by L. M. Alcott
First published 2022
Fourteen-year-old Polly Milton leaves her simple country home to visit her wealthy friend Fanny Shaw in the city. The Shaw family's expensive clothes and fashionable lifestyle overwhelm her. Fanny's friends ignore Polly because she dresses plainly and acts differently. Tom Shaw teases her, and even Fanny finds her strange. But Polly's genuine warmth slowly wins over each family member. Her honest ways reveal how little the Shaws actually care for each other beneath their polished surface. Over six years of visits, Polly becomes like family to them. When she returns as a young woman working as a music teacher, she discovers the Shaws face bankruptcy. Their fortune crumbles, but Polly helps them see that loving family bonds matter more than money or status. Tom takes a job out West with Polly's brother to support his family after his shallow fiancée abandons him. Through loss and hardship, the Shaws learn to value what Polly always treasured.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, historical-fiction, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: City, Country Home
Period: 19th Century
212 pages · Paperback · Lulu.com