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What Can She Do? (Original and Unabridged Content) (Old Version)
Why, you poor child, she said to Edith, turning her round before the light, "you're half drowned. You must have something hot right away, or you'll take your death o' cold," and with something of her husband's faith in whiskey, she soon brought Edith a hot punch that for a few moments seemed to make the girl's head spin, but as it was followed by strong tea and toast, she felt none the worse, and danger from the chill and wet was effectually disposed of.
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1873
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About the author
Edward Payson Roe
203 books14 followersReverend Edward Payson Roe (1838-1888) was an American novelist born in Moodna, Orange County, New York. He studied at Williams College and at Auburn Theological Seminary. In 1862 he became chaplain of the Second New York Cavalry, U.S. V., and in 1864 chaplain of Hampton Hospital, in Virginia. In 1866-74 he was pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Highland Falls, New York. In 1874 he moved to Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, where he devoted himself to the writing of fiction and to horticulture. During the American Civil War he wrote weekly letters to the New York Evangelist, and subsequently lectured on the war and wrote for periodicals. Amongst his works are Barriers Burned Away (1872), What Can She Do? (1873), Opening a Chestnut Burr (1874), Near to Nature's Heart (1876), A Face Illumined (1878), Success with Small Fruits (1880), A Day of Fate (1880), Without a Home (1881), An Unexpected Result (1883), His Sombre Rivals (1884), A Young Girl's Wooing (1884), An Original Belle (1885), He Fell in Love with His Wife (1886), Driven Back to Eden (1886) and The Earth Trembled (1887).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 24, 2024
How is this author not more well known?!? Once again through the pages of a book, I’ve been taken back in time and what a beautiful story it was. His writing is captivating and his characters real and wonderful ~ hence why I couldn’t put the book down. I felt like, as I have with his other literary works, I was between two walls which were slowly closing in ~ the suspense of the story propelled me forward yet at the same time I never wanted it to end and I know this been will stay with me long after I’ve read it.
May 26, 2024
As I close this book, What Can She Do? by Edward Payson Roe two things come to mind right away. First, I think there should be a question mark at the end of the title on the cover but there isn't, and second, I thought my family was bad, but we're perfectly normal compared to these people. We have the very wealthy Mr. Allen, he's married to the very wealthy Mrs. Allen and they have three very wealthy daughters, Laura, Edith, and Zell. They are all very, very wealthy I made that clear didn't I? Because all of a sudden they aren't anymore. This is very, very bad. Mr. Allen can't be poor, so he manages to die. That leaves Mrs. Allen and her daughters now poor but unable to live that way. Luckily, I guess, middle daughter Edith has a property in the country and the ladies in the family head for the country with what little they have left. And Edith tries to keep the family going, but no one else tries to help her. The only thing to be done according to the other three is to marry men with money. Any men with any money, no matter how bad they may be. Edith spends her time growing a strawberry garden, Zell spends her time running off with the obvious villain of the book, Mr. Van Dam. He even sounds evil. The other two spend their time crying over the loss of their money.
Some of the dialogue takes a little while to get used to, as when our local expert gardener talks he says things like this:
"Weel, noo, ye're a canny lass to coom and filch all old Malcom's secrets to set oop opposition to him But then sin' ye do it sae openly I'll tell ye all I know. The big wourld ought to be wide enought for a binnie lassie like yoursel to ha' a chance in it, and though I'm a little mon, I would na be sae mean a one as to hinder ye.
Then there is their old black servant Hannibal, who stays with them even after they lose their fortune. He spends too much of his time telling us he has a black heart, not a white one, and that he isn't a man, in his words:
"Bress you, Miss Edie, I isn't a man, I'se only a nigger."
And there you have it. It's a good book. A dead rich guy, a poor mother and three poor daughters, an evil villain, a strawberry garden, various villagers, and God. What more could you want? Well, I still want that question mark on the cover.
Some of the dialogue takes a little while to get used to, as when our local expert gardener talks he says things like this:
"Weel, noo, ye're a canny lass to coom and filch all old Malcom's secrets to set oop opposition to him But then sin' ye do it sae openly I'll tell ye all I know. The big wourld ought to be wide enought for a binnie lassie like yoursel to ha' a chance in it, and though I'm a little mon, I would na be sae mean a one as to hinder ye.
Then there is their old black servant Hannibal, who stays with them even after they lose their fortune. He spends too much of his time telling us he has a black heart, not a white one, and that he isn't a man, in his words:
"Bress you, Miss Edie, I isn't a man, I'se only a nigger."
And there you have it. It's a good book. A dead rich guy, a poor mother and three poor daughters, an evil villain, a strawberry garden, various villagers, and God. What more could you want? Well, I still want that question mark on the cover.
April 15, 2018
Great Old-Fashioned Story of Redemption
If you enjoy old books that show the stark contrast between a life devoted to God and one lived on one's own, you will like this. It also shows the value of training daughters to make a living just in case they must.
It's the story of a family who was quite rich, but lost nearly everything in the stock market during the Great Depression.
If you enjoy old books that show the stark contrast between a life devoted to God and one lived on one's own, you will like this. It also shows the value of training daughters to make a living just in case they must.
