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Nearby
This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1947
About the author
Elizabeth Yates
105 books80 followersElizabeth Yates, author of over forty books for children, was born in New York State on December 6th, 1905. Determined to be an author, she moved to New York City to launch her career. She worked a variety of jobs including reviewing book, writing short stories, and doing research. She moved to England with her husband and wrote her first book, High Holiday, based on her travels in Switzerland with her three children. The family returned to the U.S. in 1939 and settled in New Hampshire. Yates won the Newbery Award in 1951 for her book, Amos Fortune, Free Man, a biography of an African prince who is enslaved and taken to America.
Yates conducted writer's workshops at the University of New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut, and Indiana University. She also served as the Director of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind.
Yates was widowed in 1963. Elizabeth Yates died Sunday at a hospice in Concord, New Hampshire on July 29, 2001 at the age of 95.
Elizabeth Yates' books have been described as "the result of extensive research, a strong underlying belief in God, and a vivid imagination."
Yates conducted writer's workshops at the University of New Hampshire, the University of Connecticut, and Indiana University. She also served as the Director of the New Hampshire Association for the Blind.
Yates was widowed in 1963. Elizabeth Yates died Sunday at a hospice in Concord, New Hampshire on July 29, 2001 at the age of 95.
Elizabeth Yates' books have been described as "the result of extensive research, a strong underlying belief in God, and a vivid imagination."
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
August 22, 2018
I am not sure how many times I have read this book. But it had been awhile and since I was up in the middle of the night, I thought, "Hey, old favorite. Here I come."
I am amazed at the beauty of this book, even though I have read it multiple times. It is more a "women's fiction" style book, with some slight romantic hints. The story of a school teacher that teaches in a town bound by prejudice and moralistic legalism that harmed those that didn't fit into the boxes they had set up.
I found myself encouraged by Mary's persistent and gentle ways of breaking down the boundaries, teaching the children truth to hopefully find change in the adults. I want to pick up and re-read all of her books once again.
I am amazed at the beauty of this book, even though I have read it multiple times. It is more a "women's fiction" style book, with some slight romantic hints. The story of a school teacher that teaches in a town bound by prejudice and moralistic legalism that harmed those that didn't fit into the boxes they had set up.
I found myself encouraged by Mary's persistent and gentle ways of breaking down the boundaries, teaching the children truth to hopefully find change in the adults. I want to pick up and re-read all of her books once again.
January 16, 2024
Such a lovely book, following a one-room-schoolhouse teacher through a challenging but rewarding year in a new area. Originally published in 1947 and set in small-town New England, this book tackles difficult topics such as prejudice, prostitution, and suicide in a gentle and hopeful way. Good reading for teens and adults alike!
September 25, 2008
I loved this book - the author's descriptions of the change in weather and her powerful depiction of the difference love can make was inspiring!
Here's one quote (among many that I noted)on p. 53, "Assure yourself constantly that your work does count. Sometimes I can only bandage a finger when I know the whole body should be cared for, but all that I am and have goes into that one thing I am allowed to do. There's so much darkness everywhere. In some cases the work you do may seem like only a pinprick of light, but what matters is not that the darkness is immense but that it has been pierced."
Here's one quote (among many that I noted)on p. 53, "Assure yourself constantly that your work does count. Sometimes I can only bandage a finger when I know the whole body should be cared for, but all that I am and have goes into that one thing I am allowed to do. There's so much darkness everywhere. In some cases the work you do may seem like only a pinprick of light, but what matters is not that the darkness is immense but that it has been pierced."
November 11, 2020
Richly written, sweet moments, and good lessons- this was an enjoyable read that had me wishing there was a sequel so I could revisit Nearby and it’s characters.
December 20, 2025
Written in the 1940s and published shortly after WWII, Nearby is a novel about a young teacher who takes a position in a rural, one-room school and sets about the task of teaching her students with an aspiring, open heart. She soon learns, however, that the more she does to embrace all of her students and brighten their futures, the harsher she is judged by many of the local inhabitants.
