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Miranda Trilogy #1
Marcia Schuyler
Grace Livingston Hill weaves an enchanting love triangle and introduces one of her most delightful characters in part one of the Miranda trilogy. Two sisters are as different as night and day-and inexplicably linked by the man they both desire. Kate Schuyler lives only for what pleasures her in the moment, while Marcia Schuyler sacrifices her youth to marry her older sister's jilted fianc?. Can Marcia endure living in borrowed clothes and a borrowed home with a borrowed husband? Is there hope to win her husband's love when Kate returns, spinning a web of deceit?
300 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1908
219 people are currently reading
697 people want to read
About the author
Grace Livingston Hill
579 books567 followersalso wrote under the pseudonym Marcia MacDonald
also published under the name Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
A popular author of her day, she wrote over 100 novels and numerous short stories of religious and Christian fiction. Her characters were most often young female ingénues, frequently strong Christian women or those who become so within the confines of the story.
niece to Isabella MacDonald Alden
also published under the name Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
A popular author of her day, she wrote over 100 novels and numerous short stories of religious and Christian fiction. Her characters were most often young female ingénues, frequently strong Christian women or those who become so within the confines of the story.
niece to Isabella MacDonald Alden
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
July 20, 2017
If you have never read any of Ms.Hill's novels, I would like to recommend this one as a good start. She wrote over 100 novels along the lines of Louisa May Alcott, Lucy Maud Montgomery, and Laura Ingalls Wilder. Simple stories, romantic, heart warming. What's not to like? They provide a short, easy read, a nice break when one is needed.
August 26, 2012
When I was younger, we would go visit my great-aunt during the summers. She lived in this bitty town in nowhere-southern Indiana. She talked non-stop, called everyone by their first and middle names together, set her thermostat at 60 degrees, and cooked with real butter and cream. She told everyone how to do everything. For entertainment, we would drive around to check on how the corn was doing or out to the old farm in Paxton or down to Vincennes to see the new prison. When the drive was over, there would still be 6 1/2 days of visit left to fill, and all that was left was walking to the Walmart and reading through her bookcase. She had *the most* moral selection of literature, including dozens of novels by Grace Livingston Hill that had belonged to her mother. I used to average about three a day, lying on the floor in the study while the air conditioner blasted and my great-aunt told my mother the best way to do laundry.
This novel was always one of my favorites because it wasn't a contemporary -- kind of hysterical since even her contemporary novels now read like the fustiest of period pieces. Anyway, being set in the early 1830s seemed like a reasonable excuse for being so unbelieveably wholesome.
As usual, my favorite parts are the details -- clothes, food, houses. The characters are over the top -- dastardly cad Harry Temple, saintly younger sister Marcia, brazen hussy Kate... you get the idea. My favorite line describes our hero: "His hands were white and firm, the fingers long and shapely, the hands of a brain worker." Which has to be the least attractive compliment ever. But the book reminds me of my great-aunt who made the best mashed potatoes, and my mother who used to say that if the hero wanted his marriage to succeed, he would stop calling his wife "child" -- not her idea of a successful endearment -- and who had read through my great-aunt's bookcase during the summers when she was a girl.
This novel was always one of my favorites because it wasn't a contemporary -- kind of hysterical since even her contemporary novels now read like the fustiest of period pieces. Anyway, being set in the early 1830s seemed like a reasonable excuse for being so unbelieveably wholesome.
As usual, my favorite parts are the details -- clothes, food, houses. The characters are over the top -- dastardly cad Harry Temple, saintly younger sister Marcia, brazen hussy Kate... you get the idea. My favorite line describes our hero: "His hands were white and firm, the fingers long and shapely, the hands of a brain worker." Which has to be the least attractive compliment ever. But the book reminds me of my great-aunt who made the best mashed potatoes, and my mother who used to say that if the hero wanted his marriage to succeed, he would stop calling his wife "child" -- not her idea of a successful endearment -- and who had read through my great-aunt's bookcase during the summers when she was a girl.
July 21, 2019
3.5 stars
An enjoyable story about a young wife in the early 1800s. It was a clean marriage-of-convenience tale set on the early days of rail travel.
There were so many antagonists that I grew weary of conflict after conflict. I felt like it really overshadowed a sweet little romance and made it hard to really focus on the David/Marcia romance, and a lot of that ended up rushed as a result. So I couldn’t call it more than good, but I still enjoyed it.
An enjoyable story about a young wife in the early 1800s. It was a clean marriage-of-convenience tale set on the early days of rail travel.
There were so many antagonists that I grew weary of conflict after conflict. I felt like it really overshadowed a sweet little romance and made it hard to really focus on the David/Marcia romance, and a lot of that ended up rushed as a result. So I couldn’t call it more than good, but I still enjoyed it.
September 7, 2020
Different than usual for this author...but still enjoyable.
January 19, 2015
Marcia Schuyler revolves around Marcia and her sister Kate and their relationship with David Spafford. The story begins a few days before Kate is to wed David. Marcia sees David's worth and rejoices in her sister's good fortune, but Kate herself finds David too staid and moralising. As a result, she elopes with another man the night before the wedding.
On the morning of the wedding, the Schuyler family discovers Kate's note explaining what she has done, and Mr. Schuyler, disgraced by his daughter's betrayal, offers his younger daughter, Marcia, to David as recompense. Marcia, seeing David's heartbreak, and eager to help him avoid the embarrassment of returning home without the bride he came to fetch agrees, as does David. Marcia is seventeen, but described as a child just approaching womanhood. David is twenty-seven so the difference in their ages is a little uncomfortable, although that kind of age difference was common in romances of old.
Marcia and David are married by chapter six and the rest of the book chronicles the trials of their marriage--Marcia moving away and dealing with David's interfering aunts, David dealing with his broken heart, and both dealing with the fallout of swapping one bride for another--and the romance as they eventually find each other. It's not a story that contains many surprises (it's a romance after all, and we know where it's headed) but the journey is an enjoyable one. My biggest criticisms of the book would be the one-dimensional characters--the good characters (Marcia and David) are impossibly good; Marcia, especially, never puts a foot wrong, is admired by all who see her, and practically has woodland characters following her and singing to her like some animated Disney heroine; and the bad characters are saturated with evil (Kate, for instance, and her cohort, Harry Temple, who plot to ruin Marcia to revenge themselves on David)--and the overwrought prose. I also felt there were certain class distinctions that grated on my modern sensibilities (for instance, lower-class characters are given dialect, even in written letters) and the "third act" drags a bit as characters achieve realizations we thought they'd reached long ago, or reach the same conclusion over and over.
The story takes place in the 1830s and one subplot revolves around the development of a steam railway in Albany, NY. David is a journalist with his own small-town newspaper, but somehow is involved in making the dream of a steam railway a reality. Hill is rather vague on how a journalist is involved in making the railway happen, but it is a convenient plot device to get David out of town about halfway through the novel. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story--Hill does a good job of recreating the era and some details were fascinating. For instance, at an evening gathering to celebrate David and Marcia's wedding we're told, "They served cake and raspberry vinegar then, and a little while after everybody went home." Do you suppose they drank the vinegar? Or dipped the cake in it? And was that a well known signal for everyone to go home? It's an intriguing question.
Overall, I liked the book. It held my attention and I wanted to keep reading it. I never felt like I was slogging through it, and I definitely want to read the remaining two books in the Miranda trilogy (Phoebe Deane and Miranda).
On the morning of the wedding, the Schuyler family discovers Kate's note explaining what she has done, and Mr. Schuyler, disgraced by his daughter's betrayal, offers his younger daughter, Marcia, to David as recompense. Marcia, seeing David's heartbreak, and eager to help him avoid the embarrassment of returning home without the bride he came to fetch agrees, as does David. Marcia is seventeen, but described as a child just approaching womanhood. David is twenty-seven so the difference in their ages is a little uncomfortable, although that kind of age difference was common in romances of old.
Marcia and David are married by chapter six and the rest of the book chronicles the trials of their marriage--Marcia moving away and dealing with David's interfering aunts, David dealing with his broken heart, and both dealing with the fallout of swapping one bride for another--and the romance as they eventually find each other. It's not a story that contains many surprises (it's a romance after all, and we know where it's headed) but the journey is an enjoyable one. My biggest criticisms of the book would be the one-dimensional characters--the good characters (Marcia and David) are impossibly good; Marcia, especially, never puts a foot wrong, is admired by all who see her, and practically has woodland characters following her and singing to her like some animated Disney heroine; and the bad characters are saturated with evil (Kate, for instance, and her cohort, Harry Temple, who plot to ruin Marcia to revenge themselves on David)--and the overwrought prose. I also felt there were certain class distinctions that grated on my modern sensibilities (for instance, lower-class characters are given dialect, even in written letters) and the "third act" drags a bit as characters achieve realizations we thought they'd reached long ago, or reach the same conclusion over and over.
The story takes place in the 1830s and one subplot revolves around the development of a steam railway in Albany, NY. David is a journalist with his own small-town newspaper, but somehow is involved in making the dream of a steam railway a reality. Hill is rather vague on how a journalist is involved in making the railway happen, but it is a convenient plot device to get David out of town about halfway through the novel. I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story--Hill does a good job of recreating the era and some details were fascinating. For instance, at an evening gathering to celebrate David and Marcia's wedding we're told, "They served cake and raspberry vinegar then, and a little while after everybody went home." Do you suppose they drank the vinegar? Or dipped the cake in it? And was that a well known signal for everyone to go home? It's an intriguing question.
Overall, I liked the book. It held my attention and I wanted to keep reading it. I never felt like I was slogging through it, and I definitely want to read the remaining two books in the Miranda trilogy (Phoebe Deane and Miranda).
October 20, 2018
Ehhhh, too many evil women.
July 17, 2015
This book was so fascinating that I could hardly put it down or stop thinking about it. I read it as fast as I could because I just *had* to know the ending! The story revolves around 3 people whose lives are forever changed the day of a wedding. I can't say more without exposing the main theme of the story - the main problem to be dealt with. I found it very captivating. It's not necessarily a happy read for a good chunk of the book. It can be quite heartbreaking and emotionally taxing as you long to see right prevail, and redemption and happiness and true love win. It is so beautiful to watch that unfold, but a little heartbreaking at the same time. There are scoundrels in the book who plot mischievous things and serve to keep you on the edge of your seat, holding your breath for the outcome. In the end, though it was very sad at times, I found the story to be quite beautiful and satisfying. I would definitely read it again!
September 29, 2024
1908 novel set in 1831 in a small town in upper New York State
When 17-year-old Marcia's 20-year-old sister, Kate, elopes with another man the night before her wedding to 26-year-old David, in order to save her family from disgrace and the groom from humiliation, Marcia volunteers to become his substitute bride.
Grace Livingston Hill was born in 1865, and her writing career lasted for 60 years, from 1887-1947, during which time she wrote over 100 novels. This particular book from 1908 was her first major success. It was extremely popular with female readers.
This novel is part of a series that contains the following three books and is sometimes called the Miranda trilogy, and sometimes the Marcia Schuyler trilogy, mainly because both of these female characters appear in all three books:
Marcia Schuyler (1908)
Phoebe Deane (1909)
Miranda (1915)
Hill is often credited with inventing the Christian romance novel. However, neither this novel, nor either of the other two novels in this trilogy, comes anywhere near the modern definition of a romance novel, which involves the FMC onstage with her love interest at least 50% of the novel, with the main focus of the story on their courtship. In fact, in spite of Marcia and David's cohabiting, in their platonic marriage of convenience, throughout this story, there are relatively few scenes in which they interact with each other onstage, and the process of their falling in love gets short shrift, occurring in a rushed manner at the very end of this novel. Instead, the vast majority of page space is melodramatically focused on multiple Snidely Whiplash villains, providing far more of their evil thoughts than Marcia's more uplifting ones.
In its structure, this story appears to be heavily influenced by Victorian stage melodramas, featuring virtuous damsels in peril from evil seducers, which is very much a central feature of this novel. At the end of these morality plays, good would always triumph over evil, which is also the case in this story.
Modern FMCs, both in women's fiction and the romance genre, are expected to be assertive protagonists, who stand up for themselves and save themselves from danger. But both in 1908, when this book was written, and in 1831, the date of the story itself, because of enormous patriarchal pressure, women had no civil rights, no ability to vote, and were constantly infantilized by men. In fact, Marcia is referred to as a "child," by her husband and many other people, throughout this book. Even privileged, upper-class white women, which is the case for Marcia, had most of the innate power involved in that social prestige wiped out by the constant emphasis on their behaving like a "lady," a situation on constant display in all three books of this trilogy. No matter the provocation, a lady must maintain a polite smile and never speak a harsh word. The ability to say, "No," to men or their elders was robbed of females from the cradle. But as often happens in patriarchal power structures, whenever any female gains a level of power over another female, unless she is a saint like Marcia, there is danger that she will abuse that power. In that regard, the people who abuse Marcia the most throughout this novel are all women. The one male villain in this novel gets his inspiration for his evil plots against Marcia from a woman.
Though it is clear that the author spent quite a bit of time studying the era of the 1830s, she had an unfortunate tendency to do huge, irrelevant, boring info dumps of her research into this novel. Worse, in multiple instances, the dates of some of the events and inventions introduced into the story are not even accurate.
In addition, a major, rather aggravating irony of this novel's being categorized as Christian fiction is that every single character is a Christian, who regularly attends church, including all of the villains. And nothing is ever discussed or demonstrated regarding the fact that participating in organized, Christian religion is not a guarantee of righteousness. Righteousness, in fact, seems to be something that people like Marcia and Miranda are born with. They are certainly not socialized into Christian compassion and kindness by any examples in their immediate family.
Having said all that, the saving grace for the modern reader of this trilogy is the character of Miranda, a working-class female, who is willing to go to any wily lengths to protect her friends, including, in particular, Marcia of this novel and the FMC, Phoebe, of the second novel in this series. Miranda is a fascinatingly subversive element. Being from the working class, unlike Marcia and Phoebe, she is not a victim of the Cult of True Womanhood AKA Cult of Domesticity. This was a 19th-century ideology defining ideal gender roles for upper- and middle-class, WASP women in the USA. It emphasized four essential virtues: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity.
This novel is available in both Kindle and audiobook format. The female narrator of the audiobook does an excellent job.
When 17-year-old Marcia's 20-year-old sister, Kate, elopes with another man the night before her wedding to 26-year-old David, in order to save her family from disgrace and the groom from humiliation, Marcia volunteers to become his substitute bride.
Grace Livingston Hill was born in 1865, and her writing career lasted for 60 years, from 1887-1947, during which time she wrote over 100 novels. This particular book from 1908 was her first major success. It was extremely popular with female readers.
This novel is part of a series that contains the following three books and is sometimes called the Miranda trilogy, and sometimes the Marcia Schuyler trilogy, mainly because both of these female characters appear in all three books:
Marcia Schuyler (1908)
Phoebe Deane (1909)
Miranda (1915)
Hill is often credited with inventing the Christian romance novel. However, neither this novel, nor either of the other two novels in this trilogy, comes anywhere near the modern definition of a romance novel, which involves the FMC onstage with her love interest at least 50% of the novel, with the main focus of the story on their courtship. In fact, in spite of Marcia and David's cohabiting, in their platonic marriage of convenience, throughout this story, there are relatively few scenes in which they interact with each other onstage, and the process of their falling in love gets short shrift, occurring in a rushed manner at the very end of this novel. Instead, the vast majority of page space is melodramatically focused on multiple Snidely Whiplash villains, providing far more of their evil thoughts than Marcia's more uplifting ones.
In its structure, this story appears to be heavily influenced by Victorian stage melodramas, featuring virtuous damsels in peril from evil seducers, which is very much a central feature of this novel. At the end of these morality plays, good would always triumph over evil, which is also the case in this story.
Modern FMCs, both in women's fiction and the romance genre, are expected to be assertive protagonists, who stand up for themselves and save themselves from danger. But both in 1908, when this book was written, and in 1831, the date of the story itself, because of enormous patriarchal pressure, women had no civil rights, no ability to vote, and were constantly infantilized by men. In fact, Marcia is referred to as a "child," by her husband and many other people, throughout this book. Even privileged, upper-class white women, which is the case for Marcia, had most of the innate power involved in that social prestige wiped out by the constant emphasis on their behaving like a "lady," a situation on constant display in all three books of this trilogy. No matter the provocation, a lady must maintain a polite smile and never speak a harsh word. The ability to say, "No," to men or their elders was robbed of females from the cradle. But as often happens in patriarchal power structures, whenever any female gains a level of power over another female, unless she is a saint like Marcia, there is danger that she will abuse that power. In that regard, the people who abuse Marcia the most throughout this novel are all women. The one male villain in this novel gets his inspiration for his evil plots against Marcia from a woman.
Though it is clear that the author spent quite a bit of time studying the era of the 1830s, she had an unfortunate tendency to do huge, irrelevant, boring info dumps of her research into this novel. Worse, in multiple instances, the dates of some of the events and inventions introduced into the story are not even accurate.
In addition, a major, rather aggravating irony of this novel's being categorized as Christian fiction is that every single character is a Christian, who regularly attends church, including all of the villains. And nothing is ever discussed or demonstrated regarding the fact that participating in organized, Christian religion is not a guarantee of righteousness. Righteousness, in fact, seems to be something that people like Marcia and Miranda are born with. They are certainly not socialized into Christian compassion and kindness by any examples in their immediate family.
Having said all that, the saving grace for the modern reader of this trilogy is the character of Miranda, a working-class female, who is willing to go to any wily lengths to protect her friends, including, in particular, Marcia of this novel and the FMC, Phoebe, of the second novel in this series. Miranda is a fascinatingly subversive element. Being from the working class, unlike Marcia and Phoebe, she is not a victim of the Cult of True Womanhood AKA Cult of Domesticity. This was a 19th-century ideology defining ideal gender roles for upper- and middle-class, WASP women in the USA. It emphasized four essential virtues: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity.
This novel is available in both Kindle and audiobook format. The female narrator of the audiobook does an excellent job.
October 24, 2020
Written in about 1920. Set in 1830, when New York got its first steam engine train. I didn’t much enjoy this book. It felt long, slow, and boring. The hero was just too engrossed in his own wounded heartbreak and the heroine was too long suffering. The sister, Kate, was just over-the-top evil. I did like Miranda — what a kick.
August 7, 2023
This was a favorite in my youth when I first read Grace Livingston Hill books. I love it even more now that I'm older. It's a marriage-of-convenience, without all the dirt that is often put into those books. But I felt like it also delt with some of the hard issues that might come with such a marriage.
I look forward to the next book in my Grace Livingston Hill joury.
I look forward to the next book in my Grace Livingston Hill joury.
March 2, 2012
This book, written in 1908, was a surprise to me concerning the "soap opera" content. Jealous women, beguiled men...
June 18, 2022
Marcia Schuyler is my second book by Grace Livingston Hill and again, I liked it. When they weren't driving me crazy I liked it. The novel was published in February 1908 by J. B. Lippincott Company and became her first big success as an author. In fact, the book was so popular that Lippincott printed more editions to satisfy demand. Grace did a great deal of research on the time period and wove bits of 1830's current events into her tale. One of the most prominent is the first trip on the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad on August 9, 1831.
The story begins with beautiful Kate Schuyler, Marcia's sister. Her evil sister as it turns out. She has been engaged to David Spafford for a year now and it is finally the night before the wedding. David shows up that night hoping to surprise his beloved Kate and spend their last evening together before the wedding. She isn't there though, she is out with Captain Leavenworth, he's a guy she wanted to marry before David but her parents wouldn't let her, I can't remember why. So she decides to spend her last night as a single woman with another man. This isn't going to be good. And it isn't because now it is the morning, time to get ready for the wedding, and the only person not ready for the wedding is the bride, she hasn't been out of her room yet. So they send Marcia to get her, but the door is locked and Kate doesn't answer her when she calls. So Marcia gets her mother and their mother does the same thing, and she goes for Kate and Marcia's father, and he does the same thing, the only difference being that David is with him, and that he finally breaks down the door and they find nothing. No Kate anywhere. She did leave a note though, a "by the time you read this I'll be married to Captain Leavenworth" note. So now what do they do? Somehow they decide that Marcia should marry David instead that way the family can save face. David won't be embarrassed. So Marcia takes her sister's place as bride, and somehow everyone agrees to this, or doesn't seem to notice it's the wrong sister until the ceremony is over. It seems silly to me. You get the younger sister to marry the guy because the older sister eloped with some captain. How is that less embarrassing? What is different between "Oh, David's bride ran away with another guy so now there won't be a wedding" or "Oh, David's bride ran away with another guy so now he's marrying the younger sister." I don't see how one is better than the other. Anyway, while I don't see how this saved face, the deed is done and Marcia and David are now husband and wife.
So now poor Marcia is living with poor David who is still devastated that his beloved has left him, and treats Marcia as a dear sister. I get incredibly sick of him calling her "child" constantly. In fact I was incredibly sick of hearing everyone call her a child. Always talking about how young she was, she's seventeen not seven. David's grief is so deep, to my annoyance, he doesn't see the love and devotion she gives him, she works hard to fill the role her sister was supposed to have, even wearing her clothing which was just strange. And no one seems to know she wasn't the original bride.
But now the bad guys show up, the neighbor girl, Hannah, who thought she would be the one to marry David. Harry Temple, who is just mean for no reason at all at first, then later teams up with good old sister Kate, who unfortunately has re-entered the story, and they plot to ruin Marcia because they both hate David. I wonder why they don't plot to ruin David because they hate David and leave Marcia out of it. Between Harry, Hannah, and especially Kate I'm not sure how they managed to live to the end of the book. My favorite character was Miranda, and without her I'm not sure what would have happened to our two main characters. I was wishing I could find out more about Miranda, then I found when I was finished that there are two more books with the same characters in them. Some of them the same anyway, hopefully Kate, Harry, and Hannah have left town by now, and the third book is called "Miranda" so I'm hoping it is her. Because of that I plan to continue on with the series. And that is all for now. Happy reading.
The story begins with beautiful Kate Schuyler, Marcia's sister. Her evil sister as it turns out. She has been engaged to David Spafford for a year now and it is finally the night before the wedding. David shows up that night hoping to surprise his beloved Kate and spend their last evening together before the wedding. She isn't there though, she is out with Captain Leavenworth, he's a guy she wanted to marry before David but her parents wouldn't let her, I can't remember why. So she decides to spend her last night as a single woman with another man. This isn't going to be good. And it isn't because now it is the morning, time to get ready for the wedding, and the only person not ready for the wedding is the bride, she hasn't been out of her room yet. So they send Marcia to get her, but the door is locked and Kate doesn't answer her when she calls. So Marcia gets her mother and their mother does the same thing, and she goes for Kate and Marcia's father, and he does the same thing, the only difference being that David is with him, and that he finally breaks down the door and they find nothing. No Kate anywhere. She did leave a note though, a "by the time you read this I'll be married to Captain Leavenworth" note. So now what do they do? Somehow they decide that Marcia should marry David instead that way the family can save face. David won't be embarrassed. So Marcia takes her sister's place as bride, and somehow everyone agrees to this, or doesn't seem to notice it's the wrong sister until the ceremony is over. It seems silly to me. You get the younger sister to marry the guy because the older sister eloped with some captain. How is that less embarrassing? What is different between "Oh, David's bride ran away with another guy so now there won't be a wedding" or "Oh, David's bride ran away with another guy so now he's marrying the younger sister." I don't see how one is better than the other. Anyway, while I don't see how this saved face, the deed is done and Marcia and David are now husband and wife.
So now poor Marcia is living with poor David who is still devastated that his beloved has left him, and treats Marcia as a dear sister. I get incredibly sick of him calling her "child" constantly. In fact I was incredibly sick of hearing everyone call her a child. Always talking about how young she was, she's seventeen not seven. David's grief is so deep, to my annoyance, he doesn't see the love and devotion she gives him, she works hard to fill the role her sister was supposed to have, even wearing her clothing which was just strange. And no one seems to know she wasn't the original bride.
But now the bad guys show up, the neighbor girl, Hannah, who thought she would be the one to marry David. Harry Temple, who is just mean for no reason at all at first, then later teams up with good old sister Kate, who unfortunately has re-entered the story, and they plot to ruin Marcia because they both hate David. I wonder why they don't plot to ruin David because they hate David and leave Marcia out of it. Between Harry, Hannah, and especially Kate I'm not sure how they managed to live to the end of the book. My favorite character was Miranda, and without her I'm not sure what would have happened to our two main characters. I was wishing I could find out more about Miranda, then I found when I was finished that there are two more books with the same characters in them. Some of them the same anyway, hopefully Kate, Harry, and Hannah have left town by now, and the third book is called "Miranda" so I'm hoping it is her. Because of that I plan to continue on with the series. And that is all for now. Happy reading.
November 28, 2018
Marcia Schuyler is fascinated by her older sister's fiancee. Since her sister Kate is using almost all of the family's resources in preparations for her wedding, Maria picks blackberries and trades for a pink chintz fabric and makes herself a dress. It is longer as befitting her growing-up status and she puts her hair up. When Kate's fiancee David comes along in the evening light (or lack thereof)before the wedding, he kisses Marcia thinking she is Kate. But an old admirer of Kate's returns that her father had refused to allow her to go about with and she elopes with him - feeling sure she will be forgiven and return to status as a favored daughter. And she would not mind at all keeping poor David lovelorn and adoring herself. But it doesn't turn out quite as she planned. Her father is so furious that he refuses to have anything to do with her and refuses to send her trousseau on to her. In fact, he is so mad that he ends up marrying Marcia to David and she inherits her sister's trousseau. Which does not please Kate at all - oh no, not at all.
May 20, 2016
When you come across Grace Livingston Hill for the first time, you get the impression that she is a writer of sweet, romantic, old fashioned fiction - which is true on one level. But she has a surprising talent for creating nasty characters! I mean she comes up with some real pieces of work... And in this book, she puts our poor heroine in a pretty outlandish situation due to the actions of one of those nasty people, which at first strikes you as somewhat absurd. But once you get past that, it turns into a fascinating read - she manages to get to the happy ending that at first you feel like is basically impossible. I will be reading more of GLH's books - there is more than meets the eye when it comes to her writing!
June 28, 2019
I read Grace Livingston Hill obsessively as a teen, because Christian romances were allowed in my home as Harlequin romances were not. After a recent visit I decided to reread two of my favorites and YIKES they are so so so bad.
In this one, for example, Marcia is 17 when her parents marry her off to her sister's fiance, after the sister leaves him on their wedding day. The fiance is 10 years older and the ostensible purpose of this arrangement is to "save him embarrassment"(?!). But don't worry, friends, it turns out Marcia is a much better wife for David than her sister would be, because she is the perfect housekeeper and caretaker.
Flames. Flames out the side of my face.
In this one, for example, Marcia is 17 when her parents marry her off to her sister's fiance, after the sister leaves him on their wedding day. The fiance is 10 years older and the ostensible purpose of this arrangement is to "save him embarrassment"(?!). But don't worry, friends, it turns out Marcia is a much better wife for David than her sister would be, because she is the perfect housekeeper and caretaker.
Flames. Flames out the side of my face.
June 27, 2012
GLH wrote this because her books weren't selling and an old family friend suggested she try a historical, which were popular at the time. She went on to write two sequels to it (Phoebe Dean and Miranda).
One of her better books; everything hangs together well and there are a lot of well-drawn secondary characters.
One of her better books; everything hangs together well and there are a lot of well-drawn secondary characters.
March 23, 2022
Grace Livingston Hill is a celebrated author of gentle, Christian-themed fiction, and I was in the mood for something quiet, given the tumult of life. First published in 1908, set in 1831, this novel definitely shows its vintage.
The story is fairly simple: the titular Marcia Schuyler is a literal last-second substitute for her elder sister Kate, when Kate runs away the night before her wedding to David Spafford. Marcia, at the delicate age of 17, basically hero-worships David, so its not exactly a hard decision for her to make, but David himself is overcome with grief at being jilted. Marcia agrees to marry him basically to save face for him and her family, who have spent months on the wedding plans. It is a very odd arrangement, and is not helped by the fact that it takes about five chapters for this to happen.
So David and Marcia get married and move back to his hometown, and Marcia is faced with finding her place not only in his life, but in hers: she has literally no experience being an adult and is suddenly thrust into this role of matron with few friends and even fewer allies. She is the wide-eyed innocent pitched into a nest of vipers: David was basically raised by a trio of spinster aunts, two of whom basically hate Marcia on site for taking their precious baby away. The girl next door, Hannah Heath, had always assumed that David would marry her (basically because proximity) so she's mad with jealousy that Marcia stole her man. And then there's Kate, forever lurking in the background: self-absorbed, manipulative, but who has always gotten her own way and is flabbergasted to find herself cut off from her family thanks to her last-minute elopement with a man they didn't approve of.
Kate is certain that she can lure David back to her side, and for a large portion of the story, she manages to get her way. David does run to her at the first time of asking, but realizes that she is off-limits, as they are both married to other people and he has Very Strong Puritan Values. He flays himself for his lingering attraction to her and thinks of poor Marcia as a child, wondering how she could've given up her life just to save his reputation.
Marcia has one of David's aunts on her side, and finds an unusual friend in the girl next door, Miranda Griscom. Miranda seems to be the only person of worth who senses Marcia's inherent goodness who doesn't hate her for it, and she saves Marcia from several embarrassing situations. She ultimately ends up saving David and Marcia's relationship after Kate and another man scheme to break them up.
There is absolutely NO subtlety in this novel. Kate is wickedness personified: beautiful, manipulative, often described with sharp little teeth and blood-red lips, with absolutely no soul and no feeling for anyone beyond herself. She hates her family, her sister, her husband, and ultimately David because none of them will bend to her will - the first time that's ever happened in her life.
Hannah Heath isn't much better - she basically plans her wedding as ultimate revenge/humiliation for Marcia, who has no idea that she hates her so much. It all blows up in her face, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor swain who'd served as her slave for seven years for the honor of her hand in marriage.
Marcia is absolutely clueless. She spends a lot of time crying, praying, and caring way too much about what other people *might* think of her. I wanted to tell her that she wasn't that important, but alas - apparently she really was the center of everyone's universe without even trying.
David wasn't much better. As it turns out, he barely knew Kate when he asked her to marry him, and basically fell in love with the woman he wanted her to be. It takes him a lot longer than it should have to realize that Marcia was the embodiment of this ideal, and he ends up adding to her misery without even trying. The upside is that he is an intelligent and passionate young man, a journalist who is on the right side of history, at least as far as steam locomotives are concerned.
Indeed, Miranda was the only character with a bit of gumption, and she spends most of her time talking herself down about her looks and her intelligence. She worships the ground Marcia walks on and thinks that she can do no wrong. This novel is the first in the Miranda trilogy, which I found interesting considering what a small role she played in it. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how all 3 novels link up.
Even with all its faults, I was happy to read this novel. It was very gentle and very quiet (and very sanctimonious, which is easier to handle given that it was literally written in a different time), and reminiscent of the Avonlea world. Given all the other stressors going on right now, it was exactly what I needed in my down time.
The story is fairly simple: the titular Marcia Schuyler is a literal last-second substitute for her elder sister Kate, when Kate runs away the night before her wedding to David Spafford. Marcia, at the delicate age of 17, basically hero-worships David, so its not exactly a hard decision for her to make, but David himself is overcome with grief at being jilted. Marcia agrees to marry him basically to save face for him and her family, who have spent months on the wedding plans. It is a very odd arrangement, and is not helped by the fact that it takes about five chapters for this to happen.
So David and Marcia get married and move back to his hometown, and Marcia is faced with finding her place not only in his life, but in hers: she has literally no experience being an adult and is suddenly thrust into this role of matron with few friends and even fewer allies. She is the wide-eyed innocent pitched into a nest of vipers: David was basically raised by a trio of spinster aunts, two of whom basically hate Marcia on site for taking their precious baby away. The girl next door, Hannah Heath, had always assumed that David would marry her (basically because proximity) so she's mad with jealousy that Marcia stole her man. And then there's Kate, forever lurking in the background: self-absorbed, manipulative, but who has always gotten her own way and is flabbergasted to find herself cut off from her family thanks to her last-minute elopement with a man they didn't approve of.
Kate is certain that she can lure David back to her side, and for a large portion of the story, she manages to get her way. David does run to her at the first time of asking, but realizes that she is off-limits, as they are both married to other people and he has Very Strong Puritan Values. He flays himself for his lingering attraction to her and thinks of poor Marcia as a child, wondering how she could've given up her life just to save his reputation.
Marcia has one of David's aunts on her side, and finds an unusual friend in the girl next door, Miranda Griscom. Miranda seems to be the only person of worth who senses Marcia's inherent goodness who doesn't hate her for it, and she saves Marcia from several embarrassing situations. She ultimately ends up saving David and Marcia's relationship after Kate and another man scheme to break them up.
There is absolutely NO subtlety in this novel. Kate is wickedness personified: beautiful, manipulative, often described with sharp little teeth and blood-red lips, with absolutely no soul and no feeling for anyone beyond herself. She hates her family, her sister, her husband, and ultimately David because none of them will bend to her will - the first time that's ever happened in her life.
Hannah Heath isn't much better - she basically plans her wedding as ultimate revenge/humiliation for Marcia, who has no idea that she hates her so much. It all blows up in her face, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor swain who'd served as her slave for seven years for the honor of her hand in marriage.
Marcia is absolutely clueless. She spends a lot of time crying, praying, and caring way too much about what other people *might* think of her. I wanted to tell her that she wasn't that important, but alas - apparently she really was the center of everyone's universe without even trying.
David wasn't much better. As it turns out, he barely knew Kate when he asked her to marry him, and basically fell in love with the woman he wanted her to be. It takes him a lot longer than it should have to realize that Marcia was the embodiment of this ideal, and he ends up adding to her misery without even trying. The upside is that he is an intelligent and passionate young man, a journalist who is on the right side of history, at least as far as steam locomotives are concerned.
Indeed, Miranda was the only character with a bit of gumption, and she spends most of her time talking herself down about her looks and her intelligence. She worships the ground Marcia walks on and thinks that she can do no wrong. This novel is the first in the Miranda trilogy, which I found interesting considering what a small role she played in it. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how all 3 novels link up.
Even with all its faults, I was happy to read this novel. It was very gentle and very quiet (and very sanctimonious, which is easier to handle given that it was literally written in a different time), and reminiscent of the Avonlea world. Given all the other stressors going on right now, it was exactly what I needed in my down time.
September 2, 2019
3.5 stars (rating may differ depending on whether site allows half star ratings).
A friend introduced me to books by Grace Livingston Hill when we were in college. I later found a list with all the titles GLH had published and set out to read all of them. (I accomplished that.) So I have read this before but it has been a long time. I did not realize it was part of a trilogy at the time I first read it--though I do seem to remember that there were at least two books that I realized had similar characters, so this might have been one of those.
I liked this better than the last GLH book I re-read, but it is easy to tell that it was written at a different time in publishing history. There are about 3 stories that could be written from this book and fleshed out. GLH does have a habit of throwing narrative telling into the book rather than showing the reader and drawing him/her into the story.
Marcia is a good, responsible girl who's a bit overshadowed by her older sister Kate. Part of the overshadowing is because Kate is engaged and her wedding is to be soon but it also seems that Kate has overshadowed Marcia much of her life. Kate is more of a "give me what I want, when I want it" kind of character. She does what makes her feel good at the time and apparently has never been made to reap the consequences of her decisions in the past, and she doesn't often think of how her actions affect others.
Kate decides to elope with a former boyfriend whom her father never liked. She's convinced her family and her former fiance will forgive her--that they'll send her her trousseau and that she'll still be able to string David (the former fiance) along by his feelings even though she's married to someone else.
Instead, Dad gives the trousseau to Marcia, who agrees to marry David to help both him and her family through the tough spot. In a way, it was God watching out for both of them since Marcia and David seem much better suited to each other than Kate and David were. Marcia and David are both "good"--they try to do the right thing. Marcia and David are also both interested in politics and in engineering/railroads. Marcia is able to speak knowledgeably about these topics because she and her father discussed them. Kate meanwhile wants a fancy house and fancy clothes and the hustle and bustle of New York--telling when GLH says Kate feels she'll be happy only in New York--if you're not happy with yourself, a change of venue is less likely to make you happy long-term.
There were times I wanted to shake David and Marcia both since they didn't communicate with each other. David is too caught up in his lost plans for a life with Kate and his love for Kate and Marcia doesn't want to "bother" him or upset him. David doesn't see that two of his aunts make Marcia miserable--instead he sends her to stay with them while he's out of town--yes, apparently back then, a woman couldn't stay in her own home alone for protracted periods while her husband was out of town for work. How times have changed. Many of their issues could have been shortened or avoided if only they'd talked to one another.
I did admire that David when to Marcia and told her what happened with Kate in New York instead of just trying to hide it. That meant Marcia was not blindsided when it came up later.
A friend introduced me to books by Grace Livingston Hill when we were in college. I later found a list with all the titles GLH had published and set out to read all of them. (I accomplished that.) So I have read this before but it has been a long time. I did not realize it was part of a trilogy at the time I first read it--though I do seem to remember that there were at least two books that I realized had similar characters, so this might have been one of those.
I liked this better than the last GLH book I re-read, but it is easy to tell that it was written at a different time in publishing history. There are about 3 stories that could be written from this book and fleshed out. GLH does have a habit of throwing narrative telling into the book rather than showing the reader and drawing him/her into the story.
Marcia is a good, responsible girl who's a bit overshadowed by her older sister Kate. Part of the overshadowing is because Kate is engaged and her wedding is to be soon but it also seems that Kate has overshadowed Marcia much of her life. Kate is more of a "give me what I want, when I want it" kind of character. She does what makes her feel good at the time and apparently has never been made to reap the consequences of her decisions in the past, and she doesn't often think of how her actions affect others.
Kate decides to elope with a former boyfriend whom her father never liked. She's convinced her family and her former fiance will forgive her--that they'll send her her trousseau and that she'll still be able to string David (the former fiance) along by his feelings even though she's married to someone else.
Instead, Dad gives the trousseau to Marcia, who agrees to marry David to help both him and her family through the tough spot. In a way, it was God watching out for both of them since Marcia and David seem much better suited to each other than Kate and David were. Marcia and David are both "good"--they try to do the right thing. Marcia and David are also both interested in politics and in engineering/railroads. Marcia is able to speak knowledgeably about these topics because she and her father discussed them. Kate meanwhile wants a fancy house and fancy clothes and the hustle and bustle of New York--telling when GLH says Kate feels she'll be happy only in New York--if you're not happy with yourself, a change of venue is less likely to make you happy long-term.
There were times I wanted to shake David and Marcia both since they didn't communicate with each other. David is too caught up in his lost plans for a life with Kate and his love for Kate and Marcia doesn't want to "bother" him or upset him. David doesn't see that two of his aunts make Marcia miserable--instead he sends her to stay with them while he's out of town--yes, apparently back then, a woman couldn't stay in her own home alone for protracted periods while her husband was out of town for work. How times have changed. Many of their issues could have been shortened or avoided if only they'd talked to one another.
I did admire that David when to Marcia and told her what happened with Kate in New York instead of just trying to hide it. That meant Marcia was not blindsided when it came up later.
September 23, 2024
I absolutely love this book, and it's the reason I decided to write Christian romance.
It's by no means a perfect story, especially because the marriage of convenience was a shocking suggestion by Mr. Schuyler. David Spafford didn't impress me either at first. He was thinking more about himself than about Marcia when he went along with the plan. Thankfully, he came to understand the gravity of what he had done and more than made up for his early missteps.
Despite these caveats, the romance between Marcia and David unfolds so sweetly that it never fails to move me.
Although I've read it several times, this time around, I listened to an audio version, read by Anne Hancock. She did a brilliant job of bringing one of my favourite stories to life.
It's by no means a perfect story, especially because the marriage of convenience was a shocking suggestion by Mr. Schuyler. David Spafford didn't impress me either at first. He was thinking more about himself than about Marcia when he went along with the plan. Thankfully, he came to understand the gravity of what he had done and more than made up for his early missteps.
Despite these caveats, the romance between Marcia and David unfolds so sweetly that it never fails to move me.
Although I've read it several times, this time around, I listened to an audio version, read by Anne Hancock. She did a brilliant job of bringing one of my favourite stories to life.
June 2, 2025
Book - 3 stars
Narration by Anne Hancock - 4 stars
A bit heavy-handed in the villain department with 3 characters bent on manipulation, revenge, or just plain evil. So much so that I stopped listening for a while and had to come back to it later. Probably my least favorite of the Grace Livingston Hill titles I've read thus far.
Narration by Anne Hancock - 4 stars
A bit heavy-handed in the villain department with 3 characters bent on manipulation, revenge, or just plain evil. So much so that I stopped listening for a while and had to come back to it later. Probably my least favorite of the Grace Livingston Hill titles I've read thus far.
April 20, 2021
A superb melodrama by Grace Livingston Hill. A runaway bride leaves a trail of embarrassment and heartache behind her, so what does her helpful family do? They substitute her little sister, and the wedding goes on! The groom doesn’t care. He’s in shock. The little sister doesn’t care; she’s been secretly in love with the guy all along. But how can this possibly work out? It’s a heck of a story.
October 17, 2022
Another sweet, wholesome, satisfying story.
Narrator was pretty decent for LibriVox, and I especially appreciated that she took the trouble to hunt down and sing a song that's quoted in the book. Above and beyond the call of duty, that.
Narrator was pretty decent for LibriVox, and I especially appreciated that she took the trouble to hunt down and sing a song that's quoted in the book. Above and beyond the call of duty, that.
May 1, 2018
I cannot begin to explain how much I loved reading this book. I will confess, the title seemed so boring and unromantic, but I like Grace's writing style so I decided to go ahead with it. Also, I wanted to read Miranda, but it's the third book in the trilogy and this is the first. I was very pleasantly surprised, as I knew I would be as soon as I read the first few pages.
I don't know how many times I've thought about a plot like this, where a girl ends up caring for and loving her sister's husband because her sister doesn't really care about him. I seriously didn't know that someone already wrote a book about it.
I blushingly share with you, my favourite quote: "A desire to stoop and kiss the fair face came to him, not for affection’s sake, but reverently, as if to render to her before God some fitting sign that he knew and understood her act of self sacrifice, and would not presume upon it.
Slowly, as though he were performing a religious ceremony, a sacred duty laid upon him on high, David stooped over her, bringing his face to the gentle sleeping one. Her sweet breath fanned his cheek like the almost imperceptible fragrance of a bud not fully opened yet to give forth its sweetness to the world. His soul, awake and keen through the thoughts that had just come to him, gave homage to her sweetness, sadly, wistfully, half wishing his spirit free to gather this sweetness for his own.
And so he brought his lips to hers, and kissed her, his bride, yet not his bride. Kissed her for the second time. That thought came to him with the touch of the warm lips and startled him. Had there been something significant in the fact that he had met Marcia first and kissed her instead of Kate by mistake?
It seemed as though the sleeping lips clung to his lingeringly, and half responded to the kiss, as Marcia in her dreams lived over again the kiss she had received by her father’s gate in the moonlight. Only the dream lover was her own and not another’s. David, as he lifted up his head and looked at her gravely, saw a half smile illuminating her lips as if the sleeping soul within had felt the touch and answered to the call."
I found a very interesting similarity between this book and The Mystery of Mary:
' "Do you, Mary, take this man?" came the next question, and the girl looked up with clear eyes and said, "I do."
Then the minister's wife, who knew and prized Tryon Dunham's friendship, said to herself: "It's all right. She loves him." ' ~ The Mystery of Mary
'She held up her flower-like head and answered in her clear voice, that made her few schoolmates present gasp with admiration: “I will!”
And the dear old minister’s wife, sitting sweet and dove-like in her soft grey poplin, fine white kerchief, and cap of book muslin, smiled to herself at the music in Marcia’s voice and nodded approval. She felt that all was well with her little friend.' ~ Marcia Schuyler
I truly love this book and cannot talk any more about it. It's the type that keeps going through your memory and gets all tangled up in your thoughts, but you can hardly express what you feel about it. I leave off here and bid you adieu.
I don't know how many times I've thought about a plot like this, where a girl ends up caring for and loving her sister's husband because her sister doesn't really care about him. I seriously didn't know that someone already wrote a book about it.
I blushingly share with you, my favourite quote: "A desire to stoop and kiss the fair face came to him, not for affection’s sake, but reverently, as if to render to her before God some fitting sign that he knew and understood her act of self sacrifice, and would not presume upon it.
Slowly, as though he were performing a religious ceremony, a sacred duty laid upon him on high, David stooped over her, bringing his face to the gentle sleeping one. Her sweet breath fanned his cheek like the almost imperceptible fragrance of a bud not fully opened yet to give forth its sweetness to the world. His soul, awake and keen through the thoughts that had just come to him, gave homage to her sweetness, sadly, wistfully, half wishing his spirit free to gather this sweetness for his own.
And so he brought his lips to hers, and kissed her, his bride, yet not his bride. Kissed her for the second time. That thought came to him with the touch of the warm lips and startled him. Had there been something significant in the fact that he had met Marcia first and kissed her instead of Kate by mistake?
It seemed as though the sleeping lips clung to his lingeringly, and half responded to the kiss, as Marcia in her dreams lived over again the kiss she had received by her father’s gate in the moonlight. Only the dream lover was her own and not another’s. David, as he lifted up his head and looked at her gravely, saw a half smile illuminating her lips as if the sleeping soul within had felt the touch and answered to the call."
I found a very interesting similarity between this book and The Mystery of Mary:
' "Do you, Mary, take this man?" came the next question, and the girl looked up with clear eyes and said, "I do."
Then the minister's wife, who knew and prized Tryon Dunham's friendship, said to herself: "It's all right. She loves him." ' ~ The Mystery of Mary
'She held up her flower-like head and answered in her clear voice, that made her few schoolmates present gasp with admiration: “I will!”
And the dear old minister’s wife, sitting sweet and dove-like in her soft grey poplin, fine white kerchief, and cap of book muslin, smiled to herself at the music in Marcia’s voice and nodded approval. She felt that all was well with her little friend.' ~ Marcia Schuyler
I truly love this book and cannot talk any more about it. It's the type that keeps going through your memory and gets all tangled up in your thoughts, but you can hardly express what you feel about it. I leave off here and bid you adieu.
