History and Government of the United States, for Evening Schools Book

I read this book first as a child when I found it in a jumble sale and recognised it as the book Jo March read weeping in Little Women. As a child I loved it for the story of Ellen coping when sent away from her mother to live with her unkind Aunt Fortune. As an adult, I enjoyed it for the window it provides to life in the 19th century - not so far in the past but a time when the death of mothers, sisters and children was an everyday part of life and people had to draw on all their resilience and faith to continue to live cheerfully and well.

I am sure not everyone will agree but for me, John Humphreys is a highly attractive hero. In a world where most people expected Ellen to just obey, he wanted to develop her mind and opinions. (He was also good looking, clever and able to come to her rescue on horseback.)

Some people will no doubt be put off by the Christian moralising - particularly as it takes a Victorian form that is not commonly held today. But it was a bestseller in its day and illustrates a worldview that was seen as common and worth emulating at that time.