Mary faces the major, perennial challenges: prejudice, gossip, favoritism. I loved her love of the children, her appreciation for the natural world around her, and her ability to see those within the community as whole human beings--to look past disagreements and find the seeds of stronger relationships. I read the whole book—as I always do—with consideration of the time period in which it was written; but what is so fascinating about this book is how forthrightly the author and heroine tackle the challenges that teachers still face today.
Mary faces the major, perennial challenges: prejudice, gossip, favoritism. I loved her love of the children, her appreciation for the natural world around her, and her ability to see those within the community as whole human beings--to look past disagreements and find the seeds of stronger relationships. I read the whole book—as I always do—with consideration of the time period in which it was written; but what is so fascinating about this book is how forthrightly the author and heroine tackle the challenges that teachers still face today.
September 25, 2020
I adore stories about school teachers and this is a good one! Mary's compassion for her students and the life lessons she taught them were inspiring. In the process, she helps the town overcome prejudices of all kinds and learns what deep and lasting love is for herself. Reading this also made me yearn for the good Christian teachings that are no longer allowed in our public schools.
So many great truths and favorite quotes in this book:
-Savoring the beauty of each moment: p.21--Everyone is seeking happiness and so few are finding it; most people are living ahead of themselves, so few in the moment at hand.
-p. 34 No, if she had learned anything at all in the few years she had had to put her college training into practice it was that every child must stand equally in a teacher's eyes, as every individual was equal before God. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," she found herself repeating. It was all too evident why some of the children had not made their grades. Mrs. Farnum had not been interested in them. She had not cared what they did; she had cared only for what the promising or likable children did.
-p.43 Ben took her hand in his as they walked through the dark tunnel that was the wood road, guided more by the narrow path of stars overhead than by the track beneath. Mary felt herself tingling at the touch of his hand in hers, and yet it seemed too natural, as if their hands had been made to fit each other.
-p.62 "Well, Mary, it's the difficult ones that add spice to teaching. They make you prove yourself. It's the grinding stone that gives the blade an edge."
-p.94 Sometimes it seemed that she had carried with her into her teaching career but two things--her degree, of course, without which she would have been unable to get a position, and the memory of a deeply loved teacher explaining once to a listening class that the first object of education was to teach God as Father and Friend. "If you take for your standard the dual question: What will God think of it? How will it seem in His sight? You will be working right. It is never an individual that you set out to please, but your highest concept of good."
-This is so poetic-p. 110 Saturday was as gray as a November could be. It had about itself an air of timelessness, for from the moment light came until it went, there was no change of light or shift of shadow to mark the passing of an hour. Color had almost gone from the world, leaving only the slate blue of distant hills, the brown of earth and trees, the green of the pines; but lines remained. The structure upon which beauty was built was never more apparent: on towering maple or wide-flung elm, the eye could behold the icy tracery of winter, the greenery of spring, the fulsomeness of summer, the flamboyance of autumn.
-p.137 "If religion were always just that," Dan was saying, "joy and reverence, inspiration from without, deepening from within, and cheerful fellowship, I'd go to church more often."
-Mary teaches the children about Hans Christian Anderson: p.145 "He had small means to aid him, but he had something that was sufficient for any need--an absolute conviction that God was guiding him. Later in his life he wrote with feeling, 'There is a loving God who directs all things for the best.'"and p.146 "In the quietness of his study, he prayed, 'Let me never write a word of which I shall not be able to give an account to Thee,' for, as in his childhood, he felt that God was watching him and that all the good that came to him came from God."
-p.148 Patsy stopped at Mary's desk. "I never knew how wonderful books were." She picked up the crimson volume and held it to her cheek. "Why, they have thoughts--somebody's thoughts--and we can know them just by reading. It's lovely to think that we can buy them when they're so precious."
