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Sweet Valley High Magna Editions #1
The Wakefields of Sweet Valley
Follow the riveting stories of the women who came before Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield:
Alice Larson, a bold sixteen-year-old from Sweden, arrives alone in America to start a new life -- but with a broken heart.
Headstrong frontier tomboy Jessamyn runs away to join the circus, leading her sensitive twin, Elisabeth, into a desperate search that ends in tragedy.
Spirited twins and rivals Samantha and Amanda battle for the love of the same boy during the glamorous Roaring Twenties.
Marjorie, stranded in France during World War II, becomes a heroine of the Resistance.
Alice Robertson, child of the tumultuous sixties, makes a painful romantic choice she will hide forever -- even from her twin daughters, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield.
Discover the lives and loves of these extraordinary young women in the biggest, best Sweet Valley story ever.
Alice Larson, a bold sixteen-year-old from Sweden, arrives alone in America to start a new life -- but with a broken heart.
Headstrong frontier tomboy Jessamyn runs away to join the circus, leading her sensitive twin, Elisabeth, into a desperate search that ends in tragedy.
Spirited twins and rivals Samantha and Amanda battle for the love of the same boy during the glamorous Roaring Twenties.
Marjorie, stranded in France during World War II, becomes a heroine of the Resistance.
Alice Robertson, child of the tumultuous sixties, makes a painful romantic choice she will hide forever -- even from her twin daughters, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield.
Discover the lives and loves of these extraordinary young women in the biggest, best Sweet Valley story ever.
346 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
19 people are currently reading
889 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,843 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
April 30, 2012
Okay, so when I was about thirteen or so, I owned two Sweet Valley books. One was this, and one was the companion The Wakefield Legacy. I adored these two books. I remember thinking how cool it was that all the generations that had identical blonde haired twin girls also had a 1 year older brother as well (oh course, now I'm like that's a bit too much but at the time, I adored it). And I will admit that how the Wakefield men and Larson/Watson/Lewis/Robertsen women kept meeting throughout the generations and then losing each other until Jessica and Elizabeth's parents met made my young heart smile as well. I re-read this book yesterday for the first time in years and I have to say, while it was cheesy and a bit exaggerated in some places (but then again, this is the Sweet Valley series were everything in any of the novels is crazy and dramatic), it still left me with a smile on my face when Ned and Alice FINALLY got together, five generations after their relatives met on a boat, fell in love and never saw each other again. What can I say. I'm a sucker for good love story, even a Sweet Valley one. ♥
June 9, 2010
Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I read this entire book while taking a bubble bath. There I said it. I'm not ashamed. SWEET VALLEY SAGA is amazing.
July 13, 2019
Here’s what you need to know about the generations of Wakefields in this book:
Alice Larson gets maybe 10 pages of fame even though she kicks off the whole story. She meets a guy on the ship to America and five pages later is in love with him. Then he gets hauled away after they leave the ship and her heart is broken. But then she meets another guy she marries and has twins Jessamyn and Elisabeth before we’ve even cracked page 20. It’s because Alice herself is not a twin that she gets so little time in the book, I suspect.
Because the only types of twins are those who are wild and nerdy, we have Elisabeth as the homebody who loves Minnesota and the local boy, and then we have Jessamyn who wants to run off with the circus and eventually does. You feel for her, though, and she’s much less a cunt than Jessica. Once Jessamyn goes off to the circus Elisabeth comes in search of her. But once they reunite Elisabeth is soon thrown off a horse and dies. Jessamyn is wrecked and never returns to the circus, but she does find love and eventually births one sociopath and one normal human.