November 13, 2022
Grace Livingston Hill's "Marcia Schuyler" is the first novel in the Miranda. Trilogy and is indeed a great kickoff, this is a favorite too. Miranda is introduced as the country-fied next door neighbor and look forward in how her story plays out. Their is a religious message but it is not as strong as some of her other novels but it still is important. This story is taking place in the mid nineteenth century, though published in 1908. There are some events that seem a little late but in general with regard especially to a song that is deemed new brings it to this period of time. Trains are just becoming a reality and this is a focus throughout. After reading a sad love story, Grace is one of my favorite authors to satisfy my romantic spirit.
Story in short- It is Kate's wedding day and she has planned everything but where is the bride?
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Of course, that was right! Kate was to be married, not Marcia, and everything must make way for that. Marcia was scarcely more than a child as yet, barely seventeen. No one thought of anything new for her just then, and she did not expect it. But into her heart there had stolen a longing for a new frock herself amid all this finery for Kate. She had her best one of course. That was good, and pretty, and quite
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nice enough to wear to the wedding, and her stepmother had taken much relief in the thought that Marcia would need nothing during the rush of getting Kate ready. But there were people coming to the house every day, especially in the afternoons, friends of Kate, and of her stepmother, to be shown Kate’s wardrobe, and to talk things over curiously. Marcia could not wear her best dress all the time. And he was coming! That was the way Marcia always denominated the prospective bridegroom in her mind.
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His name was David Spafford, and Kate often called him Dave, but Marcia, even to herself, could never bring herself to breathe the name so familiarly. She held him in great awe. He was so fine and strong and good, with a face like a young saint in some old picture, she thought. She often wondered how her wild, sparkling sister Kate dared to be so familiar with him. She had ventured the thought once when she watched Kate dressing to go out with some young people and preening herself like a bird of Paradise before the glass. It all came over her, the vanity and frivolousness of the life that Kate loved, and she spoke out with conviction: “Kate, you’ll have to be very different when you’re married.” Kate had faced about amusedly and asked why. “Because he is so good,” Marcia had replied, unable to explain further. “Oh, is that all?” said the daring sister, wheeling back to the glass.
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“Don’t you worry; I’ll soon take that out of him.”
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I was wondering in the beginning when it is clear that Marcia loves David, for even though she does not admit it she wants him to be happy and respected. When Kate went walking with the Captain, I started to wonder about if she would keep lovers after her marriage. I was not so surprised she ran off with him but that her father had suggested his young daughter, Marcia to marry David. I wonder if Kate will ever have forgiveness from her family or that her continual ways of evil intentions will prevent this. I knew that Marcia would be loved in the end by David but was wondering how it all would take place. Miranda was indeed a great character and her help was much needed. The whole Clarissa and Lovelace capture the innocent with her wrong step was thankfully thwarted. Was it not a sin for David after being married have Kate in his heart? It began to dawn on him when he kissed Kate but yet he thought she was still the ideal until the letters which showed her dastardly deeds. I was happy when he finally saw that Marcia was the true angel and his true love! The kiss that David mistakenly gave to Marcia, was quite telling. Kate cannot comprehend that she cannot charm when her evil intentions has been detected. Kate thought that marrying a Captain would be fun and she could met more important people.
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Was there some foreshadowing of her womanhood in the decided way she spoke, and the quaint, prim set of her head as she bowed him good morning and went on her way once more? The boy did not understand. He only felt abashed, and half angry that she had ordered him back to work; and, too, in a tone that forbade him to take her memory with him as he went. Nevertheless her image lingered by the way, and
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haunted the South meadow all day long as he worked. Marcia, unconscious of the admiration she had stirred in the boyish heart, went her way on fleet feet, her spirit one with the sunny morning, her body light with anticipation, for a new frock of her own choice was yet an event in her life.
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She had whiled away many a dreary seam by thinking out, in a sort of dream-story, how she would put on this or that at will if it were her own, and go here or there, and have people love and admire her as they did Kate. It would never come true, of course. She never expected to be admired and loved like Kate. Kate was beautiful, bright and cheerful. Everybody loved her, no matter how she treated them.
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In the first place she considered her own sweet serious face with its pure brown eyes as exceedingly plain. She could not catch the lights that played at hide and seek in her eyes when she talked with animation. Indeed few saw her at her best, because she seldom talked freely. It was only with certain people that she could forget herself. She did not envy Kate. She was proud of her sister, and loved her, though there was an element of anxiety in the love. But she never thought of her many faults.
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She lay down and dreamed of the morrow, and of the next day, and the next. In strange bewilderment she awoke in the night and found the moonlight streaming full into
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her face. Then she laughed and rubbed her eyes and tried to go to sleep again; but she could not, for she had dreamed that she was the bride herself, and the words of Mary Ann kept going over and over in her mind. “Oh, don’t you envy her?” Did she envy her sister? But that was wicked. It troubled her to think of it, and she tried to banish the dream, but it would come again and again with a strange sweet pleasure.
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Over Madam Schuyler’s face there came a look as if she had received a revelation. Marcia was no longer a child, but had suddenly blossomed into young womanhood. It was not the time she would have chosen for such an event. There was enough going on, and Marcia was still in school. She had no desire to steer another young soul through the various dangers and follies that beset a pretty girl from the time she puts up her hair until she is safely married to the right man—or the wrong one. She had just begun
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to look forward with relief to having Kate well settled in life. Kate had been a hard one to manage. She had too much will of her own and a pretty way of
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“I picked berries and got the cloth,” confessed Marcia.
Story in short- It is Kate's wedding day and she has planned everything but where is the bride?
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Of course, that was right! Kate was to be married, not Marcia, and everything must make way for that. Marcia was scarcely more than a child as yet, barely seventeen. No one thought of anything new for her just then, and she did not expect it. But into her heart there had stolen a longing for a new frock herself amid all this finery for Kate. She had her best one of course. That was good, and pretty, and quite
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nice enough to wear to the wedding, and her stepmother had taken much relief in the thought that Marcia would need nothing during the rush of getting Kate ready. But there were people coming to the house every day, especially in the afternoons, friends of Kate, and of her stepmother, to be shown Kate’s wardrobe, and to talk things over curiously. Marcia could not wear her best dress all the time. And he was coming! That was the way Marcia always denominated the prospective bridegroom in her mind.
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His name was David Spafford, and Kate often called him Dave, but Marcia, even to herself, could never bring herself to breathe the name so familiarly. She held him in great awe. He was so fine and strong and good, with a face like a young saint in some old picture, she thought. She often wondered how her wild, sparkling sister Kate dared to be so familiar with him. She had ventured the thought once when she watched Kate dressing to go out with some young people and preening herself like a bird of Paradise before the glass. It all came over her, the vanity and frivolousness of the life that Kate loved, and she spoke out with conviction: “Kate, you’ll have to be very different when you’re married.” Kate had faced about amusedly and asked why. “Because he is so good,” Marcia had replied, unable to explain further. “Oh, is that all?” said the daring sister, wheeling back to the glass.
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“Don’t you worry; I’ll soon take that out of him.”
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
I was wondering in the beginning when it is clear that Marcia loves David, for even though she does not admit it she wants him to be happy and respected. When Kate went walking with the Captain, I started to wonder about if she would keep lovers after her marriage. I was not so surprised she ran off with him but that her father had suggested his young daughter, Marcia to marry David. I wonder if Kate will ever have forgiveness from her family or that her continual ways of evil intentions will prevent this. I knew that Marcia would be loved in the end by David but was wondering how it all would take place. Miranda was indeed a great character and her help was much needed. The whole Clarissa and Lovelace capture the innocent with her wrong step was thankfully thwarted. Was it not a sin for David after being married have Kate in his heart? It began to dawn on him when he kissed Kate but yet he thought she was still the ideal until the letters which showed her dastardly deeds. I was happy when he finally saw that Marcia was the true angel and his true love! The kiss that David mistakenly gave to Marcia, was quite telling. Kate cannot comprehend that she cannot charm when her evil intentions has been detected. Kate thought that marrying a Captain would be fun and she could met more important people.