-p.151 Mary smiled. She had given a good deal of time to one subject, perhaps too much, according to certain standards, and it would take some fine arranging next week to make up in arithmetic, geography, and spelling what English had gained; but the reactions of the children made her feel that she had gone deeply enough to make it all real to them. So much of education was by rote, and only as it became incorporated into individual beings was it of any moment later on; but feeling for books would be a guide and stay all through life. To gain a glimpse of that was one of those extras which sometimes amounted to more than all the school subjects.
-p.175 "Yes." He nodded. "I think that's why we're different colors, 'cause God looks at us through His rainbows."
-p.187 What kind of teacher am I, she asked herself, if I can't learn by the most obvious form of teaching--experience?
-p.187 "Be sure of the path behind you, it will aid the one before you."
-p.232 It was not easy for Mary to understand the devious paths that jealousy could pursue, but ignorance would never protect her. Knowledge would, and it would help her to steady the children. They need not be tossed by every wind of doctrine if they had solid ground on which to stand.
-p.279 "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."
-p.302 "The comparison is obvious: a good character has a good purpose and pursues it to the desired end. Thus we arrive back at our text for the day. 'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.' All things do work together for good," he concluded quietly, "whenever God is loved."
-p.314 "We are handling race problems. We are approaching a united nation as we dare to look upon humanity as one race--the human race."
-Love vs. Lust p. 324 She knew now without any doubt that what she felt for Dan was love; but it was so deep, so pure, so natural that she had utterly mistaken it. The feeling she had once had for Ben was bondage; the feeling she now had for Dan was freedom. With him she thought her own thoughts, and when their thoughts united, as they so often did, it was a constructive thing. With Ben, thinking had been subservient to emotion. Why had she not seen then that that was no basis upon which to build a united life? Why had she let herself feel lonely and deprived during the years between? It was so clear to her now that thinking must always be paramount. Feeling, of course, was essential. This quickening of every pulse in her body at the sight of Dan was a thrilling thing, but through it she could still think. She knew why she had quickened so; she could give an answer to anyone for the joy that was within her. That had not been so before. Oh, she had been so young with Ben: their hand linked, their bodies hungered, but the reality of each one never met the reality in the other. It was something she could look back on with fondness but without reproach. How van she had been all these years to think love would not come again when she had never known love.
-p.333 "Because," he spoke slowly, "for myself, I had to be sure of you. A man at my age does not love for the first time to be disappointed. And for you, as I said this afternoon, it had to come from you. I could not coerce you. If that other one you held in memory was so real, I would not have wanted to take him from you. Love must grow, as all tender plants."
So many great truths and favorite quotes in this book:
-Savoring the beauty of each moment: p.21--Everyone is seeking happiness and so few are finding it; most people are living ahead of themselves, so few in the moment at hand.
-p. 34 No, if she had learned anything at all in the few years she had had to put her college training into practice it was that every child must stand equally in a teacher's eyes, as every individual was equal before God. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal," she found herself repeating. It was all too evident why some of the children had not made their grades. Mrs. Farnum had not been interested in them. She had not cared what they did; she had cared only for what the promising or likable children did.
-p.43 Ben took her hand in his as they walked through the dark tunnel that was the wood road, guided more by the narrow path of stars overhead than by the track beneath. Mary felt herself tingling at the touch of his hand in hers, and yet it seemed too natural, as if their hands had been made to fit each other.
-p.62 "Well, Mary, it's the difficult ones that add spice to teaching. They make you prove yourself. It's the grinding stone that gives the blade an edge."
-p.94 Sometimes it seemed that she had carried with her into her teaching career but two things--her degree, of course, without which she would have been unable to get a position, and the memory of a deeply loved teacher explaining once to a listening class that the first object of education was to teach God as Father and Friend. "If you take for your standard the dual question: What will God think of it? How will it seem in His sight? You will be working right. It is never an individual that you set out to please, but your highest concept of good."
-This is so poetic-p. 110 Saturday was as gray as a November could be. It had about itself an air of timelessness, for from the moment light came until it went, there was no change of light or shift of shadow to mark the passing of an hour. Color had almost gone from the world, leaving only the slate blue of distant hills, the brown of earth and trees, the green of the pines; but lines remained. The structure upon which beauty was built was never more apparent: on towering maple or wide-flung elm, the eye could behold the icy tracery of winter, the greenery of spring, the fulsomeness of summer, the flamboyance of autumn.
