Elsie's New Life

A Life of Faith: Elsie Dinsmore #3

by Martha Finley

Two decades before the Civil War, an eight year- old Southern heiress longs for the love of the father she has never known---but when they meet at last, nothing is as Elsie expects. Can the proud and willful Horace Dinsmore learn to love his only child---a little girl whose first allegiance is to God? Introducing soft cover editions in the Elsie Dinsmore Series with newly designed covers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Christian Fiction, Christian, Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

Martha Finley was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. Finley wrote many of her books under the pseudonym Martha Farquharson.

For more information, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_F... or, http://marthafinley.wordpress.com/

Reviews

[Micaiah Keough · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Elsie's New Life the second time around was nice. It's a really good book, and is also funny, charming, and enjoyable. I am a huge fan of Martha Finley, who wrote great books, that have been updated. I have only read the updates versions but I love the ALOF ( A Life of Faith ) series. It is really fun, there are many ups and downs, which appeals to me even more (who wants to read a book where everything goes smoothly?) ;) , and the characters are amazing. Elsie is a great main character, and I really enjoy her father in this book. In the past two he was overly-harsh and overly-strict. But in this book he is much better, being a Christian, and is very kind, gentle, and wise with Elsie-Horace helps Elsie with a tough decision in the end.

I cried in the end of the book (or teared up, actually). It has a touching ending. :)

I love Martha Finley's works, and own all twenty-four Elsie Dinsmore, Millie Kieth, and Violet Travilla books. I am excited to read the next book in this series, Elsie's Stolen Heart, and then Elsie's True Love. Elsie's True Love is my favorite book in the series. All in all, this is a great book for girls. I love it!

[Grace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it when I was 6

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this in 2 sittings and absolutely LOVED it! SO much better then the first two. 🙌🏼😍
reread nov 2020 - these books are gems! i love elsie so much and rose allison !!

[Daniel Pustynovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a good book. Its like the other books in that series. It has great stories of how she is living in her grandparents house and with her father. Her mother died in the first book of the series and in this book she has an unexpected proposal and is put in the challenge of life.

[Maly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's interesting.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another uplifting book in the Elsie Dinsmore series. Elsie's example and faith make a wonderful impression on her father and many happy events take place.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Elsie's ages in this story. She's of marrying age by the end. Elsie's Uncle continues down his treacherous path and more mature themes are added (e.g. slavery).

[Brooklynn Wieland]

Martha Finley, an amazing author of the 3rd book called Elsie's New Life in the series A life in Faith. The main character is Elsie, a young girl with a bright personality. She lives with her father Mr. Dinsmore who is a strict and very christian man, who brings up his daughter in a loving and christian household in the Southern part of the United States. As she grows up, Elsie travels all over during her summer break and in the end gets the wish of her dreams, a new mother. She goes through a rough time though with her uncle and has a wonderful friend who ends up passing away. Elsie is recovering from a deadly sickness that leaves her weak and fragile, but with the help of a wonderful family, regains her strength and pursues to "conquer her fears and live in a life a faith."

Upon reading the novel, I found that the theme was, trust in the Lord and will he care for you. I know this is the theme because there many elements that support this theme. A good quote that supports this is, " I cannot predict the future for you, dear lady, for that is in the province of the Lord." This is Horace speaking to Mrs. Murray and he is telling her that even though he cannot tell her what her future holds, the Lord is in her heart and if she follows him he will have a wonderful future planned for her. Also another quote that can support my theme is, " The real gift is from God isn't is?" Here Elsie is asking her father that even though she got wonderful gifts for Christmas, the real gift is Jesus Christ. Her fathers response is, " It is indeed dearest- the gift of salvation." His response shows us that the Lord is the greatest gift anyone could possibly have.

The writing of this novel is narrative. Martha Finley writes in a dialogue and response form. In the story there are settings and sayings that show it is a narrative written theme. A quote that shows this is, " Wasn't that a thoughtful gift?" Here is Elsie is telling her father and Chloe her maid that the Jesus is a wonderful ad thoughtful gift and that the Lord is a wonderful caretaker.

I loved this book, mainly because it is about Christianity. I like how the book is written in a past year and shows how strongly people believed in the Lord. I give the book 5 stars because the story is so detailed and leaves you on the edge of your seat. The suspicion of the novel is very high and makes you want to read the whole novel. Overall, I loved the novel.

[Daniel Pustynovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the 3rd book of this great and adventurous series, Elsie is an eight-year-old heiress who lives in a wealthy southern plantation. Her mother died when Elsie was at a very young age and her father is back from Europe. In the last book she is faced with many difficulties with her father when she had to chose between him and God. Elsie goes through struggles with her dad as it is said in the Bible “Keep the Lord’s day holy.” As her father makes do things to please but is actually hurting her. She doesn't want to break her father’s command but still wants to obey God. In this book, Her father tries to be strong and stricte with her and says that she must obey him or he will leave her. Then in the book she almost goes through a close to death experience as she tries to obey God and her Father. I like this book since it is a true story of a devoted Christian and her struggles to obey God. I beleive this is a great book and I hope that you will love is as much as I do.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a huge chunk of time covered in this book, which can make it seem like things move at too quick a clip to feel realistic. Thankfully the rest of the series isn’t like that. But, oh, how I love these books.

2024 UPDATE

Rose!!!!! I love the whole Allison family.

Is it possible to love someone and not end up with them??? Yes. Yes it is.

Elsie's spiritual learning continues with seeing the differences sincere Christians can have with the practice of doctrines like the Sabbath.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third book to this series and my favorite so far. This is a wonderful book that all should read, but only after reading the first two books to this series (elsie's endless wait and elsie's impossible choice).

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute Story! I love these BOOKS! They are so cute! I say these stories are for ages 5th plus! I'm in 7th grade and I love these!

[The Third Place A Teen Library]

F FIN ed: lof bk. 3

[Katie Sheetz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all smiles for Elsie. Not my favorite. I do love Rose though.

[Richard George · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this and the whole series with Emily as she grew up. Precious times!

[Evangeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this series for as long as I can remember. It holds so many memories for me.
I decided to reread my favorite books to see if it was just as good as I remember, and yes, just as good.

[Chloe H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as books one and two are somewhat hard to read and sad, this book is joyous. And it wouldn't be so joyous if books one and two were happier.

Elsie's father is finally saved and they move away from Roselands to make a home for themselves. They travel around the U.S., Horace gets remarried, Elsie welcomes a new brother, receives her first proposal, and loses a dear friend.

I love all these momentous occasions in Elsie's life, though I wish they weren't so rushed through. But they're super important for the rest of the series!

I love Herbert, and that last chapter always gets me. Harry's sweet words brought tears to my eyes. 💜

Book four is one of my favorites (and in fact the one I read most recently), so I look forward to reading it!

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Endearing and lovely, so much more pleasant than the first two books.

[Jessica Hoffpauir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic 4 stars because there basically is no plot haha but still I love this book

[Hannah Beth (Hannah's Book Cafe) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I do have some theological issues with Elsie's faith, I do really like the series. They are very wholesome without being afraid to hit on hard issues.

[Jessica Samson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet relief from the previous book, it was more upbeat and sweet. Romance in the air and family’s united. A sweet sweet break from the pain.

[Jessica Pryer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sweet, little book. I enjoyed it.

[Lena Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was sweet! Elsie is happy, for once.

[Grace Lynch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This read was very sweet and I found that I enjoyed reading it more than I remember having read it before. There were a lot of cute moments and lessons learned.

[Alissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome series and teaches you all about God.