Not Anne or Laura, but a Sweet Story Nevertheless

Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, the Mitford series, the Miss Julia books… these are the books that came to mind when I read a preview of the book Emily of Deep Valley by Maud Hart Lovelace.  Originally written in 1950, Emily of Deep Valley was described as the best of Maud Hart Lovelace’s books focusing on young women carving out their place in the world.

While Emily of Deep Valley was indeed a charming story of a young woman searching to find purpose in her life, it was not of the same caliber as Anne of Green Gables or Little House on the Prairie.  Emily was certainly a likable young girl, one the reader wanted to see succeed and find happiness, but she never did become real enough to become a kindred spirit as Anne and Laura did.

If you are looking for a sweet novel for your high-school-aged reader, I would recommend Emily of Deep Valley without reservation.  If, however, you are an adult who longs for a story that draws you in and stays with you as the Anne- or Little-House stories, it is likely you will finish the last page of Emily of Deep Valley feeling as though something is still missing.

Often cited as Maud Hart Lovelace’s (of Betsy-Tacy fame) best novel, Emily of Deep Valley is now back in print, with a new foreword by acclaimed young adult author Mitali Perkins and new archival material about the characters’ real lives.

Emily Webster, an orphan living with her grandfather, is not like the other girls her age in Deep Valley, Minnesota. The gulf between Emily and her classmates widens even more when they graduate from Deep Valley High School in 1912. Emily longs to go off to college with everyone else, but she can’t leave her grandfather. Emily resigns herself to facing a “lost winter,” but soon decides to stop feeling sorry for herself. And with a new program of study, a growing interest in the Syrian community, and a handsome new teacher at the high school to fill her days, Emily gains more than she ever dreamed…

In addition to her beloved Betsy-Tacy books, Maud Hart Lovelace wrote three more stories set in the fictional town of Deep Valley: Winona’s Pony Cart, Carney’s House Party and Emily of Deep Valley. Longtime fans and new readers alike will be delighted to find the Deep Valley books available again for the first time in many years.

If you would like to browse inside Emily of Deep Valley, go HERE.