weekend leftovers

So many fun things to write up from this weekend including a c-list celebrity sighting, good knitting progress, music class, and a date with Tall House, Double Cup. But my camera is in my purse two floors up and all of those cocktails at the Blazer game are kicking in. So for now, just a book review.

The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Four sisters and their father vacation on the grounds of a mansion having great adventures involving romance, rabbits, and a great new friend.
This lovely, old-fashioned tale is long on charm and wit and will keep readers entranced from the opening chapter with its promises of adventures to come.

The enchanting setting of Arundel creates the warm, closed feeling of a set piece and reinforces the flavor of a Victorian story. While the four sisters have relative safety in the mansion’s grounds to roam, to the girls it feels like a huge exciting world full of adventures waiting to happen. The private hedges, carriage houses, barn and other elements of the property are fuel for the imagination.

I appreciated the liveliness of the characters. While each sister had distinct traits that made them unique, I never felt like the author resorted to stereotypes, but rather tuned in to how siblings in larger families operate to distinguish themselves.

One of the things I love so much about the book is how very little major plot movement there is. This is a story that is really about the kind of vacation any family could take. The drama that unfolds is true and real to childhood and yet has a satisfactory ending that brings completion to the “set piece.”