this book ... grab it and read it. And read it again :)
July 9, 2018
This is one of my all-time favorite books; I've owned my copy for over 50 years and read it at least 10 times--and when you buy and borrow as many books as I do, that's significant. Sarah Perkins, Massachusetts spinster, beaten down by 10 years as an obligation to her brother's family and convinced she's terminally plain, suddenly sees an advertisement for a schoolteacher in the Colorado Territory of 1869--and impulsively answers it. Belle City will never be the same! As Sarah makes friends (and a few enemies), learns to love "my children," finds causes she believes in, and even discovers she's attractive to men, she turns the place upside down and even plays a hero's role during an Indian attack. Filled with unforgettable characters and the flavor of a small settlement where people try to recreate what they left behind, "Revolt" is more than worth your time.
July 3, 2017
A delightful tale of Sarah Perkins who, as an agéd spinster of thirty, takes a school teacher job in Belle City, Colorado. Unbeknownst to her, she was hired because of her plain looks and appearance of docility. Once in Belle City, everything changes.
Teaching awakens in Sarah a fierce desire to give her students the best education possible. She persuades/forces the school board to buy new text books, get the roof fixed and build a second (girls only) outhouse. She also attempts to include children whose parents aren't interested in "book learning", the daughter of a saloon girl and a half-Indian child.
I first read this book in high school and enjoyed it just as much as when I read it today. Lots of humor and tragedy and a satisfactory conclusion.
Teaching awakens in Sarah a fierce desire to give her students the best education possible. She persuades/forces the school board to buy new text books, get the roof fixed and build a second (girls only) outhouse. She also attempts to include children whose parents aren't interested in "book learning", the daughter of a saloon girl and a half-Indian child.
I first read this book in high school and enjoyed it just as much as when I read it today. Lots of humor and tragedy and a satisfactory conclusion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2021
One of the best books I have ever read.
March 15, 2013
This is one of my all time favorite books. Great H & h. A spinster lady, about 30, leaves her brother,s home in the east, where she acts as a governess to his 2 children and a bit of a ladies maid to his wife. She travels out west when she gets the job of a school teacher. the school board has been having a hard time keeping teachers bcause they marry so quickly after arriving. Now, the school board wants a picture with the application. They want to be able to pick the homliest,someone biddable.
Sarah only has one picture which she doesn't like as it makes her look tired. The school board picks her.
and then, well....
I can't remember any real sex scenes only kisses that make you smile and leave you warm.
Blizzards and Indian attacks some kisses a very leaky roof all make for a wonderful read.
Sarah only has one picture which she doesn't like as it makes her look tired. The school board picks her.
and then, well....
I can't remember any real sex scenes only kisses that make you smile and leave you warm.
Blizzards and Indian attacks some kisses a very leaky roof all make for a wonderful read.
September 9, 2012
I LOVE this book! I found it in my highschool library in 1980's and fell in love with it! While reading, I realized the book had been made into a television series back in 1976. The series, titled "Sara" lasted only one season. Actress, Brenda Vaccaro, played in the lead roll as Sara Yarnell - They changed the last name to Yarnell due to Vaccaro being Italian. The book was much better than the series and well worth reading. I have been trying to find this book but didn't have any luck until recently. Finally found it at Amazon for quite a price. Put it on my wish list. One of these days I am going to splurge and buy it! Great to see it listed on Goodreads!
July 2, 2011
In the 1860s, spinster Sarah Perkins goes to teach in Colorado. She was chosen because she was so plain that the school board figured no one would marry her; they had a chronic problem with teachers marrying and, thereafter, being unqualified to teach. Sarah turns out to be a very different teacher than they had expected. I enjoyed this book a lot, in spite of a kind of silly ending.
November 11, 2013
A great read. I checked this out of the library at the same time as Christy by Catherine Marshall. Loved them both! I loved the TV Series made in 1976 and was greatly disappointed when it was canceled. It was scheduled on the same night at the same time as Little House on the Prairie amd was every bit as good, but it was new and Little House was well established.
August 1, 2011
I love this historical romance. It is one of my all time favorite obscure books. Funny, fresh, it is a romance with wonderful characters that are anything but stock. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who likes a fun read.
February 20, 2016
A surprising story to have been written in 1965, since the plot, style, characterization are all of a type popular 50 years earlier but almost non-existent in the 60s. Yet it made for good light reading. Might have been suitable material to be turned into a screen play for TV.
August 24, 2014
One of the most witty books (and authors) I've read!
April 9, 2016
One of my favorite historical romances. Highly recommend.
January 30, 2012
Absolutely love this book. I don't even know how many times I checked it out from my local library. Wish I could find a copy for myself at a decent price.
August 11, 2016
This is an old favorite. It was among my mom's library. It's a keeper. Funny!
January 7, 2017
One of my all-time favorite novels. Well-drawn characters and good touches of humor in the writing.
January 2, 2014
I love this story, and I love Sarah Perkins.
August 28, 2015
One of my all-time favorites!!!
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April 25, 2017School teacher in rough Colorado territory in the early '70s [1870s]. Sort of women's magazine style but entertaining.
(read 9/30/67)
(read 9/30/67)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews