One of the most common themes in Isabella Alden’s stories was kindness and the powerful impact even a small gesture can have on another person.
This month’s free read is a short story that beautifully illustrates that theme when a grateful family reaches out to a lonely, hardworking fisher boy who feels entirely forgotten.
Orphaned Willie Evans thinks nice times are only for other people—until a dramatic seaside rescue changes the course of his life forever. Originally published in The Pansy magazine in 1883, Isabella’s story shows how one act of kindness can turn one child’s hopelessness into a lifetime of blessings.
As a minister’s wife for over four decades, Isabella Alden knew firsthand what D.L. Moody describes in this month’s Bible class: how quickly a congregation’s criticism can wear down a pastor’s spirit, and how “the Holy Spirit will not work in an atmosphere of criticism.”
In Lesson 11, Mr. Moody introduces us to both the Person and work of the Holy Spirit — His conviction of sin, His gift of hope, His call to love the unlovely, and His power to bring true liberty to a captive soul.
This is a lesson for anyone who wants to better understand the Holy Spirit’s work in daily life.
Today Marcia Macdonald Livingston is widely known as the mother of beloved Christian novelist Grace Livingston Hill and the older sister of Isabella “Pansy” Alden; but Marcia was actually a talented, well-published author in her own right. She wrote uplifting stories for readers of all ages, and this month’s free read is a wonderful example. Although “A Happy Summer” was written with children in mind, Marcia’s warm, engaging writing style makes this a meaningful and entertaining read for adults, too.
For sisters Jessie and May, life in a hot, cramped city attic makes the country feel like a distant dream. With their widowed mother working day and night to keep a roof over their heads, a summer filled with green fields and fresh air seems impossible. But when an unexpected act of kindness opens the door to a new life in the quiet village of Woodbury, the Wilson family discovers the joy of answered prayers and the simple beauty of nature.
Originally published in an 1883 issue of The Pansy magazine, this special edition of “A Happy Summer” includes the original artwork published with the story, so you can read it in the same way Victorian children first enjoyed it!
Our July free read is a short story by an author who may be new to you. Margaret Marshall Saunders was a Canadian writer of children’s stories and a passionate advocate for animal welfare. She was thirty-two years old and just starting her writing career in earnest when her novel Beautiful Joe was published in 1893 under her pen name “Marshall Saunders.” The book quickly became a worldwide bestseller and made history as the first book by a Canadian author to sell over a million copies.
Margaret Saunders was a talented writer, and when she submitted her short story “It Might Have Been” to Isabella Alden for publication in The Pansy magazine, the story must have touched Isabella’s heart.
Margaret Marshall Saunders with her dog, Billie Sunday.
Like the character of Ella Crouse in the story, Isabella had a temper! Throughout her life Isabella candidly shared times when her quick flare-ups and uncontrolled anger often got the best of her, leading to situations she later regretted. It’s easy to see how she identified with Margaret Saunders’ beautifully written story. She undoubtedly knew that this tale of regret and sisterly love would resonate deeply with her readers.
Published in the June 1895 issue of The Pansy, “It Might Have Been” by Margaret Marshall Saunders is a lovely short story that reminds us that building character is a slow process—earned through daily patience, forgiveness, and love.
Ella and her sister, Jessie, are opposites in every way. While Jessie is calm and fragile, Ella possesses a fierce, volatile temper that she struggles to master. One chaotic morning, a minor misunderstanding over a pair of gloves escalates into a passionate argument that Ella regrets. But when an unexpected crisis strikes the family later that day, Ella is forced to confront the terrifying reality of what might have been if she never got the chance to say “I’m sorry.”
This month’s free read is a short story Isabella wrote for an 1876 issue of The Pansy magazine about Janie Smith, a miller’s daughter who can’t help comparing her own plain life with another girl’s seemingly charmed one.
Janie Smith has never ridden the stage coach, never seen the city, and never owned anything half so fine as the traveling costume Miss Josephine Jennings wears. Watching the elegant young heiress board the train one morning, Janie can’t help but feel the world has been very unfair. But the express-man’s quiet words — “Poor little thing!” — are about to change everything Janie thinks she knows about fairness and God’s blessings.
In honor of Mother’s Day this month’s free read is a story about the debt of love we owe to those who raised us.
After a life of sacrifice, widowed Mrs. Kensett finds her twilight years spent shuffling between the homes of her adult children, where she’s treated more like a burden than a beloved guest. She expects more of the same when she arrives at the doorstep of her youngest son and his new bride—only to find an unexpected sanctuary at long last.