Samantha is the Jessica-level terrible cunt, and her twin Amanda is the twin that, you guessed it!, wants to be a writer. Sam wants to be in movies. Their brother Harry’s roommate, Ted Wakefield, comes to town, and he upends the lives of both Sam and Amanda. Sam wants him, but one moonlit night and many letters later, Amanda and Ted find themselves in love. Sam finds out and plans to steal Ted back. But Ted tells Sam firmly that he loves Amanda. You don’t tell someone who will soon be related to Jessica Wakefield no, so Sam gets revenge. She sets Ted up on bootlegging charges and pretends to be Amanda so that he will think she’s forever pissed at him and that Amanda’s the one who set him up. When Amanda doesn’t hear from Ted she puts the pieces together. She is absolutely furious with Sam and refuses to talk to her ever again. This is something Liz would never do with Jess, so I am so glad that Amanda has a spine. And she doesn’t talk to Sam, not even when she moves to Hollywood and becomes famous. Sam finds love which galls Amanda, because how could her sister forget Ted so quickly when she got revenge over him? Amanda can’t forget Ted ever. But then she hears Sam is having a baby and losing blood. She rushes to Sam’s side just as she is taking her last breaths. Sam gives birth to Marjorie, and Amanda raises her with Sam’s husband, Jack.
Marjorie also gets maybe 40 pages, because she is not a twin. She’s trapped in France in WWII, but she becomes part of the Resistance to help Allies, and she meets and falls in love with a boy named Jacques. But, as you would expect by now with these books, some tragedy must befall her, so Jacques gets gunned down in a Nazi raid with Marjorie looking on. Marjorie eventually gets back to the U.S. and marries George Robertson, giving birth to Alice, Nancy, and Laura.
Though she is Jess and Liz’s mom, Alice gets barely more book time than Marjorie. We learn, of course, about the romance she once had with Hank Patman (spoiler: they almost married). But a Wakefield finally gets a happy ending when Ned swoops in and, on the day of her wedding, Alice can’t seem to shake him off. She leaves Hank and runs into Ned’s arms. Little does she know that giving birth to twins will bring sociopathy, serial killers, revenge schemes, near death, fantasy worlds, and a whole host of other things into her life.
Alice Larson gets maybe 10 pages of fame even though she kicks off the whole story. She meets a guy on the ship to America and five pages later is in love with him. Then he gets hauled away after they leave the ship and her heart is broken. But then she meets another guy she marries and has twins Jessamyn and Elisabeth before we’ve even cracked page 20. It’s because Alice herself is not a twin that she gets so little time in the book, I suspect.
Because the only types of twins are those who are wild and nerdy, we have Elisabeth as the homebody who loves Minnesota and the local boy, and then we have Jessamyn who wants to run off with the circus and eventually does. You feel for her, though, and she’s much less a cunt than Jessica. Once Jessamyn goes off to the circus Elisabeth comes in search of her. But once they reunite Elisabeth is soon thrown off a horse and dies. Jessamyn is wrecked and never returns to the circus, but she does find love and eventually births one sociopath and one normal human.
Samantha is the Jessica-level terrible cunt, and her twin Amanda is the twin that, you guessed it!, wants to be a writer. Sam wants to be in movies. Their brother Harry’s roommate, Ted Wakefield, comes to town, and he upends the lives of both Sam and Amanda. Sam wants him, but one moonlit night and many letters later, Amanda and Ted find themselves in love. Sam finds out and plans to steal Ted back. But Ted tells Sam firmly that he loves Amanda. You don’t tell someone who will soon be related to Jessica Wakefield no, so Sam gets revenge. She sets Ted up on bootlegging charges and pretends to be Amanda so that he will think she’s forever pissed at him and that Amanda’s the one who set him up. When Amanda doesn’t hear from Ted she puts the pieces together. She is absolutely furious with Sam and refuses to talk to her ever again. This is something Liz would never do with Jess, so I am so glad that Amanda has a spine. And she doesn’t talk to Sam, not even when she moves to Hollywood and becomes famous. Sam finds love which galls Amanda, because how could her sister forget Ted so quickly when she got revenge over him? Amanda can’t forget Ted ever. But then she hears Sam is having a baby and losing blood. She rushes to Sam’s side just as she is taking her last breaths. Sam gives birth to Marjorie, and Amanda raises her with Sam’s husband, Jack.
