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A review by book_concierge
Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm by Kate Douglas Wiggin
4.0
Rebecca Randall is the young girl at the center of this classic coming-of-age novel. Living on the idyllic Sunnybrook Farm with her six siblings and her widowed mother, she is sent at age nine to live with her two elderly aunts in Riverboro, Maine. In exchange for her help they will provide room and board, a suitable wardrobe and ensure she receives an education. Her mother hopes it will be “the making of Rebecca.” The novel follows Rebecca through young adulthood.
What a delight this classic is! Of course, I had seen the Shirley Temple movie several times when I was a child, but never read the book. While the novel is very different from Temple’s movie, Rebecca’s irrepressible character is the same. First published in 1903, it is set primarily in the late 19th century.
From the first introduction, as she boards the stagecoach as the lone passenger, Rebecca charms and entertains. She is ever curious, constantly moving, always exploring, and chattering away. She makes friends easily, whether it be with the elderly coach driver, or the girls and boys in her school. She makes mistakes and gets into mischief (what child doesn’t!), but she wins over even her irascible oldest aunt, Miranda.
I wish Wiggin had written a sequel; I sure would read more about Rebecca as a young woman. She’s every bit as engaging and interesting as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) who was brought to life by L.M. Montgomery some five years after Rebecca Randall debuted.
What a delight this classic is! Of course, I had seen the Shirley Temple movie several times when I was a child, but never read the book. While the novel is very different from Temple’s movie, Rebecca’s irrepressible character is the same. First published in 1903, it is set primarily in the late 19th century.
From the first introduction, as she boards the stagecoach as the lone passenger, Rebecca charms and entertains. She is ever curious, constantly moving, always exploring, and chattering away. She makes friends easily, whether it be with the elderly coach driver, or the girls and boys in her school. She makes mistakes and gets into mischief (what child doesn’t!), but she wins over even her irascible oldest aunt, Miranda.
I wish Wiggin had written a sequel; I sure would read more about Rebecca as a young woman. She’s every bit as engaging and interesting as Anne Shirley (of Green Gables) who was brought to life by L.M. Montgomery some five years after Rebecca Randall debuted.