Betty's Happy Year

Betty's Happy Year by Carolyn Wells

Betty McGuire, a fifteen-year-old heiress who owns Denniston Hall, plans a Puritan-style Thanksgiving party with her friends May Fordham and Tilly Fenn, and with Stub and Agnes Graham, but cancels it in favor of a formal dinner when word comes that her wealthy Boston grandparents, the Irvings, are bringing an English visitor, Miss Evangeline Maxwell, for the holiday. Betty and Evangeline start off awkwardly formal with each other until they discover they were each intimidating the other, become fast friends, and Betty scrambles to revive the original Puritan feast for the delighted guests. For Christmas the family travels to New York with Agnes and Stub Graham, staying at the Plaza, shopping for gifts, and enjoying a lavish decorated tree; Betty secretly buys her mother a diamond brooch with the help of an acquaintance, Mrs. Sanderson. Afterward, visiting the Irvings in Boston, Betty finds their stiff, formal New Year's party stifling, and her grandmother Mrs. Irving decides Betty needs refinement, so she is sent to Hillside Manor boarding school. There she is snubbed by the other girls, taken advantage of by a forward roommate named Madeleine Gorman, and unjustly blamed by the headmistress, Miss Frelinghuysen, for mocking her mannerisms; feeling wronged, Betty runs away at dawn and goes straight to her grandfather's Boston office, who sides with her. The family then rents a house in Boston so Betty can attend Miss Whittier's day school, where she becomes close with Jeanette Porter and Dorothy Bates. When Jeanette cannot afford a new dress for a school reception and refuses charity out of pride, Betty and her mother anonymously send her one disguised as a Valentine's Day gift, which delights Jeanette without wounding her dignity. Betty then helps found a girls' charity club, the Fresh Air Club, insisting on including the unpopular Martha Taylor and finding her a role that wins her acceptance, and the club stages an elaborate "Palace of Time" bazaar with month-themed booths. Betty also wins a wagered hat from her grandfather by successfully playing an elaborate April Fool's joke on him with Jack's help and her friends' acting. At a house-party at Halstead House in May, Martha is falsely suspected of stealing money from another guest, Maude Miller, until Betty proves her innocence by tracking down the missing bill. Back at school, Betty is assigned the plain part of Grace Darling in a pageant instead of the glamorous role she wanted, but when Constance Harper sprains her ankle before the performance, Betty steps in to play the coveted Goddess of Honor, having memorized everyone's lines, and triumphs. The family returns to Denniston Hall for the summer, where Betty organizes a Fourth of July garden party and benefit for the town library with the Dorcas Club, smoothing over the jealousy of club president Susie Hale, who nearly boycotts the event, by rushing off just before the festivities to fetch her and resolve the misunderstanding. Some time later, traveling to visit her friend Lena Carey, Betty arrives at the Careys' summer house to find it apparently deserted, explores it uneasily alone, and is startled by a young man, Hal Pennington, who is also a guest waiting for the family to return from replacing their departed servants. The two settle in together, joking that they are marooned like Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday, and prepare and share a lunch while awaiting the Careys' return.

By Carolyn Wells · First published 1920 · Genre: Children's Literature, Fiction, Women's Literature · 12 chapters · 68,281 words

First lines

"What a gorgeous day for a sleigh-ride! Did you ever see such sunny, twinkling snow, and such crisp, crackly air? It fairly snaps off as you breathe it!"

Betty McGuire stood on the steps of the veranda as she spoke. Her mother, in the doorway, was smiling down at her, and her pony, Dixie, was jingling his bells and pawing at the snow and ice in the driveway below.

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Betty's Happy Year is listed on Textopian as a novel by Carolyn Wells, dated 1920 CE.

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friendship · adventure · coming of age · family · self-discovery · happiness · youth · growth · life lessons · community · love · optimism

Contents

More by Carolyn Wells