Carney's House Party / Winona's Pony Cart

Deep Valley #1,3

by Maud Hart Lovelace

Two of Maud Hart Lovelace's beloved Deep Valley books join the Harper Perennial Modern Classics library, next to other enduring favorites like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, To Kill a Mockingbird and Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy books. This beautiful combination edition of Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart features a foreword by author Melissa Wiley and a never-before-published biography of Lovelace illustrator Vera Neville.

Carney's House Party: In the summer of 1911, Caroline "Carney" Sibley is home from college and looking forward to hosting a monthlong house party—catching up with the old Crowd, including her friend Betsy Ray, and introducing them to her Vassar classmate Isobel Porteous. Romance is in the air with the return of Carney's high school sweetheart, Larry Humphreys, for whom she's pined all these years. Will she like him as well as she once did? Or will the exasperating Sam Hutchinson turn her head?

Winona's Pony Cart: More than anything in the world, Winona Root wants a pony for her eighth birthday. Despite her father's insistence that it's out of the question, she's wishing so hard that she's sure she'll get one—at least, that's what she tells her friends Betsy, Tacy, and Tib. . . .

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Childrens, Childrens Classics, Middle Grade

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Maud Hart Lovelace was an American writer best known for the beloved Betsy-Tacy series, which has remained a cornerstone of American children’s literature for generations. Born and raised in Mankato, Minnesota, she began writing at an early age and showed literary promise while still in high school. She attended the University of Minnesota, where she worked for the Minnesota Daily, and sold her first short story while recuperating in California, marking the start of her professional career. Lovelace initially wrote historical novels for adults, including The Black Angels and the successful Early Candlelight, before turning to children’s fiction inspired by stories she told her daughter. Beginning in the late 1930s, she created the Betsy-Tacy books, drawing heavily on her own childhood and friendships. Set largely in the fictional town of Deep Valley, the series follows its heroine from early childhood into adulthood, with the books gradually increasing in complexity alongside their readers. Lovelace also wrote several related Deep Valley novels featuring the same community. Her work was praised for its warmth, authenticity, and vivid sense of place, securing her lasting influence in American literary culture.

Reviews

[steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Initial read: June 2011 | Re-reads: March 2012, May 2014, April 2018, September 2021

September 2021: This book is still my favorite. Carney is such a vibrant and well developed character and nothing makes me happier than her slowly realizing she might like Sam. Also the Betsy & Joe stuff in the background is adorable as well. A comforting and nostalgic read.

Review May 2014: I love Carney. I forget with these Deep Valley books how much I like Carney because I'm so wrapped up in Betsy's world that it's hard to relate to anyone else. But then I take a break and read this one and read about Carney and her insecurities and her feelings regarding Larry and then Sam, who really is a lovable baby hippo and how Carney is figuring out herself at the same time as these two guys are in the picture and it's wonderful. Sam is great and I love that he paid cash for her birthday flowers and he tells her because that is IMPORTANT since Carney is always telling him to stop charging things. I love Carney realizes it's easier talk to Sam about things versus Larry and then Carney confiding in Betsy and Betsy being so Betsy in her response back, "Just tell him he should have ask you to marry him and when he does, turn him down" (Oh Betsy, love). But of course that backfires as soon as Carney tells Sam that because she realizes that a) she wouldn't have said no and b) he laughs and kisses her and then they go in to talk to her parents and they are engaged but with no ring because Sam is going to pay cash and I AM OVERCOME WITH FEELINGS. . This is a fun, easy, enjoyable read. If you've read Betsy's Wedding and wondered who this Sam guy was and what the heck happened to Larry, pick up this book. You won't regret it.

Winona's Cart Party is a cute read and something I'll end up reading to my nieces one day but to be honest, 90% of the time I pick up this book it is for Carney and and Carney alone and I don't read Winona's story.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED Carney's House Party!

Have you ever read a book with *you* in it? How about *you* AND your *spouse*? I happened to tell a friend I was going to read Carney's House Party and she told me it reminded her so much of Travis and I. What?! So of course I spent the next few hours reading it ... and thought so too!

How fun to find your couple's doppelganger!

Cleanliness: Mentions a brewery, cigar, poker. "Good gracious" "jiminy" "what-in-ell" "heavens" "Gee" "gosh" "golly" "heck" "goodness" "shucks" "Good Lord" "darn" "pooh" "stupid" are said. Mentions a girl changing her petticoat and corset and ladies wearing low-cut ball gowns. Mentions Halloween. A man and young woman hold hands often, side embrace, and there are a few kisses. A man doesn't want to go to church. People talk about whether those who have never heard about God are damned. A girl kicks the wall because she's mad. A girl lies. Someone is called a sissy.

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So Follow or Friend me here on GoodReads! And be sure to check out my bio page to learn a little about me and the Picture Book/Chapter Book Calendars I sell on Etsy!

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really can’t express how much I love Deep Valley and these characters!❤️ Revisiting them was SO wonderful! I was full of smiles and laughs at these characters who feel like dear friends.
I just loved Carney and Sam!! They were just the best. They made me smile and laugh, and just made me so happy. ☺️
It was just so much fun to read. A great summer read! ☀️

[Gina House · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really lovely Deep Valley book! Although I'm mostly a huge fan of the early Betsy-Tacy stories when the girls were little, I found Carney's story to be incredibly relatable and enjoyable.

