Elsie's Womanhood (Elsie Dinsmore Collection (Audio))

Finley, Martha

ISBN 10: 1441726292 ISBN 13: 9781441726292

Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks, 2010

Synopsis

It is time for celebration as Elsie prepares to marry her beloved Edward. Following their wedding, the happy couple honeymoons at Viamede, the childhood home of Elsie's mother in the bayou region of Louisiana. Here Elsie's faith matures, and she learns to share her belief with others in a meaningful way. Four children--Elsie, Edward, Violet, and Harold--are born to Elsie and Edward, who experience the joys and heartaches of parenthood. Meanwhile, the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Mindful of the tragedies unfolding around her, Elsie is touched by the painful divisions brought on by the War Between the States and the devastating loss of family and friends that accompanies it.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Hibbard Publications is dedicated to bringing Martha Finley's 28 books in Dodd Mead's originally published series of The Elsie Books to a new generation of young readers! Here they are, complete and unabridged. They will speak to the hearts of girls and young women as much today as they did when first published in the late 1800's. With no updating for today's reader, these classic originals give an honest view of the writing style and subjects of the nineteenth century American mind.

Martha Finley penned the adventures of Elsie Dinsmore, over more than 38 years, often using members of her own family for characterization. Truth, faith, religion, morality, and humanity are the underlying virtues woven throughout the storytelling of this extraordinary series of fiction for children.

As Miss Finley's stories evolve, Elsie Dinsmore is faced with a myriad of trials and tribulations. Elsie's devout faith and clear knowledge of Scipture enable her to persevere through each troublesome circumstance. As Elsie matures into a godly woman, so her unique family grows, adding to the lovable - and sometimes not so likeable - cast of Miss Finley's interesting characters.

In 1868, the New York firm of Dodd Mead released the first "Elsie" book, Elsie Dinsmore, becoming an instant bestseller. The successful series, The Elsie Books, was launched, making Finley one of the most renowned children's writers of her time, with book sales second only to Louisa May Alcott. By 1945, 5 million copies of volumes 1-12, alone, had been sold.

Hibbard Publications is honored to bring back this series of timeless classics, full of the family values and personal faith that are jeopardized in today's society. We hope The Elsie Books will inspire today's reader, as they have for generations, to find richer relationships with the members of their family and with the Lord.

From the Author:

A perfect woman, nobly plann'd
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a spirit still, and bright,
With something of an angel light.
- Wordsworth

The call for a sequel to "Elsie's Girlhood" having come too loud and importunate to be resisted, the pleasant task of writing it was undertaken.

Dates compelled the bringing in of the late war, and it has been the earnest desire and effort of the author to so treat the subject as to wound the feelings of none; to be as impartial as if writing history; and, by drawing a true, though alas, but faint picture, of the great losses and sufferings on both sides, to make the very thought of a renewal of the awful strife utterly abhorrent to every lover of humanity, and especially of this, our own dear native land.

Are we not one people, speaking the same language; worshipping the one true and living God; having a common history, a common ancestry; and being united by the tenderest ties of blood? And is not this great grand, glorious old Union - known and respected all over the world - our common country, our joy and pride? O! Let us forget all bitterness, and live henceforth in love, harmony, and mutual helpfulness.

For all I know of the Teche country I am indebted to Mr. Edward King's Old and New Louisiana; for facts and dates in regard to the war, and in large measure for Mr. Dinsmore's views as to its cause, etc., principally to Headley's History of the Great Rebellion.

The description of Andersonville, and the life led by the prisoners there, was supplied by one who shared it for six months. An effort was made to obtain a sketch of a Northern prison also, but without success.

Yet what need to balance accounts in respect to these matters? The unnatural strife is over, and we are again one united people.
Martha Finley

About this edition

• Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1441726292
• ISBN 13: 9781441726292
• Binding: MP3 CD