Grace May North (1876–1960)

Gold and blue were the colors that predominated on one glorious April day. Gold were the fields of poppies that carpeted the foothills stretching down to the very edge of Rocky Point, against which the jewel-blue Pacific lapped quietly. It was at that hour of the tides when the surf is stilled.

A very old adobe house surrounded on three sides by wide verandas, the pillars of which were eucalyptus logs, stood about two hundred feet back from the point. Rose vines, clambering at will over the picturesque old dwelling, were a riot of colors. There was the exquisite pink Cecil Brunner in delicate, long-stemmed clusters; Gold of Ophir blossoms in a mass glowing in the sunshine, while intertwined were the vines of the star-like white Cherokee and Romona, the red.… (plus d'informations)

I've just spent a couple of hours reading Rilla of the Lighthouse by Grace May North. Not to be confused with great literature, this 1926 book is still a satisfying read. Rilla is brought up on a small New England island by her grandfather, the lighthouse keeper. Because her mother ran off with and married a city guy, a poor artist fellow, he won't let her go off the island when the city folk are up during the summer. But when a convalescent young man is beached on the island, and nearly comes to harm because Rilla is afraid to tell her grandfather, he has a change of heart and lets go of his hate of city folk. When he is killed during a storm that smashes the lighthouse, Rilla's "Uncle Lem" sends her to boarding school where she makes some friends and learns not only to read and speak correctly, but to write. When her grandfather's other close friend returns from Ireland, he tells Rilla of her grandfather's confidence to him that her father never knew she lived through her birth that killed her mother, and that her grandfather left him an address that would reach her father.

Bare bones. Perhaps silly and surely sentimental, but simply told, and bringing me to tears at least 4 times during the book. This book was at my grandmother's when I was a child and I devoured it during our annual visits--wore the front cover off of it! I left out all the twists and turns--that would spoil the fun. A very satisfying read. I believe that North wrote a number of what would now be considered YA books for girls.… (plus d'informations)