For the first time on this podcast, we are talking about a book that was written in direct response to a book we previously reviewed! Whether or not you're a fans of Henry James' 1878 short story "Daisy Miller," you'll want to tune in to Amy and Jacinta's review of A FAIR BARBARIAN, written in 1880 by Frances Hodgson Burnett as a direct response to Daisy. Plus this month's book has connections to another story from the Gibson Girl archives, so we're making all kinds of historic connections in this all-new episode!

*To avoid any possible spoilers in this episode, CLICK HERE to download a free copy of this public domain book, so you can read it before you listen!*

If you love THE SECRET GARDEN and A LITTLE PRINCESS... then this month's all new rediscovery may come as a pleasant surprise! Amy and Jacinta take a first look at A FAIR BARBARIAN by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first published serially in 1880. But will this obscure piece of historic fiction live up to this famous author's reputation? Tune in for a quick introduction and sample reading from this Gilded Age story, then click the link below to read along with us this month!

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

After introducing all of you to THE INCUBATOR BABY in our last episode, Amy and Jacinta return to share their thoughts on this little story first published in 1906!

*To avoid any possible spoilers in this episode, please CLICK HERE to download a free copy of this public domain book, so you can read it before you listen!*

Amy and Jacinta return to the dusty, forgotten bookshelves to bring you our 50th episode! It's a whole new format this season, with multiple short episodes per book, allowing all of you to read along with us BEFORE you hear what we think of each book! And with Jacinta's very special announcement, it is an absolute no-brainer why we're kicking off Season Five with Ellis Parker Butler's 1906 novel, THE INCUBATOR BABY. (Yes, you read that right!) What's it about? We honestly have no idea... but that title sure piques our interest. Tune in for a quick introduction and sample of this antique novel, then click the link below to read along with us!

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

Merry Christmas, old book lovers! Season Four of The Gibson Girl Review comes to a close with this charming holiday novel, THIS WAY TO CHRISTMAS by Ruth Sawyer (1916), which brings a surprising amount of international zest to the festive season. Plus Amy and Jacinta have a big announcement about an exciting new venture for the podcast, and the season-long history segment celebrating the Golden Age of Illustration concludes with a look at the most famous American illustrator of all time, Norman Rockwell.

GET YOUR COPY of our brand new book, A GIBSON GIRL CHRISTMAS, right here!

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

Did you know that John Phillip Sousa, the legendary composer and band leader, wrote novels? Neither did we! Which is exactly why Amy and guest reviewer Monique Hurtado just had to read his 1902 debut story, THE FIFTH STRING. It's a Faustian allegory that definitely left us thinking about our upcoming New Year's resolutions. Tune in and tell us what you think!

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download this episode's public domain story for FREE!

Boy, do we know the feeling of THIS episode title after the past few weeks! Technical glitches and daily-life dramas have tied us up the past few weeks, but now we're back... and Amy and Jacinta firmly believe this book is worth the wait! They uncover and unpack Mary Roberts Rinehart's 1915 emotional ensemble drama, "K"—primarily because who can resist a book title that's only one letter?? Plus the all-new history segment profiles a little-known master from the Golden Age of Illustration, Charles E. Chambers.

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

Other books and authors mentioned in this episode include:

Poor Dear Theodora!

Jan of the Windmill

The Notting Hill Mystery

Hearts and Masks

P.G. Wodehouse

Agatha Christie

Anna Katherine Green

The Circular Staircase

Little Women

Cranford

Little Dorrit

Pearl S. Buck

W. Somerset Maugham

Other topics and shout-outs in this episode include: the Golden Age of Illustration, WWI, Castle, Murdoch Mysteries, Bob Newhart, Jeeves & Wooster, Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, The Andy Griffith Show, I Love Lucy, Gilligan's Island, Steinway & Sons, Chesterfield Cigarettes, Fannie Munsell, Pauline True, Winston Churchill, King Albert & Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, Queen Mary and King George V of England, The Saturday Evening Post, Melrose Place, Coronation Street, Ballykissangel, Forrest Gump, Lark Rise to Candleford, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Richard Munsell Chambers, Pearl Harbor, Norman Rockwell, the Art Institute of Chicago, soap operas, the friend zone, nursing school, Pittsburgh, breast cancer, and rental cars.

It's a Gibson Girl first—TWO guest reviewers! Gwendolyn Gage makes her third appearance on the podcast (is it time to start calling her a co-host?), along with longtime show fan Anne Skelly, a docent at the Frederic Remington Art Museum in Ogdensburg, NY. They join Amy in the studio for a deep dive into the first novel written by the legendary Western artist Frederic Remington, JOHN ERMINE OF THE YELLOWSTONE (1902). Plus Anne, with her expertise on all things Fred, is the show's first-ever guest historian for the history segment!

CLICK HERE for complete show notes, including a link to download today's public domain book for FREE!

Other books and authors mentioned in this episode include:

The Way of an Indian by Frederic Remington

Richard Harding Davis

True Grit by Charles Portis

The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Other topics and shout-outs in this episode include: Charles Dana Gibson, the Gibson Girl, the Gibson Man, the Golden Age of Illustration, the Crow (Absaroke) tribe, Dances with Wolves, Tombstone, John Wayne, John Ford, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, the U.S. Cavalry, the Apache Wars, the Civil War, tuberculosis, fish-out-of-water tropes, anti-heroes, and scalping.