-p.137 "If religion were always just that," Dan was saying, "joy and reverence, inspiration from without, deepening from within, and cheerful fellowship, I'd go to church more often."
-Mary teaches the children about Hans Christian Anderson: p.145 "He had small means to aid him, but he had something that was sufficient for any need--an absolute conviction that God was guiding him. Later in his life he wrote with feeling, 'There is a loving God who directs all things for the best.'"and p.146 "In the quietness of his study, he prayed, 'Let me never write a word of which I shall not be able to give an account to Thee,' for, as in his childhood, he felt that God was watching him and that all the good that came to him came from God."
-p.148 Patsy stopped at Mary's desk. "I never knew how wonderful books were." She picked up the crimson volume and held it to her cheek. "Why, they have thoughts--somebody's thoughts--and we can know them just by reading. It's lovely to think that we can buy them when they're so precious."
-p.151 Mary smiled. She had given a good deal of time to one subject, perhaps too much, according to certain standards, and it would take some fine arranging next week to make up in arithmetic, geography, and spelling what English had gained; but the reactions of the children made her feel that she had gone deeply enough to make it all real to them. So much of education was by rote, and only as it became incorporated into individual beings was it of any moment later on; but feeling for books would be a guide and stay all through life. To gain a glimpse of that was one of those extras which sometimes amounted to more than all the school subjects.
-p.175 "Yes." He nodded. "I think that's why we're different colors, 'cause God looks at us through His rainbows."
-p.187 What kind of teacher am I, she asked herself, if I can't learn by the most obvious form of teaching--experience?
-p.187 "Be sure of the path behind you, it will aid the one before you."
-p.232 It was not easy for Mary to understand the devious paths that jealousy could pursue, but ignorance would never protect her. Knowledge would, and it would help her to steady the children. They need not be tossed by every wind of doctrine if they had solid ground on which to stand.
-p.279 "All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen."
-p.302 "The comparison is obvious: a good character has a good purpose and pursues it to the desired end. Thus we arrive back at our text for the day. 'And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.' All things do work together for good," he concluded quietly, "whenever God is loved."
-p.314 "We are handling race problems. We are approaching a united nation as we dare to look upon humanity as one race--the human race."
-Love vs. Lust p. 324 She knew now without any doubt that what she felt for Dan was love; but it was so deep, so pure, so natural that she had utterly mistaken it. The feeling she had once had for Ben was bondage; the feeling she now had for Dan was freedom. With him she thought her own thoughts, and when their thoughts united, as they so often did, it was a constructive thing. With Ben, thinking had been subservient to emotion. Why had she not seen then that that was no basis upon which to build a united life? Why had she let herself feel lonely and deprived during the years between? It was so clear to her now that thinking must always be paramount. Feeling, of course, was essential. This quickening of every pulse in her body at the sight of Dan was a thrilling thing, but through it she could still think. She knew why she had quickened so; she could give an answer to anyone for the joy that was within her. That had not been so before. Oh, she had been so young with Ben: their hand linked, their bodies hungered, but the reality of each one never met the reality in the other. It was something she could look back on with fondness but without reproach. How van she had been all these years to think love would not come again when she had never known love.
-p.333 "Because," he spoke slowly, "for myself, I had to be sure of you. A man at my age does not love for the first time to be disappointed. And for you, as I said this afternoon, it had to come from you. I could not coerce you. If that other one you held in memory was so real, I would not have wanted to take him from you. Love must grow, as all tender plants."
July 2, 2019
Such a wonderful treasure of a story. 💗 Nearby is the story of a country school teacher and her students and their journey through the year with the lessons they learned. Beautifully written with such pertinent, but gently taught, lessons on prejudice (amongst others).
