by L. M. Alcott
First published 2022
Rose Campbell arrives at her aunts' Boston mansion as a sickly, grieving thirteen-year-old. Her father has died, leaving her wealthy but alone among relatives she barely knows. The stern aunts who take her in seem more concerned with proper behavior than her happiness. Everything changes when Uncle Alec returns from his travels abroad and assumes her guardianship. He throws out her corsets, prescribes outdoor exercise instead of drawing room rest, and introduces her to seven boisterous male cousins who transform her quiet world. Rose must navigate her new place as the only girl among the boys while learning to manage her inheritance and social position. With help from Phebe, a cheerful housemaid who becomes her closest friend, Rose discovers her own strength. She faces the challenge of defining herself as both an heiress and a young woman in a society that expects little from either role beyond marriage.
Genres: family-life, american-fiction, coming-of-age, adolescence, 19th-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, found-family
Setting: Boston
Period: 19th-century
157 pages · Paperback · Lulu.com