Nothing in the world makes you feel better than a Betsy-Tacy book, and, in my opinion, Heaven to Betsy is the best of them all, although every other Betsy-Tacy book is a close second.
A male friend of mine who read the whole series describes Lovelace as the American Proust. You are THERE with Betsy and her family in Deep Valley, Minnesota, starting in 1897 and concluding 20 years later.
Along the way you relive a happy childhood and with Betsy and her friends--and then go on to a typical adolescent teenage period, before the last two books, which include Betsy's adventures in the Great World and, at last, her marriage and early wedded life to the guy she's loved since the day she met him.
Home schoolers and their parents love these books. The quality of the writing is unsurpassed, the values are superb and these girls are great role models, without being in any way boring--they are altogether too human for that.
You want laugh out loud funny? Read a Betsy-Tacy book.
You want a few tears and a lot of empathizing?
You want nostalgia, and love, and joy? Lovelace delivers them all, in spades.
Amazing, accomplished women all over the world love these books. Don't miss out on one of the greatest pleasures life can afford--an introduction to the world of Betsy Ray. Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding
This is two volumes republished as one, covering Betsy Ray's life from after high school until the last of the immortal trio marries - republished in gorgeous editions with lots of bonus material about the real life originals of the characters, including pictures. Plus an introduction by Anna Quindlen, who loves these books almost as much as I do.
Betsy Ray has definitely grown up. The story picks up after Betsy leaves college. She spends a year touring the Great World, spending enviable amounts of time in Italy, Germany, and England, starting with a romantic ocean crossing. As usual, the real story is in the people Betsy meets. Will she forget her high school soulmate Joe and spend the rest of her life in Italy with the swoony Marco and his wonderful aunts?
Read the book and find out who she marries in Betsy's Wedding. Either way, I guarantee it is just about the most romantic wedding you ever saw. AND Betsy's first few years of marriage make interesting, funny, sweet reading too.
Maud Hart Lovelace tells a fascinating story with the deft touch of a real writer. Her descriptions of Europe are realistic enough that you can almost retrace Betsy's steps. She makes the first glorious days of marriage and setting up a household vivid, too. The newlyweds of 1914 are not so different from the newlyweds of nowadays.
In the final pages the Crowd dances at Tib's wedding, a fitting conclusion to the ten books that tell their story starting at age 5.
I read these books as a child and reread them to this day. The first four books, Betsy Tacy, Betsy Tacy and Tib, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown are wonderful for a girl age 5 and up. The books progress in reading level as they go, as well as in themes. The final six books in the series, just reissued in 3 2-book volumes, are absolutely amazing. They are Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself; Betsy was a Junior/Betsy and Joe; Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding and are great for a girl age 9 and up. We follow Betsy through four years of high school, with dances, rides in autos, boys and hijinks. Then she's off for a year of travel in Europe just prior to the outbreak of WWI and then she returns home to marry her high school sweetheart and begin on her writing career. Lovelace based these books on her own upbringing in Mankato, Minnesota and they are simply wonderful. This summer I traveled to Mankato for the Betsy Tacy Convention and saw Betsy's, Tacy's and Tib's house. I cannot wait to read these with my own daughter, but in the meantime, I will continue to reread them. They are my literary equivalent of comfort food. Fans include such bestselling authors as Meg Cabot, Laura Lippman, Anna Quindlen, Nora Ephron, Judy Blume, Nancy Pearl, Joyce Maynard, and Mary Kay Andrews!
I read Laura Ingalls Wilder and Anne of Green Gables, and loved both, but it was Betsy Ray who really stole my heart! I read each of the "high school and beyond" books over and over when I was in high school, and continued to read them into college and beyond. Betsy's life resonated with me -- from her concern over her social status to her love of writing; her house as a haven for other teenagers to her guilt over times she was not true to herself. I used her a role model -- sometimes of what not to do! (Procrastinate! Neglect what gives you joy, even if it isn't "popular." Keep your feelings hidden -- you'll end up at the most important dance of the year with the wrong boy!)
I learned that decisions have consequences, and that it was worthwhile to think things through a bit. The fact she "lived" so many decades before me didn't matter -- human nature doesn't change that much, and setting limits with boys, seriously considering basic faith beliefs, neglecting schoolwork, and gathering with friends for all kinds of good times (dancing, sledding, talking, plotting, ...) -- are issues that ring true at any time period!
I liked that she was a "typical teenager," with problems and silliness and fun times and worry and heartbreak and joy. I especially liked that Betsy was always, always available. She was a comfort read, she was a steady friend during the sometimes trying times of adolescence, and it was -- and is -- always wonderful to open the pages and walk into the Rays' house again. (Could you pass me a muffin? Oh, and some fudge!)
In this two-volume set, Betsy leaves Deep Valley and finally explores The Great World -- then she returns home, to her first two years of marriage. I can honestly say, as someone who teaches Marriage courses in college, that the description of Betsy's marriage is one of the best I have ever read -- it is true to what happens as two people learn to live together, to make adjustments, to consider another person's feelings (sometimes even before your own). It does not paint marriage as "happily ever after" -- it shows that marriage takes work. I was fortunate to know that from my own parents, but not everyone is, so I recommend "Betsy's Wedding" to anyone considering getting married, no matter how in love they may be.
(And if you like reading about Betsy, make sure you read "Emily of Deep Valley" -- my personal favorite! -- and "Carney's House Party," too!) - Maud Hart Lovelace - Historical Fiction - Travel - Series'
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