What is it, in summary?: A series of books from the early 20th Century for girls aged about 10-16, starting when Patty is 14 and ending shortly after her marriage. Patty is alternately sensible and level-headed and surprisingly competent or fragile and takes on too much depending on the plot. The author is also known for adult mysteries (Patsy gets kidnapped in one of the series, but it's surprisingly tame) and humorous pieces and poetry, and these fall very much on the humorous side. (Disclaimer: the icon is from a different book series of the same era)
What do you love about it?: Even 100 years later, the author's humor shines through as she paints amusing portraits of what, for her, were modern day trends. Patty starts off in a rather didactic and possibly parody novel in which she visits 4 sets of family as she tries to develop a sense of "proportion" and see how other people live (ostentatious and spendthrift, bookish and busy, chaos and disorder, and moderation in all things). By the second book, this conceit has disappeared and the rest of the the novels string together amusing incidents (sometimes funny in themselves, sometimes skewering contemporary trends), and shifting away from the "proportion" conceit to a girl who has all the boys and young men falling at her feet and gets into amusing scrapes. She seems to change friend groups every few books, though it's more fluid than that and the boys are more likely to hang around than the girls.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Something amusing. Preferably in the author's style but not necessarily as long as the proprieties of the day are acknowledged. Knowledge of the time period is a plus.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: I've chosen characters who appear in the first book since I know committing to 17 volumes is unlikely, so you could get away with just reading one. I do recommend reading 2 & 3, because 2 is more representative of the series and 3 shows how the author will just throw away a carefully built up setting/characters to showcase Patty in a new setting. You'll miss some fun bits (Patty bets that she can earn money and we get some surprisingly detailed commentary about bad jobs of the time; Patty persuades all the boys to help her win a contest to get a motor car) and the introduction of her one true love, but that will give you a solid grounding.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Period-typical racism and sexism. There are points where Patty are in mildly scandalous situations of the day but not too racy for a book for tweens of the time. The main character's father (a widower) marries a young woman only a few years older than Patty, but everyone seems very happy with this (and it wasn't uncommon for the time). A few older men express an interest in Patty but this either means they're villains, or it's tempered by "but she wouldn't be interested in me" and courteously backing off.
Patty Fairfield by Carolyn Wells
Media: Books
Approx length: 17 volumes
Where to find it:
01) Patty Fairfield
02) Patty at Home
03) Patty in the City
04) Patty's Summer Days
05) Patty in Paris
06) Patty's Friends
07) Patty's Pleasure Trip
08) Patty's Success
09) Patty's Motor Car
10) Patty's Butterfly Days
11) Patty's Social Season
12) Patty's Suitors
13) Patty's Romance
14) Patty's Fortune
15) Patty Blossom
16) Patty – Bride
17) Patty and Azalea
What is it, in summary?: A series of books from the early 20th Century for girls aged about 10-16, starting when Patty is 14 and ending shortly after her marriage. Patty is alternately sensible and level-headed and surprisingly competent or fragile and takes on too much depending on the plot. The author is also known for adult mysteries (Patsy gets kidnapped in one of the series, but it's surprisingly tame) and humorous pieces and poetry, and these fall very much on the humorous side. (Disclaimer: the icon is from a different book series of the same era)
What do you love about it?: Even 100 years later, the author's humor shines through as she paints amusing portraits of what, for her, were modern day trends. Patty starts off in a rather didactic and possibly parody novel in which she visits 4 sets of family as she tries to develop a sense of "proportion" and see how other people live (ostentatious and spendthrift, bookish and busy, chaos and disorder, and moderation in all things). By the second book, this conceit has disappeared and the rest of the the novels string together amusing incidents (sometimes funny in themselves, sometimes skewering contemporary trends), and shifting away from the "proportion" conceit to a girl who has all the boys and young men falling at her feet and gets into amusing scrapes. She seems to change friend groups every few books, though it's more fluid than that and the boys are more likely to hang around than the girls.
What sort of things are you likely to request for it?: Something amusing. Preferably in the author's style but not necessarily as long as the proprieties of the day are acknowledged. Knowledge of the time period is a plus.
Are there sections of canon (rather than the whole canon) that can be consumed by themselves to fulfil your requests, or that showcase particular characters and relationships?: I've chosen characters who appear in the first book since I know committing to 17 volumes is unlikely, so you could get away with just reading one. I do recommend reading 2 & 3, because 2 is more representative of the series and 3 shows how the author will just throw away a carefully built up setting/characters to showcase Patty in a new setting. You'll miss some fun bits (Patty bets that she can earn money and we get some surprisingly detailed commentary about bad jobs of the time; Patty persuades all the boys to help her win a contest to get a motor car) and the introduction of her one true love, but that will give you a solid grounding.
Content warnings (ie, rape, incest, racism, gore/violence): Period-typical racism and sexism. There are points where Patty are in mildly scandalous situations of the day but not too racy for a book for tweens of the time. The main character's father (a widower) marries a young woman only a few years older than Patty, but everyone seems very happy with this (and it wasn't uncommon for the time). A few older men express an interest in Patty but this either means they're villains, or it's tempered by "but she wouldn't be interested in me" and courteously backing off.