An Old-Fashioned Girl
1869
Polly Milton arrives in the city carrying nothing but a modest trunk and an old-fashioned heart. Her friend Fanny Shaw lives in a world of parties, fine clothes, and careful social positioning - everything Polly has never known and cannot pretend to understand. At first glance, it seems Polly is the one who doesn't belong. Her country ways embarrass Fanny. Her simple clothes draw pity from the household servants. But slowly, almost without trying, Polly begins to illuminate what's missing in the Shaw household: genuine warmth, honest affection, the willingness to be rather than to seem. Written when America was grappling with its own rapid modernization, this novel holds up a mirror to any generation tempted to measure worth by wealth or style. It's a gentle book, but underneath its tender surface runs a steely conviction about what matters and what doesn't.
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“The emerging woman ... will be strong-minded, strong-hearted, strong-souled, and strong-bodied...strength and beauty must go together.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“A real gentleman is as polite to a little girl as to a woman.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“Young men often laugh at the sensible girls whom they secretly respect, and affect to admire the silly ones whom they secretly despise, because earnestness, intelligence, and womanly dignity are not the fashion.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“To be strong, and beautiful, and go round making music all the time. Yes, she could do that, and with a very earnest prayer Polly asked for the strength of an upright soul, the beauty of a tender heart, the power to make her life a sweet and stirring song, helpful while it lasted, remembered when it died.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“And Polly did n't think she had done much; but it was one of the little things which are always waiting to be done in this world of ours, where rainy days come so often, where spirits get out of tune, and duty won't go hand in hand with pleasure. Little things of this sort are especially good work for little people; a kind little thought, an unselfish little act, a cheery little word, are so sweet and comfortable, that no one can fail to feel their beauty and love the giver, no matter how small they are. Mothers do a deal of this sort of thing, unseen, unthanked, but felt and remembered long afterward, and never lost, for this is the simple magic that binds hearts together, and keeps home happy.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“Persuasive influences are better than any amount of moralizing.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“We can't any of us do all we would like, but we can do our best for every case that comes to us, and that helps amazingly.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“But, Polly, a principle that can't bear being laughed at, frowned on, and cold-shouldered, isn't worthy of the name.””
— Louisa May Alcott
“I don't want a religion that I put away with my Sunday clothes, and don't take out till the day comes around again; I want something to see and feel and live day by day.””
— Louisa May Alcott
