Elsie's Friends at Woodburn
1887
Elsie's Friends at Woodburn
1887
The eighth installment in Martha Finley's beloved Elsie Dinsmore series returns to Woodburn estate during the Christmas season, where young Elsie and her circle of friends gather for holiday festivities. At its heart, this is the story of a child longing for her father's affection while navigating the complex world of friendship, peer pressure, and moral choice. As Elsie opens her heart to her companions, she also comes to understand that the love she seeks from her earthly father points toward something greater: the enduring love of her Father in Heaven. The novel captures the warmth of family gatherings, the joy of youthful camaraderie, and the quiet moments of reflection where a young girl wrestles with questions of faith, integrity, and belonging. Finley writes with tenderness about the interior life of a sensitive child, making Elsie's journey toward spiritual understanding feel earned rather than preached. For readers who have followed her story, this return to Woodburn offers both comfort and growth. For new readers, it serves as a window into a vanished world of Victorian childhood, where virtue was aspirational and love was worth waiting for.
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“Dear papa, I love you so much!' she replied, twining her arms around his neck. 'I love you all the better for never letting me have my own way, but always making me obey and keep to rules.””
— Martha Finley
“Though not a remarkably precocious child in other respects, she seemed to have very clear and correct views on almost every subject connected with her duty to God and her neighbor; was very truthful both in word and deed, very strict in her observance of the Sabbath--though the rest of the family were by no means particular in that respect--very diligent in her studies; respectful to superiors, and kind to inferiors and equals; and she was gentle, sweet-tempered, patient, and forgiving to a remarkable degree.””
— Martha Finley
“if papa would only quit looking at me,””
— Martha Finley
“Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.'" Then raising her eyes to his face with a touching mixture of deep humility and holy boldness, she continued, "And this, sir is my answer: Jesus says, 'Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out;' and I believe Him. I did go to Him, and He did not cast me out, but forgave my sins, and taught me to love Him and desire to serve Him all my life.””
— Martha Finley