Marjorie also gets maybe 40 pages, because she is not a twin. She’s trapped in France in WWII, but she becomes part of the Resistance to help Allies, and she meets and falls in love with a boy named Jacques. But, as you would expect by now with these books, some tragedy must befall her, so Jacques gets gunned down in a Nazi raid with Marjorie looking on. Marjorie eventually gets back to the U.S. and marries George Robertson, giving birth to Alice, Nancy, and Laura.
Though she is Jess and Liz’s mom, Alice gets barely more book time than Marjorie. We learn, of course, about the romance she once had with Hank Patman (spoiler: they almost married). But a Wakefield finally gets a happy ending when Ned swoops in and, on the day of her wedding, Alice can’t seem to shake him off. She leaves Hank and runs into Ned’s arms. Little does she know that giving birth to twins will bring sociopathy, serial killers, revenge schemes, near death, fantasy worlds, and a whole host of other things into her life.
March 16, 2016
Okay, I loved this when I was like, ten. Not sure how I'd feel about it now, but I'm certain this book (and its counterpart) is, at the very least, a brick in the foundation of my obsession with genealogy.
July 10, 2015
I remember reading this book dozens of times when I was younger... Unfortunately, it was lost years ago and I have been unable to find it since-- although I have hope that EBay will help.
I love this story... I think it is the reason that I now love historical-fiction as much as I do.
I love this story... I think it is the reason that I now love historical-fiction as much as I do.
December 27, 2019
The five-star rating is from my 10/11/12/13-year-old self. I read the crap out of this book as a kid. I don't know why we even owned it but I'm glad we did because it was a comfortable favorite that I could turn to anytime I was between books.
However, for a so-called fluff book, I can recall intricate details of the plot of this book with astonishing clarity even now, 23 years later. Wow!
First adult re-read December 2019:
Guess what? This book TOTALLY holds up. It was everything I remember it being to my young self! Young girls battling with their dual natures, struggling to be more than just One Thing. Sisters who love each other but find themselves competing and scheming against each other, too. Young Women Having Romantical Problems Against Vivid Historical Backdrops. Moms coming to terms with their past selves and passing on hard-learned lessons to the next generation! This book has EVERYTHING.
The copy of this book I read is not my original copy from childhood (I don't know where that copy is, sadly, and even so it's a bit of a mystery, because I asked my mom why we owned this book to begin with and she doesn't know! I wonder where it came from!). I bought this copy from a used book store to give to Miriam for Christmas and then immediately nicked it to read myself!
However, for a so-called fluff book, I can recall intricate details of the plot of this book with astonishing clarity even now, 23 years later. Wow!
First adult re-read December 2019:
Guess what? This book TOTALLY holds up. It was everything I remember it being to my young self! Young girls battling with their dual natures, struggling to be more than just One Thing. Sisters who love each other but find themselves competing and scheming against each other, too. Young Women Having Romantical Problems Against Vivid Historical Backdrops. Moms coming to terms with their past selves and passing on hard-learned lessons to the next generation! This book has EVERYTHING.
The copy of this book I read is not my original copy from childhood (I don't know where that copy is, sadly, and even so it's a bit of a mystery, because I asked my mom why we owned this book to begin with and she doesn't know! I wonder where it came from!). I bought this copy from a used book store to give to Miriam for Christmas and then immediately nicked it to read myself!
January 27, 2023
Oh jeez, I remember really liking this book back in the day. what cracks me up is the specific parts of it that stuck in my impressionable mind. I do think it's really cool that they went back and told the history of the Wakefield family. Guess it was the budding history major in me - I just didn't know it at the time.
August 8, 2018
This has always been one of my favorites! This was my first taste of historical fiction as a kid and I have loved it ever since. I also credit this with attributing to my obsession with genealogy. Always worth a re-read. 🙃
November 26, 2012
I don't know what made me think of this book today, but man I LOVED it when I was a kid!
