Other editions of book Elsie's Womanhood

It is time for celebration as Elsie prepares to marry her beloved Edward. Following their wedding, the happy couple honeymoons at Viamede, the childhood home of Elsie's mother in the bayou region of Louisiana. Here Elsie's faith matures, and she learns to share her belief with others in a meaningful way. Four children--Elsie, Edward, Violet, and Harold--are born to Elsie and Edward, who experience the joys and heartaches of parenthood. Meanwhile, the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Mindful of the tragedies unfolding around her, Elsie is touched by the painful divisions brought on by the War Between the States and the devastating loss of family and friends that accompanies it.

As Elsie and her father prepare for her marriage to John Travilla, Elsie moves to Viamede, her mother's childhood home in Louisiana. Overseeing the plantation, Elsie observes the treatment of the slaves and strives to bring them into an awareness of God's love for them. As Mr. and Mrs. Travilla start their life together, Elsie's old boyfriend tries to bring it all to a tragic end. In a fit of jealous rage, he unsuccessfully attempts to shoot the newly married couple. Happy with her life with her new husband, Elsie experiences the wonderful joys of motherhood. Join Elsie as she moves into a wonderful and exciting new phase of her life.

Martha Finley (April 26, 1828 – January 30, 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the pseudonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876. Elsie Dinsmore is a children's book series written by Martha Finley (1828–1909) between 1867 and 1905.An adapted version has been published, but it leaves out several of the most important facts and details.Original story[edit] Initially, Elsie does not live with her parents but with her paternal grandfather, his second wife (Elsie's step-grandmother), and their six children: Adelaide, Lora, Louise, Arthur, Walter, and Enna (Enna was the youngest). 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. Deeper still is the warring between Christ centered principles and the "worldly" inclinations of both her Father and his family. 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 what she has been taught is Biblical law, especially the Ten Commandments (also known as the Decalogue)- as taught to her by her dead Mother's housekeeper and then her own Nanny, Chole. Her father, being "worldy" and not a Christian at that time, regards this as ludicrous and in some cases as insolence. Elsie knows that 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, Elsie's father attempts to force her to perform an act which she considers sinful such as playing secular music or reading fiction -- "a book which was only fit for week-day reading, because it had nothing at all in it about God"—on Sunday. Their conflict culminates with her having a complete nervous breakdown as she thinks that her Father does not really love her. She begs and pleads with him to read the Bible with her to become a Christian. But his heart is hardened. The whole reason that he was in Europe and not there to raise her is due to the loss of Elise's Mother who died in child birth. After her death, Horaces own father convinced him that he had been a fool and Horace came to feel ashamed of his attachment to Elise's Mother and escaped to Europe. The entire plot of the second book, Elsie's Holidays at Roselands, revolves around his refusing to speak to her—or allow anyone else to—for several months, because she is more obedient to God than to her father. In this book, their "war of wills" which is what he considers is happening culminates in Elise coming very near to death - to the point that they shave her head hoping to abate her "brain fever". When Horace thinks that she has died he finds her Bible which she has left to him (the Bible which he knows had belonged to Elise's Mom).........

Martha Finley (April 26, 1828 – January 30, 1909) was a teacher and author of numerous works, the most well known being the 28 volume Elsie Dinsmore series which was published over a span of 38 years. The daughter of Presbyterian minister Dr. James Brown Finley and his wife and cousin Maria Theresa Brown Finley, she was born on April 26, 1828, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Finley wrote many of her books under the pseudonym Martha Farquharson. She died in 1909 in Elkton, Maryland, where she moved in 1876.

Once Mr. Dinsmore is assured that his good friend is worthy of Elsie, and that Elsie is willing to commit her heart's devotion to her beloved Edward Travilla, their Christ-honoring courtship and engagement is overshadowed only by a grand wedding -- a wedding so grand that many travel from far and wide to the Oaks to attend. The bride and groom honeymoon at Viamede, and soon afterwards take on the responsibilities of Elsie's inherited Southern estate. Elsie and Edward are soon to experience the joys as well as the heart-aches of parenthood as their four little children are born into a country about to be embroiled in a civil war. Elsie's Womanhood is the fourth book in the original, unabridged nineteenth century Martha Finley classic, the Elsie Dinsmore Series. These books are best when read in order.

It is time for celebration as Elsie prepares to marry her beloved Edward. Following their wedding, the happy couple honeymoons at Viamede, the childhood home of Elsie's mother in the bayou region of Louisiana. Here Elsie's faith matures, and she learns to share her belief with others in a meaningful way. Four children--Elsie, Edward, Violet, and Harold--are born to Elsie and Edward, who experience the joys and heartaches of parenthood. Meanwhile, the country teeters on the brink of civil war. Mindful of the tragedies unfolding around her, Elsie is touched by the painful divisions brought on by the War Between the States and the devastating loss of family and friends that accompanies it.