The Annes

Anne Berkley is the kind of child who notices what others overlook: the particular slant of afternoon light through the parlor window, the way her mother's voice carries warmth even in mild rebuke. At ten years old, she moves through her large household with a poet's attention and a daughter's devoted heart, finding endless meaning in the small ceremonies of family life. Her world centers on the beloved Mrs. Berkley, whose approval Anne seeks with the ferocity only a close daughter can muster, while brothers and sisters provide the joyful turbulence of sibling love and rivalry. Written in 1921, Marion Ames Taggart captures something true about childhood: the way a young mind can transform an ordinary Tuesday into an adventure, and how the people closest to us can seem both utterly familiar and mysteriously beyond our understanding. The Annes offers a gentle, affectionate portrait of early twentieth-century American family life, luminous with the particular magic of childhood perception.