It was so interesting reading about the relationships of "The Crowd" after they finished high school and went away to college. How refreshing it was to read that not all relationships are required to be romantic and that it's completely acceptable to have a male friend that you adore.

Following Carney, Bonnie, Isobel and Sam through each week of this special summer was fascinating and entertaining. I know I'll be reading this story again. And, I must say that I absolutely loved Sam Hutchinson—so generous, fun, friendly and helpful to all people. Such a winner!

Many thanks to my dear friend, Marjorie (@marjoriepaper on Instagram) for buddy reading this book with me. Reading this Maud Hart Lovelace together made it even more fun!

[Megan Mweemba · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

While I didn’t love this anywhere near how much I love the main Betsy-Tacy series, it was still a nice addition. It was really good to see some blanks being filled in that I always wished were addressed in the other books, like what happened with Larry and Bonnie and Tony. I also enjoyed reading the background information about the real people these characters were based on that was included in this edition.

[T.J. Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

I've read the whole Betsy-Tacy series, from Betsy's 5th birthday party to Joe going away to serve in WWI, many times over twenty+ years, but I am pretty sure this is only the second time that I have read the companion Deep Valley books, "Carney's House Party" and "Winona's Pony Cart." As the titles suggest, Betsy Ray is not the main character in these volumes; however, she plays a supporting role in each. And while I don't love them quite as much as the central books, they are still a delight and a comfort and a mental oasis in the midst of exhaustion, cynicism, and horrifying news cycles.

"Carney's House Party" is set between "Betsy and Joe" and "Betsy and the Great World," the summer after Carney's sophomore year at Vassar. And Betsy (because obviously, I can't stop making Betsy the reference point) is just coming back from her convalescence in California after her appendectomy. "Winona's Pony Cart" is set when Winona, Betsy, Tacy, and Tib are in third grade, and it has the same fresh zest and pitch-perfect childhood voice of "Betsy-Tacy," but the spoiled Winona is, to me, a less charming main character.

"Carney's House Party" was fun for four main reasons: 1) who can resist a romance where the FMC originally refers to the MMC as a "baby hippo." Haha, it feels so modern! 2) I loved the scenes set at Vassar and getting a peek at what college life for women would have been like in the early nineteen hundreds. In some ways, it is not different at all: the easy camaraderie, the pranks, the late-night gab sessions. 3) Betsy is so adorably in love with Joe, who makes a brief appearance, and 4) they repeatedly reference one of my other favorite childhood series, the "Little Colonel" series, particularly the book "The Little Colonel's House Party," which was in fact my first introduction to the idea of a house party.

Oh, random aside: In "Carney's House Party," characters also reference the book "Queed" by Henry Harrison (published in 1911) multiple times, so I was curious about it. I tried to look it up on Goodreads with my fat thumbs and misspelled the title by one little adjacent letter. Well...you can guess the eye-popping titles that came up instead of the dignified-sounding "Queed." 😜 Also, when I finally got to the correct page, I was delighted that one of the first reviews I read also referenced "Carney's House Party" as bringing them there. 

I don't have much to say about "Winona's Pony Cart" other than that it is quick and cute. Young Winona is kind of a brat, but she learns a lesson in the book, as does, more interestingly, her mother. I liked seeing the buttoned-up Mrs. Root beginning to understand that all children of all social levels should be welcome at a party.

Overall, A+, these books make me happy. Although I am grieved that I am down to only one more Deep Valley novel, the kinda-outlier, "Emily of Deep Valley," another book that I have only read once. Does it even mention Betsy?!? I can't remember.

[Madame Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carney's House Party: 3/5
I didn't really like Carney. I found her too judgmental of her friends.
Winona's Pony Cart: 5/5
Winona won me over in this one.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Maud Hart Lovelace and the Betsy-Tacy series as a kid but never came across either of these titles. Too bad, since reading this book as a world-weary adult was not the same magical experience I remember. There is a certain charm and simplicity to the stories, characters, and era that I found enchanting as a child but now tend to find somewhat naive and a little shallow. Nevertheless, I was able to summon enough nostalgia to (mostly) enjoy it. Maud Hart Lovelace remains one of my favorite childhood authors, and I'm grateful I romped through the world of Deep Valley with youthful eyes. I'd still heartily recommend her work to children and young adults.

[Marcy Wynhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

OK I got this as a end of chemo celebration book. Being the fan I am of Betsy/Tacy I had never read the other books feeling I might be a traitor to Betsy!! Oh Dear. Every bit as good. A few little old fashioned sexist stuff in Carney's House party, but totally wonderful writing and a great story. Winona?? All I can say is: Kindred Spirit! Am now moving on to Emily of Deep Valley. I'm in Heaven.

