Otherwise Phyllis

by Meredith Nicholson

"Phyllis is a healthy, hearty, vivacious young woman of prankish disposition and inquiring mind.... About the best example between book covers of the American girl whose general attitude toward mankind is one of friendliness." --Boston Advertiser.

Genres: Fiction

123 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

Meredith Nicholson was a best-selling author, a politician, and a diplomat.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall not a favorite, but the story is well written and the characters interesting. I didn’t care for the mother’s story that much (twice divorced and sorry about it but expecting to come back to be honored by the town...it was just a bit too edgy given the circumstances of the town life). And in many ways the story really seemed to act like marriage was a pity and bad for the average person, so I couldn’t get behind that. Of course, though, rambunctious Phil (Phyllis) gets to find true love, but not so anyone else. So while the small-town-life parts were good, it was also kinda bummer.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young lady named Phyllis is a tomboy and also the town's darling (except that her three aunts disapprove of her). She is the daughter of a local lawyer whose wife ran off and left him back when Phyllis was a baby. The man with whom she left came from a prominent family, the Holtons, and because of the scandal, the two families have never really been on speaking terms.
Now Phyllis is nearly grown up, and she makes the acquaintance of two young men of the younger generation of Holtons (the nephews of the man her mother eloped with). She makes friends with both of them, although one is a gentleman and the other only has a veneer of niceness.

There was quite a lot of financial talk in this book that made my eyes glaze over, but understanding the details was not essential to enjoying the book.
The story is about Phil's close relationship with her father and uncle, her adapting to the unexpected return of her mother, and the averting of calamity within the business realm of the town. Phil has lots of spunk and wit and is a good character.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Meredith Nicholson writes people, he writes them well. The first third of this book was just plain joy to read: the characters jump off of the page, the landscape comes alive, and the reader stands on Main Street, admiring the dogs that Phyllis writes about.

After that, it gets bogged down--as I find many Nicholson novels do--in financial swindles and complications. Since I am not a financier, and since we are far removed (in some ways) from the time period in which these events were contemporary, I found myself getting lost in the details of what on earth was going on.

Ultimately, one doesn't need to understand exactly what is happening with the finances to enjoy the rest of the book, however, and it is a bittersweet journey as Phyllis comes to grips with who she is and who she must be as an adult. I still had questions I wish Nicholson had answered, but he did deliver a happy-enough ending for my romantic heart.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know if this would be a 4-star book by 2016 standards. Phyllis ("Phil") is definitely a Pollyanna-aw-shucks-make-the-best-of-everything gal. (I hate the word gal.) When I first put it on my list of books to read, I don't know if I noticed that it was first published in 1913, & as soon as I began reading I wondered how typical it was of books 100 years ago because Phyllis could have been a character played by Katherine Hepburn, or a tomboy in the 60s. Then again, I guess the Gibson Girl was always seen as an athletic female (for those sporting pastimes considered healthy for girls), so maybe that's part of the makeup of Phyllis. She's super outdoorsy, she isn't above running her own kitchen, she's got every chance to attend college, & when a date gets pushy she punches him in the face.

I was shocked at how modern she is.

[Jennifer Booth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice story about plain people

Sometimes I need to read about normal people who lead a simple life! This is the nook! Of it maybe from ages past, but its a good little read!