Isabella Alden’s novel Ester Ried, Asleep and Awake opens with a memorable scene: Ester Ried—barely eighteen years old—finds herself with much more responsibility than a girl of her age should have. With an ill mother, four younger siblings, and several boarders to care for and feed, she is often pressed for time, thin on patience, and struggling to keep up with a never-ending list of things to do.
Much of her time is spent in the kitchen cooking, washing dishes, and supervising laundry; and on scorching summer days, the heat from the wood stove makes the entire room even hotter, so her cheeks were always in a state of “glowing.”
Trade card for a traditional wood-burning kitchen stove, about 1890
When Ester Ried was published in 1870, kitchen stoves were large, cast-iron pieces of furniture; and while their primary function was for cooking, stoves also served as essential elements of a home’s heating system. In winter a wood-burning stove helped keep the house warm and cozy. In summer, the same stove could make a kitchen unbearably hot.
Isabella’s readers could identify with Ester Ried’s plight. Isabella, too, must have had more than her share of summer days spent “glowing” in an overheated kitchen while she cooked her family’s meals, heated water for bathing, and tended to a litany of household tasks.
An 1884 trade card from the Detroit Stove Works, manufacturer of wood-burning, oil, and gasoline stoves.
So in 1880, when a new type of cooking stove—the gasoline stove—appeared on the market, Isabella took notice.
Unlike traditional wood-burning stoves that required constant monitoring of logs, flues, and dampers to manage the temperature, gasoline stoves offered a revolutionary level of control. They worked much like a kerosene lamp: a cloth wick pulled the gasoline up to the burner where it turned into a gas, creating a steady, hot blue flame.
An 1890 ad for the Sun Dial gas stove.
By simply turning a knob to adjust the wick, a woman could make her cooking and baking incredibly precise. Best of all, because they didn’t radiate intense ambient heat like massive cast-iron wood stoves, they spared homemakers from suffering in a sweltering kitchen.
In 1880 Isabella wrote about a young wife and mother who learned about the advantages of a gasoline stove in a short story titled, “Faith and Gasoline.”
Summer heat and money troubles force Faith Vincent to face the heartbreaking prospect of being separated from her husband for the entire summer—until a neighbor’s wisdom, a clever “gasoline stove,” and a good amount of prayer help Faith secretly transform her despair into a promising future for herself and her family.
Have you ever wondered if your daily witness for Christ can truly make a difference in winning a loved one’s soul? Would you be willing to compromise your principles if you thought it might be the only way to influence someone else for Christ?
These are the heart-searching questions at the center of this month’s free read, “Fishing for Phil,” by Isabella Alden. The story follows teenager Daisy Morris as she navigates the delicate balance between family loyalty and her personal devotion to God.
Daisy Morris is a young woman of firm Christian principle , but her convictions are put to the test when her beloved Aunt Mattie and cousin Blanche plead with her to attend a special play. They believe it is the only way to coax Phil away from his worldly companions and back into the church. Will Daisy yield to the pressure of those she loves , or will her quiet refusal to compromise “one inch of the way” prove to be the very witness Phil truly needs?
Like her younger sister Isabella, Marcia Macdonald Livingston was a talented writer. Her stories always contained a message of faith and a happy ending; and she excelled at writing about the trials—small and large—that husbands and wives face together.
This month’s free read is about one of those couples who must learn to cope with an empty nest.
Mrs. Warner is in despair. After her beloved daughter marries a young pastor and moves away, the once-cheerful woman cannot muster a smile for her husband, the Deacon. It will take a lonely November evening and the comforting strains of a few old hymns for this devoted couple to rediscover their faith and their gratitude for one another.
Isabella Alden and her entire family were actively involved in the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor, a movement that promoted Christian service and ideals to its teen and young adult members.
Isabella believed in the Endeavor program so much, she founded the Pansy Society for Christian Endeavor, a similar organization specifically designed for children. The Pansy Society focused on teaching children to use Jesus’ life and words as a guide to live by.
This month’s free read is a story by Marcia Livingston that illustrates some of the values The Pansy Society sought to teach children: forgiveness, patience, and kindness toward others.
It was a simple act of kindness when Lily Haines offered Cindy Barker a rose from her garden; but neither young lady could predict how much of a difference the presence of that single rose could make in the Barker family home.
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