An Old-Fashioned Girl

By: Louisa May Alcott

Narrated by: Anne Hancock

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Immediately following the success of Little Women, Louisa May Alcott sat down to write An-Old Fashioned Girl, expanding on the subject of rich versus poor that she explored in her first novel. It’s a story of a country mouse and a city mouse: 14-year-old Polly Milton travels to Boston for a stay with her friend Fanny Shaw. The wealthy Shaws’ way of life is foreign to Polly who tries to adapt but is quickly labeled “old-fashioned”. Fanny and her friends dress and behave as their elders do, flirting with boys and gossiping. When Polly breaks free to go sledding, Fan’s rapscallion brother Tom is delighted, but the Shaws explain that it’s not done for young ladies to take this kind of exercise. It takes wise grandmother Shaw to help the girls understand each other.

In her preface, Alcott explains that “the demand for a sequel, in beseeching little letters that made refusal impossible”, made it necessary to advance the story six years when Polly returns to Boston to live independently and in genteel poverty as a piano teacher; Fan is bored with the social life that never changes; and Tom is a mischievous college student and a dandy. Alcott references the budding women’s rights movement, stressing the importance of both women and men finding work with a purpose in it, while steering her characters through the romances and crises of adulthood.

Public Domain (P)2018 Anne Hancock

Beautiful Story

The values in the story are remarkable. Some bits are odd today, but as you listen longer, it can be realized how on point Polly, the main character, is.

Sweet story, nice narration.

All around great audiobook. No audio issues and a tasteful, if old fashioned (haha) story. Definitely worth the credit for any Louisa May Alcott fan.

loved it!!!!

loved it! it was such an amazing book. i highly recommend it to all readers.

Lovely Story!

Any additional comments?

This is a great book and very nicely narrated. It describes the coming of age of a family and their friend around the 1860s. The main character, Polly is a little bit perfect but loveable nonetheless. She is poor while her friends are rich but she is able to influence and enrich their lives, The story reveals behavior, customs, and values of the times in a very charming way, I will be relistening to this!

I was gifted a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

hearty, appropriate, and good for the soul.

This has been a favorite book since I was a girl. I enjoyed the narration. I've often recommended this book to young women as ita cute with navy good moral lessons in it, not to mention appropriate love.

Anything by L.M Alcott is good!

This book is so sweet. I was supposed to read it for school and have read it three times now. It’s a good book for any age

Nicely narrated classic

Anne Hancock does a lovely job with this pleasant tale of how an almost too good to be true "old-fashioned girl" bursting with solid American virtues of thrift, modesty, pluckiness, etc. brings sunshine to the lives of a wealthy Boston family. Alcott reveals at one point that she was asked to write a book about young people for young people, and the tone of the story is fairly light and good-humored. It's a cash-in on the success of Little Women and covers a similar theme of how noble poverty forms character--"poverty", of course, meaning not having excess income rather than actually being short of the basic necessities of life.

As in her major works, Alcott is overly fond of editorializing, sermonizing, and digressing into stories within stories, hence my three-star rating for the story itself. I'm sure that style went down well in 1869, but it takes a certain amount of patience in 2018. A good audiobook helps, so this is an excellent bet if you're eager to explore more of Alcott's work. I can't fault Hancock's reading, which was lively, a delight to listen to, and perfectly suited to the text.

SOOOOOO GOOOOOD!!!!!

Omg I love this book so much!!!! I wish there was another book that would make even more interesting!

Classic Louis May Alcott

Louisa May Alcott's trademark style is very much in evidence in this charming tale.

Young Polly goes to the big city, lives with rich friends, and shows them how to live a purer, more noble life. All the usual Alcott themes are present: the importance of family; poverty vs wealth; women as agents of improving men; attention to charity; marrying for money vs marrying for love. At times the moralizing gets a little heavy but the charm of the story is enough to make a reader to forgive and keep reading (or listening).

The narrator did a fine job with her reading and it was obvious that she enjoyed the story. A pleasure to listen to.

I was given this audio book at my request and am voluntarily leaving a review.

On old-fashioned grand time

A classic to be sure.

I loved everything about this story. If only the younger generation could grasp more of these old-fashion values that Polly displays.

Ms Hancock is a marvelous storyteller. She captures the innocence of Polly, the petulance of Fanny and still has fun playing off Tom’s naughtiness.