Elsie's Widowhood (The Original Elsie Dinsmore Collection) Paperback – February 1, 2010

A fine read for those of us who love Elsie and stories of family, Christian values, and America in the 1800s. But it was sad to lose her husband from the series.

I LOVE this series! Elsie's Widowhood is heartbreaking, but so encouraging for those in mourning. The Old English can be confusing if you are not used to reading it. Excellent morals and character building qualities!

I love the original Elsie books and Hendrickson Publishers did a great job of taking the Hibbard publicationand enlarging the books making them easier to read. They also did a great job on the covers. They shipped quickly too.

When I was ten, my parents took my brothers and me to a Midwest Homeschool Convention. It was there that my mom bought me one of the most inspiring books I have ever read, Elsie Dinsmore by Martha Finley. That summer we moved out west and my new friend lent me the next five books in the series. Then last Christmas my grandparents bought me a Kindle, and hence, I have had access to Elsie's Widowhood. It starts with the engagement of Elsie's oldest daughter, Elsie, to Lester Leland. Lester shortly afterwards leaves for Europe, and Elsie's husband dies not lomg afterwards. I cried when he died, and it is truly amazing how Elsie and her children bear his death so well. There is still laughter and merriment in their lives, yet they all hold a reverance to their husband and father. I reccomend this book, and the rest of the series too. Martha Finley wrote in a very engaging style, the books are hard to put down!

This book begins with happiness - with the engagement of Elsie's daughter (another Elsie) to the artist, Lester Leland. Everyone is glad - except for a few of Elsie's snobbish relations, who despise Lester as a poor artist. Their reactions are not allowed to spoil things, however. But then we find that mother Elsie's beloved husband Edward is not well. He is given the best medical treatment - but after a while he goes to be with his Saviour, Jesus, and Elsie is left a widow. She and her children really miss papa but Elsie has long ago put her trust in God and trusts Him to look after the little family. Meanwhile fresh relationships are made. Molly Percival thinks that no man could want a disabled girl like her - but finds her mistake when the wealthy and good Mr Embury falls in love with her! Likewise Isadore Conly gets married to Cyril Keith, the young minister who comes to lead the little church near Viamede . We see the last of George Boyd - who had been severely injured after he had led a Ku Klux Klan attack on Elsie's husband and family in "Elsie's Motherhood". Mr. Dinsmore finds him starving and almost blind and - in spite of everything that man had done - is prepared to forgive him. But can Elsie. . . ? There is lots more in the book, which ends on an exciting note with a dramatic sea rescue! This is a good, often thought-provoking book, that carries the saga of Elsie and her extended family a little further.