By Gene Stratton Porter
Buy it at Amazon
Everyone knows that teenage girls are supposed to experience extreme mood swings, be obsessed with their appearance and have romantic notions filling their remaining thoughts. As Henry Higgins says, their minds are full of "cotton, hay and rags." At least that is the popular stereotype, reinforced by the shallow portrayals of young girls in movies and television, who, when they aren't preoccupied with the mirror are busy trying to save the earth. That is why this book's heroine is a refreshing example of a young woman whose real attractiveness lies with her courage and intelligence, especially in the face of suffering, while she still has a healthy concern about how she is "carpentered." She also embraces a deep love for God's creation without being a rabid environmentalist.
Elnora Comstock is a 16-year-old girl who lives on the edge of a swamp called the Limberlost with her widowed mother. Elnora's life is difficult because her mother has retreated from the world since the tragic death of her beloved husband when Elnora was only a baby. Mrs. Comstock has become hardened and unloving, and Elnora's only affection is from a neighboring couple who have no children of their own. In this cold atmosphere, Elnora blossoms into a rare jewel of a person; rather than becoming embittered like her mother, she returns love for her mother's negligence and shows remarkable resourcefulness in meeting the challenges of pursuing her dreams while trying to remeain faithful to her mother's commands.
Gene Stratton Porter has written several popular novels which were bestsellers in the time they were first published in the early part of the 20th century. Freckles was somewhat of a prequel to A Girl of the Limberlost, and both books are full of accurate natural history, especially about moths and butterflies in the Limberlost Swamp in Indiana, while asserting that the wonders of nature could only have come from God's creative Hand (the author was actually married to someone named Charles Darwin Porter!)
Elnora is remarkably patient and loving while undergoing difficult trials, but rather than being an unbelievable, sickeningly-sweet character, she exhibits temper, anguish and sometimes walks a fine line between being obedient to her mother and justifying hiding certain things from her. Yet as Elnora grows into graceful maturity, her mother softens, and the reconciliation between mother and daughter is a touching reminder of how God would have us respond to providential trials. Even though we can't presently know the outcome of our daily battles, we can trust that He is lovingly guiding us to a wonderful end.