It's the story of a family who was quite rich, but lost nearly everything in the stock market during the Great Depression.
March 18, 2024
I have still not found an E.P. Roe book that I have not enjoyed or that I felt wasted my time. He did such a good job writing good stories and weaving in good thought within.
May 9, 2012
This could be termed a cautionary tale about what happens when one has no skills. The Allen family, comprised of Mr and Mrs Allen and their three girls, Laura, Edith, and Zell, is quite rich and each of the girls has aspirations to marry at some point. One day, Mr Allen loses everything, dies, and Mrs Allen and the girls head off to Edith's country dwelling. Edith meets Arden Lacey, the son of a drunkard, who lives with people in books more than people in real life, and is, in E.P. Roe's words, 'morbid' (I'm certain the word had a different meaning back then).
What Can She Do? is a pretty easy read, though Hannibal, the old black servant who comes with the family once they lose their fortune, is written the way he's supposed to sound, "Bushton" instead of "Pushton" "A'se" instead of "I am" (that may or may not be true). There's a theme of Christian belief through the book—I believe about 10% of the book, at least, is about Edith and the other characters finding Jesus. I didn't mind it, but that may be because I don't usually mind these things, or because E.P. Roe does it in a way that isn't annoying.
One thing that infuriated me about this book, however, was Hannibal's self-opinion (and, as an extension, the view of other races a hundred fifty years ago). An old black man who would have been revered in his 'own' country (I have that in quotes because he was born in America), his opinion of himself is expressed throughout the book by his avowal that he has a black heart, not a white one, and also by this quote:
"Bress you, Miss Edie, I isn't a man, I'se only a nigger."
Despite all that, it's an acceptable book to read, but not anything special by this author. If you want to read one of his works, my favorites were An Original Belle and He Fell in Love with His Wife and A Young Girl's Wooing
What Can She Do? is a pretty easy read, though Hannibal, the old black servant who comes with the family once they lose their fortune, is written the way he's supposed to sound, "Bushton" instead of "Pushton" "A'se" instead of "I am" (that may or may not be true). There's a theme of Christian belief through the book—I believe about 10% of the book, at least, is about Edith and the other characters finding Jesus. I didn't mind it, but that may be because I don't usually mind these things, or because E.P. Roe does it in a way that isn't annoying.
One thing that infuriated me about this book, however, was Hannibal's self-opinion (and, as an extension, the view of other races a hundred fifty years ago). An old black man who would have been revered in his 'own' country (I have that in quotes because he was born in America), his opinion of himself is expressed throughout the book by his avowal that he has a black heart, not a white one, and also by this quote:
"Bress you, Miss Edie, I isn't a man, I'se only a nigger."
Despite all that, it's an acceptable book to read, but not anything special by this author. If you want to read one of his works, my favorites were An Original Belle and He Fell in Love with His Wife and A Young Girl's Wooing
April 19, 2012
The plot centers around the Allen family which consists of Mr. and Mrs. Allen and their three daughters, Laura, Edith, and Zell. Mr. Allen is a wealthy businessman prone to taking risks and his ailing wife spends her time at home, relaxing and recuperating (until the next social event rolls around - then she's never too ill to get out of bed). Left largely to their own devices, the three girl spend their nights lavishly entertaining their beaux. Laura, the eldest, is being courted by Mr. Goulden, an attentive, somewhat dull businessman. Edith has Gus Elliot, a man easily-controlled, and Zell is being seen by the rakish Mr. Van Dam.
The family's hopes for a bright future are dashed when the conniving Mr. Fox utterly destroys Mr. Allen's business and the family loses their fortune. To top it all off, Mr. Allen suffers from an attack of apoplexy and dies. Suddenly the girls are thrust out into the world, penniless, jobless, and without skill. Moving to the country, the girls must find a way to support themselves despite never having been trained to do a single day of honest work in their entire lives. Can they rally together and make the best of the situation? What about the three men? Are they still willing to pursue marriage now that the girls haven't any money?
In the end, I wound up enjoying the book much more than I had anticipated. It had a nice plot and interesting characters and I found it a pleasing read.
There were only a few things I didn't like. Namely, Mr. Roe was very thorough in getting his message across. Understandable, though at times a bit repetitive.
Also, some of the dialogue was hard to follow since some of the characters' speech was spelled as it should be pronounced.
See more of my review here.
The family's hopes for a bright future are dashed when the conniving Mr. Fox utterly destroys Mr. Allen's business and the family loses their fortune. To top it all off, Mr. Allen suffers from an attack of apoplexy and dies. Suddenly the girls are thrust out into the world, penniless, jobless, and without skill. Moving to the country, the girls must find a way to support themselves despite never having been trained to do a single day of honest work in their entire lives. Can they rally together and make the best of the situation? What about the three men? Are they still willing to pursue marriage now that the girls haven't any money?
In the end, I wound up enjoying the book much more than I had anticipated. It had a nice plot and interesting characters and I found it a pleasing read.
There were only a few things I didn't like. Namely, Mr. Roe was very thorough in getting his message across. Understandable, though at times a bit repetitive.
Also, some of the dialogue was hard to follow since some of the characters' speech was spelled as it should be pronounced.
See more of my review here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews