Susan, Beware!

by Mabel Leigh Hunt, Mildred Boyle (Illustrator)

243 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1937

About the author

Born into a prominent Quaker family, Ms. Hunt wrote stories as a child and was influenced by her father, a doctor who loved word games and books. After his death she attended DePauw University, in Greencastle, Indiana, for two years (1910-1912) and received a year of library training at Western University Library School in Cleveland, Ohio (1923). She worked as a librarian at the Indianapolis Public Library from 1926-1938, when she resigned to write books full time. She wrote her first book Lucinda, A Little Girl of 1860 (1934) based on her mother's experiences as a Quaker girl living in Indiana. Ms. Hunt had written over 30 books and short stories at her death.

Reviews

[CLM · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author describes how she came to write this book: a descendant of the great Indiana publisher Samuel Miller wrote to her and offered a manuscript of her childhood reminiscences in the late 19th century. While Hunt made the story her own, she was attracted by the connection to a noted Indiana family.

Unfortunately, I found much of the story no more than pleasant and much was very dull. It was saved by the heroine's visit to New Orleans at the end of the book. Susan's friendship with a traditional Creole family is charming, and some of the author's observations could have been written now, rather than in 1937:

"Uncle Karl said that New Orleans was badly in need of a proper drainage system, for after such rains the city would be water-bound, until the flood could drain away and be lifted over the levees at the rear of the town by big slow-moving paddle-wheel pumps."

The title refers to the frequent warnings given by the heroine's mother to her reckless daughter.

[Barbara Haunton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming book set in Indianapolis, illustrated by Mildred Boyle, who was the artist on several of the original Little House on the Prairie books. The descriptions of New Orleans toward

the end are pertinent today.