** Read the 2018 unabridged, "clean language" edition published by The Good and the Beautiful
** Read the 2018 unabridged, "clean language" edition published by The Good and the Beautiful
November 27, 2022
This is the story that gave me my love for romance 💕 Mary and Dan... they are the kind of couple I aspire to write about *contented sigh*
But this story is so much more than just a beautiful romance. In fact, the romance is a very small part of the story. It tackles tricky topics such as prejudices, prostitution, and suicide with tact and hope 🌳
But this story is so much more than just a beautiful romance. In fact, the romance is a very small part of the story. It tackles tricky topics such as prejudices, prostitution, and suicide with tact and hope 🌳
December 23, 2022
So good. So full of wisdom and the true meaning of love and loving your neighbor (including tough issues like prejudice). Expanded my vocabulary with words seldom seen anymore! 💕 highly recommend
September 21, 2025
A story filled with beautiful writing and yet an even more beautiful message. Filled with empathy, equality, optimism, love, kindness, positivity, and patriotism, Mary is a rural school teacher in a small New England town in the 1940’s. She leaves you feeling that anyone can make a difference in their communities and that small positive changes will eventually impact the course for generations to come. The author Elizabeth Yates created beautiful imagery with her writing and handled heavy topics sensitively. One of my favorites I’ve read this year.
“There’s so much darkness everywhere. In some cases, the work you do may seem like only a pinprick of light, but what matters is not that the darkness is immense, but that it has been pierced.” (Pg 62)
“Not what they are learning, she said to herself, but what they are loving will count in the end.” (Pg 94)
“It was better that the flesh should always have a thorn than the comfort and security be purchased at the cost of moral values.” (Pg 168)
“Tempted to despair, she caught herself with a reminder that teaching was just that— doing things over and over and over again until gradually they grew into meaning.” (Pg 177)
*some racial language used wouldn’t be considered politically correct today, but the tone of this book was unwavering in its theme of equality and standing against prejudice.
“There’s so much darkness everywhere. In some cases, the work you do may seem like only a pinprick of light, but what matters is not that the darkness is immense, but that it has been pierced.” (Pg 62)
“Not what they are learning, she said to herself, but what they are loving will count in the end.” (Pg 94)
“It was better that the flesh should always have a thorn than the comfort and security be purchased at the cost of moral values.” (Pg 168)
“Tempted to despair, she caught herself with a reminder that teaching was just that— doing things over and over and over again until gradually they grew into meaning.” (Pg 177)
*some racial language used wouldn’t be considered politically correct today, but the tone of this book was unwavering in its theme of equality and standing against prejudice.
September 25, 2018
Simply beautiful.
January 25, 2019
I liked this book, although it is a little slow.
June 30, 2020
A. fiction, societal issues, small town, schoolteacher, from stash, keep. I couldn't believe that in a book written in 1947, such modern timely issues were dealt with.
December 19, 2021
Beautiful book with beautiful characters and messages.
January 14, 2024
Read with my 14 year old. We had some really great discussions on some hard topics that are brought up throughout the book.
October 4, 2008
This is an obscure book that was weeded from my tiny hometown library. The card in the front shows it was checked out once (in March, 1967). My mom picked it up for me along with some of my favorites (that had my name repeatedly on the cards) so one day I picked it up and decided to read it. I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it!
January 28, 2016
Elizabeth Yates often wrote of stories that set pure kindness well within our view, and Nearby is one of those stories. Mary comes to teach the children of Nearby, and she does that, but she loves them more without regard to the stuff prejudice is made of. Perhaps this is an old-fashioned story, but it is warm and winsome, even so.
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April 16, 2010This was a favorite book of mine in my youth. Now it is somewhat dated, but rereading it reminded me why I loved it then... and still have much fondness now. And I know it offered me inspiration to teach.
February 13, 2011
Love this Lady, read her many times when I was younger. Probably should read her again.
June 9, 2012
I enjoyed this book. I bought it at a rummage sale for twenty-five cents! I had never heard of the author, but I am glad I found her. "Nearby" is an interesting story!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews