Only Fifty Years Ago

by Gladys Hasty Carroll

LITTLE, BROWN & CO, 1962. Hard Cover. First Edition.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

276 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Gladys Hasty Carroll (June 26, 1904 – April 1, 1999) was an American novelist active from the late 1920s into the 1980s.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book I originally read when it was new - and that is close to fifty years ago(at least forty). It completely charmed me then, and I will occasionally reread it, just to be reminded of a more innocent time when "good" was easier to define and the paths our lives took seemed to be more clearly marked.

As we usher in a new year, I share the last paragraph, which co-incidentally occurs on the last night of an old year (I think it is about 1910):

"One after another the old years go; one after another the new years come. We have no way of knowing what changes each will bring, but we go forward with faith that God will never ask of us more than we are capable of, and that what we earn, what we deserve, we shall receive in the coming year and all the years ahead."

[Mark S. Ogilvie]

It's a book with a lot more historical perspective than you'd think. Told one month at a time it chronicles the world of New England in 1909 from the perspective of 1962. A very pleasant read.

[Viann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful and filled with remembrance of life before our hurried, busy lives. Lovely read.

[Zendelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books by this author, and this is my second favorite so far. Each chapter is a story from one month of a year in the life of the Hasty family. Beautifully written novel of rural Maine life in the early 20th century.