Little Eve Edgarton

by Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, Kehinde (Narrator)

Eve Edgarton is not who she seems to be. A short encounter with Mr. Barton shows that first impressions are not always right or indicative of ones seemingly obvious preference or ones proclivity. (Summary by Kehinde)

Genres: Classics, Adult

MP3

First published January 1, 1914

About the author

Eleanor Hallowell Abbott, born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a nationally recognized American author. She was a frequent contributor to The Ladies' Home Journal.aEleanor Hallowell Abbott was a nationally recognized American author. She was a frequent contributor to The Ladies' Home Journal. Born: September 22, 1872, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States Died: June 4, 1958, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States Spouse: Fordyce Coburn (m. 1908) Parents: Edward Abbott Education: Radcliffe College

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonus star added for enjoyment.

Eve is a wallflower, a young woman of thirty whose father has dictated her every move and almost her every thought, even to the packing of her trunk (her single steamer trunk with six sets of underwear and four dresses, plus various items of her father’s that don’t fit in his trunk). But at last she is going to have to find her own thoughts and opinions and not continue letting him dictate even her future. Above all things she longs for a house, instead of being forever a nomad.

The young hero isn’t very appreciative at first because he’s forever running after the next pretty face and bemoaning how empty the characters of those pretty society stars are. Is there any chance a lightning bolt can snap him out of his short-sighted and doomed hunt for a thoughtful woman in the ranks of the thoughtless?

Overall, a sweet short romance that stole my heart.

Content: swearing, mostly in scenes with her father.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book from Gutenberg a couple of years ago and loved it. Sadly, it did not wear as well as, say, Molly Make-Believe. For some reason at this second reading it left me rather cold. Why did Abbott feel the need to have Eve "drone" every time she spoke instead of whispering, murmuring, exclaiming, or even just SAYing? She's a total Mary Sue, with no social graces to speak of, which is odd if she has spent her whole life around adults. Would such an intelligent, self-sufficient woman be happy for the rest of her life with such an insipid Romeo? I'm thinking no. Reminds me of Miranda from The Tempest who "falls in love" with the first young man she's ever seen after playing chess with him. Oh yeah, and then they move back to Milano, to a wider "brave new world" with a huge selection of "such creatures in it." One wonders how that worked out.

[Betsie Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet little love story with a plucky heroine.

[Katherine White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonky, unlikely, enjoyable romance, a good "curl up with a cup of tea and light reading" book. True to its time, it has an obvious moral, and one that is thankfully true in spite of the rather fantastic events that support it.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little Eve Edgarton is a longish novella of dear Elizabeth von Arnim who also wrote, among many other wonderful things, The Enchanted April. This particular story, set in the early 20th century, begins in a very nice hotel with a sort of snobby young yuppie gentleman having drinks in the hotel bar with an older fellow who berates the younger for chasing after beautiful bimboes that he admits do become boring very quickly. The older fellow encourages him to give the plain, ordinary and somewhat older girls a chance because they are vastly more interesting and accomplished and so don't get boring. They argue. The next thing the young bimbo-chaser knows he as agreed to go on a horseback riding date with the older gentleman's daughter, who, you guessed it, is older, plain and intelligent. What happens next is for you to discover when you read this yourself. It's a nice little story with all the charming prose one expects from von Arnim and wonderful little surprises. Honestly, the girl could execute plot line twists like no one else. Very enjoyable, not silly or sappy.

[for-much-deliberation ... · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short story by Eleanor Abbott, some conversations were a bit drawn out but all in all it was quite delightful. Eve and her father travel all around the world and she just dreams about settling down somewhere. It is proposed that she'll one day marry a mature friend of her father's but Eve doesn't seem too interested. Then she meets Barton...

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a cute story. My only complaint is the LibriVox reading I had, which I found to be distracting from the plot, itself. I will revisit this story at some point in the future, but will make sure to get a physical copy.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute story. Writing style was occasionally odd.