Last week’s free read, The Little Red Shop, first appeared in The Pansy magazine and told the story of the Brimmer children—Jack, Cornelius and Rosalie. They started their own business to help support their mother and baby sister, and made a great success of it!
But author Margaret Sidney knew that with great success comes great responsibility—a lesson she illustrated in this week’s free read, The Old Brimmer Place.
The Brimmer family’s adventures continue as their little red shop prospers and thrives. But when Jack discovers a neighbor’s shameful secret, he, Corny, and Rosy can’t agree about what to do about it. Should they help their neighbor? Or should they ignore friends in need and simply concentrate on their business?
You can read The Little Red Shop for free!
Choose the reading option you like best:
You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic device.
Some of Isabella Alden’s most beloved stories are about resourceful young people who, with God’s help, make a better life for themselves and others.
That was the premise at the heart of her novels about the Bryant family (in Miss Dee Dunmore Bryant and Twenty MinutesLate) and in The Man of the House.
Harriet Lothrop (writing under the pen name of Margaret Sidney) used the same premise for her novels. In her best-selling series of books about the Pepper children, the five siblings—Ben, Polly, Joel, Davie, and Phronsie—comprised a poor but stalwart family struggling to stay together. And at the heart of each story was the children’s desire to help their mother, whom they affectionately called “Mamsie.”
A sketch of Margaret Sidney with her signature; from an article about the author in Good Housekeeping magazine, December 12, 1885.
Harriet once explained in an interview why there was no father in any of the stories:
“My judgment told me that I must eliminate Mr. Pepper, because the whole motif “to help mother” would be lost if the man lived. It hurt me most dreadfully. He was a most estimable man, and I loved my own father so much, it seemed the most wicked thing to do. I went around for days quite droopy and guilty.
She used the same “fatherless family” device when she later wrote stories about the Brimmer children. In this two-book series, older brothers Jack and Cornelius are determined to earn money to help their widowed mother and younger siblings. In the process, they find their principles challenged at every turn, even as they learn valuable lessons.
Tired of seeing their mother struggle to support them, brothers Jack and Cornelius—with some help from little sister Rosalie—decide to go into business, and open a little shop in the old tool shed behind their house. At first business is slow, but just as the brothers begin to doubt they will ever make the shop a success, one of their town’s most influential citizens takes notice of the boys’ efforts. Soon the brothers have more business than they can handle, and an entirely new set of problems to solve.
The Little Red Shop is a charming story written with older children and teens in mind.
You can read The Little Red Shop for free!
Choose the reading option you like best:
You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic device.
This month’s free read is a charming short story from the pen of Isabella’s sister, Marcia Livingston (who also happens to be the mother of author Grace Livingston Hill).
Written in 1886, the story is about the difficulties a young mother faces in trying to find the right person to help care for her baby. And while it’s entertaining, the story also gives us some hints of what it was like to be a middle-class mother in those days, and the many rules women had to live by.
Helen Raynor is in need of a nurse-maid to help care for her precious little newborn. But so far, every nurse she employed proved incompetent or ill-tempered. Poor Helen is near desperation when she suddenly recalls an old family servant who might be perfect for the job. Will Helen be able to convince her husband she has made the right decision?
You can read “Mrs. Raynor’s New Nurse-Maid” for free!
Choose the reading option you like best:
You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic device.
Isabella often wrote stories about what happens when someone chooses to do the right thing, even at the cost of personal sacrifice. This month’s free read is a short story that reflects that theme.
It’s New Year’s Day and Stephen Watson plans to spend it with a friend—until his employer insists Stephen work instead. Poor Stephen can barely contain his disappointment; and when he tells a stranger his troubles, he learns a valuable lesson in charity.
You can read “What If I Had!” for free!
Choose the reading option you like best:
You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic device.
This month’s free read is a short story Isabella wrote in 1891 about the joy of giving at Christmas time:
It’s the worst Christmas ever for wealthy Adele Chester. Her mother and father are in Europe, and Adele has been left behind to stay with her Aunt Martha … on a farm! Her parents sent her money to spend, but where would she spend it? And on what? Then a little girl named Janey enters her life, and suddenly Adele’s Christmas takes on a whole new meaning.
This month’s free read is a short story Isabella wrote about a very unusual Thanksgiving dinner.
.
When Mrs. Wykoff learns her vagabond son has died in a tragic accident, her grief knows no bounds. She plans to honor his memory by hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with his closest friends, but her lovingly-made plans may be disrupted by a stunning revelation.
You can read “And Eventful Thanksgiving” for free!
Many of Isabella’s stories feature characters on the lookout for opportunities to share the Gospel. In this month’s free read, a sensible teenager does exactly that.
Miss Winnie Holden is just beginning her career in nursing, but she is committed to healing her patients’ souls as well as their bodies. But when the doctor orders Winnie keep her elderly patient from becoming excited in any way, she wonders how she will ever be able to learn whether the dear man she’s been caring for is a Christian.
This month’s free read is a short story Isabella wrote in 1916 about the power of faith.
Philip Kendall dreams of going to college, but he has no way to pay for it. His only hope is to convince his long-estranged—and extremely parsimonious—aunt and uncle to lend him the money.
Isabella lived during a time when young men and women followed very strict social rules. For example, a gentleman could not speak to or even correspond with a woman without her permission; and often, the young woman couldn’t give permission without first consulting with her parents.
.
In her 1898 novella “Elizabeth’s Anniversary Week” Isabella illustrated how those societal rules could end up causing difficulties, misunderstandings, and a lot of heartache.
Every September the Brockton family—aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings—gather to celebrate birthdays. The time-honored tradition should bring joy to all who attend, but Mrs. Brockton can’t help but notice her cherished daughter Elizabeth is far from happy about the annual event. In fact, she’s beginning to suspect some sickness has befallen Elizabeth to cause her to be so melancholy. But Elizabeth has a secret, one she has been trying hard to conceal from everyone, especially her mother.
You can read “Elizabeth’s Anniversary Week” for free!
This month’s Free Read is a short story Isabella wrote about the Christian Endeavor movement and the opportunities its members had to influence others for Christ.
While on vacation, Dorothea Conklin is determined to invite the local teens to her Christian Endeavor prayer meeting, even if her friends oppose her plan. Somehow she must find a way to convince her friends—and the local teens—that there’s room for everyone at an Endeavor prayer meeting.
Sharp-eyed readers might recognize the name of one of the characters in the story: Eurie Shipley. Why does it sound familiar?
Because Isabella introduced Eurie Harrison and Flossie Shipley in her 1875 novel, Four Girls at Chautauqua.
Perhaps when she wrote “A Christian Endeavor Picnic” in 1896, she meant to imply that Eurie Shipley was somehow a relative of those two beloved characters from twenty years before. What do you think?
You can read “A Christian Endeavor Picnic” for free!
Reviews and giveaways for Christian fiction and sweet, clean fiction. Bringing readers information on great stories and connecting authors with their readers.
Isabella Alden 