More Discussion on The Honor Girl
Emma said: "I really enjoyed my first venture into G.L.H. land! It really put me right in the mood to nest with all the talk of cleaning, decorating, cooking, and actually caring about the quality of home life! When I finished the book, I thought a lot about how wonderful if would be to have some of the recipes that were made... I've never made donughts from scratch, but I desperately wanted to try after reading this book!"
Tammy said: "The part I loved best about this book is that after she worked so very hard for her family, her brothers made her room beautiful for her."
glh said: "Whenever I want to read something really, really domestic from GLH, I choose either Honor Girl or Re-Creations. (I could never get done what they got done in just a day, however...)"
Great comments!
Emma, donuts are lots of fun to make. I make them frequently using this recipe. I often feel like a GLH character when I'm in flour up to my elbows!
glh, I think it's funny that you remark on what the characters can get done in just one day, since the foreword in my copy of the book, written by Grace's daughter Ruth Livingston Hill says,
"The prodigious amount of work that some of her book characters accomplish in an incredibly short time may represent what she would like to have been able to do herself. She had a tremendous store of energy, and she drew on it often, especially when the work involved helping the helpless."
12 comments:
My mil ordered this book for me-I've never read any GLH books.
Can we read this together and then discuss it?
Joanna
I've heard these books are being republished-is this true? If so, where can I find them?
Thanks for sharing that quote, Anna! I love taking a peek into the lives of authors I enjoy!
I will have to re read my library copy a few more times. I may have missed that quote. Having been a stay at home mom, I wondered how she timed her cooking and cleaning/washing in the time the book was mentioned. In the 13th edition of Fannie Farmer is a raised and baked doughnut recipe that I have made. My husband has helped though. In my Junior League cookbook is a doughnut muffin recipe that is fast and good. I grew up with the Nancy Drew's and always knew Nancy and Hannah worked together, or having read through my set, knew Hannah would have gotten extra help. I did in a way think it may have been good for Elsie to go away those 5 years. The depression her father was under didn't seem to go away even with the boys. Eugene could have hired another housekeeper and I'm sure in the state the father was in, he would have continued to write the checks. I do think Elsie going away and coming home educated her to a finer level, and made the boys want to attain that level also. I'm just up to the point where she has slept in her new bedroom, and has awoken the next morning and cooked the boys a breakfast. Lynn
My library doesn't have The Honor Girl:( Can you recommend a few other GHL books that focus on homemaking? Thanks so much:)
Sorry, I meant GLH books, sheesh:)
Here is my quote from Chapter 1. It is located at the end of the chapter when Elsie is ruminating on Cameron's bad behavior. She says to herself..."It's my opinion people can do well in anything if they only put their hearts into it, no matter what it is." I'm not sure that I believe that quote literally but I understand her meaning. That is a sentiment I would love for my children to carry with them.
BTW my name is Nicole and I am a stay at home home schooling mom of 5 (16, 13, 9, 7, and 3.)
Happy to join in the discussion,
Nicole
More thoughts...Chapters 2-8
2- Elsie trying to outrun what she knows is right and then doing it. I know I have done that before!
3- Being caught up in a whirlwind of cleaning. The store delivering all those goods to the house (I guess catalog shopping is as close as I will ever get to that!)
4- It was nice seeing the women work together. I need to train my children to work more around the house.
5- I liked the beginning of change that Elsie's act of kindness started.
6- We can minister to others by doing nice things for them with no thought of reward.
7- Quote "But a home without a woman was no home at all;...it was a shell with the spirit gone."
8- I was reminded of making doughnuts with my stepsister when we first met. We would take refrigerated biscuits and roll them into balls and fry them in oil. Then we would roll them in powdered sugar or cinnamon and sugar.
I'm really enjoying this book. Thanks for introducing me to GLH.
Nicole in MD
I'm waiting for the Honor Girl from the library, but in the mean time have just finished 'Crimson Mountain', 'Blue Ruin', 'The finding of Jasper Holt' and 'Coming Through the Rye' (recovering from the flu) - a couple of weeks ago I re-read 'The Enchanted Barn' and 'Phoebe Deane'. As a teen, my mom worked in a Christian bookstore and she bought all of the paperback re-prints for me as they came in. I really regret giving them all away since I found them so inspiring. My domineering room mate was a fiction snob and shamed me into purging my bookshelves!
Do you find that GLH's depiction of men sort of spoils you for their flesh and blood counterparts? I know so few men whose strength of character shows so evidently in their face and physique - or perhaps I am not looking with the right kind of eyes!
I just gave 92 GLH books to my daughter that I have collected since I was a teenager. Does anyone know how many there really are? I have 3 originals from the 1900's. My daughter directed me to this blog.
Kathy
I would love to re-open discussion on GLH books. Simply put, her books played a major part in shaping me into the woman I am today. I inherited every book written by her from my grandmother. If only our society upheld the sanctity of our domestic lives; indeed it is the cornerstone from which we all spring.
I would love to see if anyone would like to re-open discussion on GLH books. Simply put, her books played a major part in shaping me into the woman that I am today. If only our society recognized the importance of domesticity; indeed, it is the cornerstone from which we all spring.
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