[Meredith Henning · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I liked this one even better than Emily of Deep Valley, but they are close runners :)

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I love thee, Maud Hart Lovelace! Carney's House Party is a stand-alone book in the Betsy-Tacy collection about one of Betsy's best high-school friends, Carney Sibley. Many of our old favorites appear in this book, as well as some fun new characters. The Betsy-Tacy books are quaint, old-fashioned, and wholesome. But so what? So are a lot of other books, and most of them are boring. Lovelace has something else going on which enlivens the quaintness and old-fashioned wholesomeness. A lot of scholars describe it in terms of some kind of modern feminism, often speaking of Lovelace as ahead of her time, etc. But I don't think that's exactly right. Lovelace wasn't a feminist in the 21st century sense of that word, but there's no doubt that she loves her characters, she's invested in them, she finds them interesting and worth exploring, and most of her characters are girls and women (but certainly not all of them!). Her characters are complex and she respects that. Carney believes in votes for women, but at the Hutchinson luncheon she's so caught up in her private thoughts about the sociology of families that she can't express her views. But even if she could, she'd never be impolite about the issue! Carney's career goals are focused on marriage and children and making a home for her family, but she's thrilled to be going to Vassar and she's determined to take advantage of the excellent education there, even if it means putting off her upcoming marriage for two years. She loves going to an all women's college, but she's so happy that the "Female" in the "Vassar Female College" sign was blown off in a terrible storm years ago. Carney is just one of the many lovely and interesting people you'll meet in the world of Maud Hart Lovelace -- what a wonderful world it is!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can finally say I have read this version with the two Deep Valley books- Carney's House Party and Winona's Pony Cart. Melissa Wiley describes them best in her foreword, "facing life's challenges with Carney's integrity, Betsy's determination, and Winona's sense of fun" (xiv). I appreciated the additional author and illustrator biographies and the historical background with photographs. I learned many new details about the real-life Carney and Winona (but careful for SPOILER ALERTS!):

1) Lovelace asked Carney/Marion for permission to write about her life.
2) Carney actually went to Carleton College in Minnesota and then Vassar a year later.
3) I couldn't believe the Daisy Chain was a real thing but there are pictures!
4) Carney actually met Sam/Bill while teaching, but she did reunite with Larry/Rupe and they both decided to part ways.
5) Carney/Marion's daughter Louise was one of the first members of the Maud Hart Lovelace Society where she spoke on several different occasions.
6) Winona's character is actually based on two separate people.

I think Carney is just as remarkable a heroine as Betsy, and Winona has grown on me more after re-reading this book again. This is a must-read for Betsy-Tacy fans as it is always a treat to visit Deep Valley and be immersed in this charming world yet again!

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun additional read for fans of Betsy and Tacy who want to spend more time in their world. Be sure to read the originals first.
One thing I like about having these two together in one is that in my head I divide the Betsy-Tacy books into two groups: the first four books of the series, when the girls are little, and then the final six, the high school/adult books. These two hit both of those eras. First you have the little girls, messing around at Winona's birthday party as they are at the age where their world is getting bigger, and then in Carney's House Party you get the older girls spending time together as they enter adulthood. Fans of Carney from the high school books will appreciate that her love story gets finished here, as she is left pretty unhappy in Betsy's high school books. Fans of the series will definitely appreciate both of these.

[Rachel Piper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically, Carney realizes she wants to marry someone who's already rich and therefore doesn't need to think about work or be ambitious. BUT I enjoyed reading this in true chronological order — after Betsy & Joe, before Betsy & the Great World.

[Venetta Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A refreshing historical read

A quick getaway to times before my birth. And while I know it was (and still is) an entirely different story for people from my culture, it was good insight into what life was like for many during that time.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming, although slight, addition to the Betsy-Tacy series. The bits about life at Vassar were fascinating as were all the details about everyday life in the "Middle West" in 1910. I would have loved the Winona story when I was seven or eight.

[ireneekins · Rating 4 out of 5]

A super fun crew in "Carney's House Party" but it had some pretty poor theology points better left out. Winona Root is one spoiled rotten little girl but still had enough charm for me to highly enjoy her sweet 8th birthday. Love those little characters!

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed both of these books - great to see cameos from other characters.

[Books I'm Not Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, these books were such a delight. I'm so happy they were reprinted along with the Betsy-Tacy books.

[Meg W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great look into Carney's life after high school.

[Brigid Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rereading the Deep Valley books, which are all perfect, and I will not be discussing the matter further.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Betsy-Tacy books so much, and these additions to that universe did not disappoint.

[Kati Polodna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartwarming comfort read that made me smile.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked them. Just not as much as the original series.

[Anna Fink · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kindle: I love these so much. Nuff said.

[Elizabeth R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful good fun as usual! I especially enjoyed Carney’s portion of the book, because who doesn’t like looking back on the fun of college?

[Lanette · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤️🤎💜🩵💙💚💛🧡🩷🤍🩶🖤💯💯

[Anastasia Tuckness · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to revisit this scene from others' POV!

[-Grace- · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a good book, but just not as good as the betsy-tacy ones.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Four stars for Carney‘s story and two stars for Winona’s, averaging out to three stars for this collection. I just prefer the Deep Valley books when the girls are all older.