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Was there some foreshadowing of her womanhood in the decided way she spoke, and the quaint, prim set of her head as she bowed him good morning and went on her way once more? The boy did not understand. He only felt abashed, and half angry that she had ordered him back to work; and, too, in a tone that forbade him to take her memory with him as he went. Nevertheless her image lingered by the way, and
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haunted the South meadow all day long as he worked. Marcia, unconscious of the admiration she had stirred in the boyish heart, went her way on fleet feet, her spirit one with the sunny morning, her body light with anticipation, for a new frock of her own choice was yet an event in her life.
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She had whiled away many a dreary seam by thinking out, in a sort of dream-story, how she would put on this or that at will if it were her own, and go here or there, and have people love and admire her as they did Kate. It would never come true, of course. She never expected to be admired and loved like Kate. Kate was beautiful, bright and cheerful. Everybody loved her, no matter how she treated them.
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In the first place she considered her own sweet serious face with its pure brown eyes as exceedingly plain. She could not catch the lights that played at hide and seek in her eyes when she talked with animation. Indeed few saw her at her best, because she seldom talked freely. It was only with certain people that she could forget herself. She did not envy Kate. She was proud of her sister, and loved her, though there was an element of anxiety in the love. But she never thought of her many faults.
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She lay down and dreamed of the morrow, and of the next day, and the next. In strange bewilderment she awoke in the night and found the moonlight streaming full into
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her face. Then she laughed and rubbed her eyes and tried to go to sleep again; but she could not, for she had dreamed that she was the bride herself, and the words of Mary Ann kept going over and over in her mind. “Oh, don’t you envy her?” Did she envy her sister? But that was wicked. It troubled her to think of it, and she tried to banish the dream, but it would come again and again with a strange sweet pleasure.
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Over Madam Schuyler’s face there came a look as if she had received a revelation. Marcia was no longer a child, but had suddenly blossomed into young womanhood. It was not the time she would have chosen for such an event. There was enough going on, and Marcia was still in school. She had no desire to steer another young soul through the various dangers and follies that beset a pretty girl from the time she puts up her hair until she is safely married to the right man—or the wrong one. She had just begun
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to look forward with relief to having Kate well settled in life. Kate had been a hard one to manage. She had too much will of her own and a pretty way of
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“I picked berries and got the cloth,” confessed Marcia.
February 3, 2013
This is my third time to read Marcia Schuyler. The first time, I loved it. The second time, I merely liked it. The third time around, I just loved it again. The plot is unusual in a way. Marcia Schuyler was supposed to be a bridesmaid for her sister, instead she became the bride and married her sister's intended groom. All with the permission of the parents...and the groom of course! Her sister decided the morning of the wedding that she was marrying the wrong man, she decided to elope with someone else instead. It was an awkward situation, the awkwardness being somewhat postponed by the switching of the brides. Most people not realizing until the middle of the ceremony what had happened. Marcia is soon swept away to her new home, new town, new life. Still wearing her sister's clothes, still trying to be someone she's not quite. It's a safe marriage, a happy one too, for the most part. David and Marcia are quite friendly with one another, very respectful of one another. This is a romance novel where the falling in love occurs after the wedding ceremony. The novel can be dramatic in places; readers have not heard the last from sister Kate! And there is another villain, Harry, who also has a role to play. The novel features many memorable characters: David has three aunts, then there's the neighbor girl, Miranda, and then there's Hannah, a woman who was desperate to catch David and is still resentful.
The novel is set in America in the 1830s. A subplot in this one is the 'progress' of the nation and the introduction of the steam engine, the railroad. It all being oh-so-new and oh-so-dangerous. David is for the railroad, many others are not. Much of Marcia's story is set within the home involving the keeping of the household: cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc.
The novel is set in America in the 1830s. A subplot in this one is the 'progress' of the nation and the introduction of the steam engine, the railroad. It all being oh-so-new and oh-so-dangerous. David is for the railroad, many others are not. Much of Marcia's story is set within the home involving the keeping of the household: cooking, cleaning, sewing, etc.
January 14, 2025
This is my absolute favourite book.
It's not perfect by any means but it has a bachelor's degree in *yearnalism*
Basically David is jilted at the alter by icky Kate - a selfish tw@t - who then instead marries Marcia. In essence the whole family feels so bad, she steps up to protect him from the shame of being brutally dumped.
After the wedding, David *immediately* feels guilty cuz like he don't love her but knows she deserves it.
Things happen, the two get closer. But wait, Kate hears of their marriage and gets hella pissed cuz like ain't no way David's not eternally hung up on her. *Gasp monotonously.
She schemes to get rid of Marcia - not in like a murdery way but it's still pretty brutal - but don't fret, it's a happily ever after in the most fluffy way possible.
One problem. He calls her 'child' for like the first third of the book. I know it's a writing device to highlight her naivety and the 'impossibility' of their relationship as they both percieve but it's cringe. Buuut the change-up to 'Marcia' and 'dear' and 'darling' has me giddy. Every. Time.
Anyways. Don't read it cuz I know you won't like it as much as me and I couldn't bear it.
It's not perfect by any means but it has a bachelor's degree in *yearnalism*
Basically David is jilted at the alter by icky Kate - a selfish tw@t - who then instead marries Marcia. In essence the whole family feels so bad, she steps up to protect him from the shame of being brutally dumped.
After the wedding, David *immediately* feels guilty cuz like he don't love her but knows she deserves it.
Things happen, the two get closer. But wait, Kate hears of their marriage and gets hella pissed cuz like ain't no way David's not eternally hung up on her. *Gasp monotonously.
She schemes to get rid of Marcia - not in like a murdery way but it's still pretty brutal - but don't fret, it's a happily ever after in the most fluffy way possible.
One problem. He calls her 'child' for like the first third of the book. I know it's a writing device to highlight her naivety and the 'impossibility' of their relationship as they both percieve but it's cringe. Buuut the change-up to 'Marcia' and 'dear' and 'darling' has me giddy. Every. Time.
Anyways. Don't read it cuz I know you won't like it as much as me and I couldn't bear it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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May 22, 2017This is a good book, suitable for all ages, a well-written Christian novel about real life situations. Unrequieted love, treachery, sin, patience, virtue, abstaining from the appearance of evil, adultery, and so much more! I think most of the reviewers missed an important part of the story, and that was the intense description Mrs. Hill gave of Kate's wickedness. She said the devil was manipulating her, and Mrs. Hill showed how ugly sin can make a person. I have not finished the book yet, am around chapter 21, and am listening to it via Librivox audio recordings. (which is a wonderful organization, btw!)
More later!
Romans 10:8-13
John3:16-21
More later!
Romans 10:8-13
John3:16-21
December 30, 2014
The Hill-athon continues. Best implausible plot yet -- yes, implausible even for Hill! When Marcia's sister leaves her groom at the altar, her father's solution to save face is to marry Marcia to the groom instead. Now Marcia has always loved David, and never thought her sister was worthy of him. So, now she is the wife of the man she idolizes -- but will she ever be able to express that love, or receive it in return? Big sister decides to get her man back; there are critical maiden aunts aplenty; but Love Conquers All.
October 22, 2015
I probably would not re-visit this author; the writing style meanders along with many ponderings and descriptions and I was always ready to get back to the story. It's quite romantic (not my favorite) but a nice story of Marcia finding love without Kate. There's deception and twists but still within the pages it was mostly about romance of some sort. I don't know if I ever really knew any of the characters, even Marcia; she just never seemed real. Quite fairy-tale like and the story is written with much drama.
March 22, 2013
Hill's writing is full of vague pearl clutching over events that are never really explained in any sort of understandable way because apparently they're just too scandalous to put into words. I read a lot of her books when I was a kid because they were some of the only things in the house to read, and about the only think I enjoyed in them was the descriptions of the lifestyle (clothes, meals, homes, social events).
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