Other editions of book Elsie's girlhood

As Elsie Dinsmore grows up, her family undergoes major changes. Her father, Horace Dinsmore, falls in love and marries sweet Rose Allison, whom Elsie has loved since childhood. Soon two new members, Horace Jr. and Rosebud, join the happy family. Elsie has grown into a graceful, accomplished, and beautiful young woman of fifteen who faces the difficulties of peer pressure, the allurements of the world outside her family, and the delights and confusion of friendships both false and true. She confronts the greatest crisis of her life while visiting her maiden aunt Wealthy, when she experiences first the joy of first love and then the deep pain of betrayal. In an attempt to cure her broken heart, Elsie's family takes her on a tour of Europe. Upon her return, when she least expects it, Elsie discovers the wonder of true love.

In this third volume in The Original Elsie Dinsmore Series, Elsie matures into a young woman as her father falls in love, marries, and provides her with a brother and sister: Horace Jr. and Rosebud. Elsie experiences a bittersweet agony in her first love and her first heartbreak, only to discover that true love has been with her almost as long as she can remember.

Enter the world of "Elsie Dinsmore"! These nineteenth-century fictional chronicles of a beautiful young heiress in the Civil War South have captivated generations of 10- to 14-year-old readers eager to follow Elsie's life from childhood to motherhood and beyond. Covers feature custom illustrations."Elsie's Girlhood, Book 3" Elsie's father remarries, giving her a mother she adores--and a brother and sister. But not everybody has the young woman's best interests in mind!

Initially, Elsie does not live with her parents but with her paternal grandfather, his second wife (Elsie's stepgrandmother), and their six children: Adelaide, Lora, Louise, Arthur, Walter, and Enna. Elsie's mother died soon after giving birth to her leaving her in the care of her grandfather. Before her father comes back she becomes good friends with Rose Allison, with whom she studies the Bible. Her father was in Europe until she was almost eight years old as the first book begins.The first Elsie books deal with a constant moral conflict between Christian principles and familial loyalty. Elsie's father is a strict disciplinarian who dictates inflexible rules by which his daughter must live. Any infraction is severely and often unjustly punished. In her father's absence Elsie has become a Christian and abides by Biblical law, especially the Ten Commandments. Her father regards this as ludicrous and in some cases as insolence. Elsie feels she must obey the Word of God before that of her father and can only obey her father when his orders do not conflict with Scripture. For example, her young uncle Arthur ruins her copybook and does other damage which he blames on Elsie. Because Elsie will not tell on him, her father is ready to punish her, until she is saved by last-minute testimony from another relative. He attempts to force her to break the Fourth Commandment several times, finally resulting in her having a complete nervous breakdown. In the original story of the second book, Elsie died, but this was rewritten as a near-death experience. Her father later marries Rose Allison and has two more children, Horace, Jr. and Rose, also called Rosie.Includes a biography of the Author

"Elsie Dinsmore" book has a beautiful glossy cover and a blank page for the dedication. "And now happy days had come to the little Elsie. Her father treated her with the tenderest affection, and kept her with him almost constantly, seeming scarcely willing to have her out of his sight for an hour. He took her with him wherever he went in his rides and walks and visits to the neighboring planters. She was much admired for her beauty and sweetness of disposition, much caressed and flattered, but, through it all, lost none of her native modesty, but was ever the same meek, gentle little girl. She felt grateful for all the kindness she received, and liked to visit with her papa; but her happiest days were spent at home on those rare occasions when they were free from visitors, and she could sit for hours on his knee, or by his side, talking or reading to him, or working at her embroidery, or knitting and listening while he read. He helped her with all her studies, taught her something of botany and geology in their walks, helped her to see and correct the faults of her drawings, sang with her when she played, bought her quantities of new music, and engaged the best masters to instruct her - in short, took a lively interest in all her pursuits and pleasures, gave her every indulgence, and lavished upon her the tenderest caresses. He was very proud of her beauty, her sweetness, her intelligence, and talent; and nothing pleased him better than to hear them spoken of by others in terms of praise."