December 10, 2018
So crappily nostalgic and fun, I definitely liked this one more than I should. I remember loving it and reading it several times over as a kid, but I couldn't recall any of thr stories other than the Jessamyn/Elizabeth chapter, so for much of the book, I found myself unspoiled. Though the generations and historical elements of the story are super simplistic and stereotypical, they were still fun to read- the infusion of various supporting Sweet Valley characters- Wilkins and Patmans- here and there was also a fun touch. A good mindless read for a day when zi was unable to do much else/stuck with my feet up and on painkillers.
September 19, 2013
A Goodreads friend posted this as read and it reminded me that I probably read this book about 12 times. It tells the story of Jessica and Elizabeth's ancestry, basically, through Prohibition, wars, love triangles, rivalries, and mistaken identities (lots of generations of blonde twins to precede J and E, of course!).
January 27, 2014
Still love this book as much as I did when it was first published. :) If you love the series, YA, and/or historical fiction, it's worth the quick read. I can't count the number of times I've read this one, total guilty pleasure.
August 10, 2007
This book was freakin' epic (when I was 12).
December 7, 2011
One star for Achievement in Sappiness
One star for Achievement in Terrible Poetry
One star for Achievement in Anachronistic Dialogue
Three stars for Enjoyableness
One star for Achievement in Terrible Poetry
One star for Achievement in Anachronistic Dialogue
Three stars for Enjoyableness
December 11, 2014
10-year old Wendy gives this book 5 stars. This was the book that launched my love of the family saga.
October 17, 2014
I basically read this aloud in my bedroom at 2 AM every night imagining they were making a TV movie starring me in all the Wakefield parts. My Samantha was particularly good.
August 4, 2018
So cheesy but one of my favourites when I was young... I couldn't resist re-reading after I found this on Amazon.
September 1, 2018
Reading this again brings back so many memories. Full of insta-romance, heartrending death scenes, and generations of strong women, this is a fabulous companion to the other Sweet Valley ancestry book.
November 17, 2021
Feeling the nostalgia lately; I gave away all my Sweet Valley books many years ago and have been slowly collecting a few again. I loved the peek into the loves and lives of the women who came before Elizabeth and Jessica.
November 13, 2017
This was so bonkers. It did make me want to go back and read some OG SVH. It made me miss MY Wakefield twins.
April 13, 2019
A reread for me, always enjoyable as I have long been a SV fan. Nice to hear of the generations before the twins who moulded the Wakefield clan. A short, easy read that any SV fan will enjoy!
April 6, 2020
4 star for nostalgia purposes. Every page reminded me how much I loved this book as a teen. 😃
August 4, 2020
I know I only like this book because of the nostalgia factor — I probably read it for the first time when I was 11, and I still enjoy it hugely.
April 22, 2021
30 years later and this was still an enjoyable read! I honestly couldn’t believe how much of it I remembered.
September 5, 2021
This has been my favorite SVH book yet!! Freaking LOVED it!!!!
December 31, 2021
The best and most batshit of the sagas.
February 23, 2022
Waited for 9yrs to find and read this book. It was everything I had hoped it would be :)
September 8, 2023
I loved this book so much. It goes back through the history of ancestors until Elizabeth and Jessica. I love this type of book, going through the generations. It's like 5 historical novels at once with a common thread.
I just reviewed the normal Sweet Valley High first book, and I take issue with it not because I didn't love the book, but because of how the idea of the "perfect size six" wormed it's way into my psyche. I don't remember that happening in this book, but at the time I probably wouldn't have noticed, so be aware that that may be present.
I just reviewed the normal Sweet Valley High first book, and I take issue with it not because I didn't love the book, but because of how the idea of the "perfect size six" wormed it's way into my psyche. I don't remember that happening in this book, but at the time I probably wouldn't have noticed, so be aware that that may be present.
December 15, 2023
I loved this series so much when I was young!
June 24, 2024
I had this book when I was 11 or so and it was so cute and a fun read.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews