Understood Betsy
Understood Betsy, first published in 1916, is a classic children’s story.
Orphaned as a baby, nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann is taken in by her kindhearted great-aunt Harriet and cousin Frances. They both aim to raise her in a loving, proper and cultured home in the early 1900s. But, pale, thin, nervous Elizabeth Ann experiences a new kind of upheaval when Aunt Harriet becomes seriously ill.
The situation requires that Elizabeth Ann move from her city home to “those horrid Putney cousins” (in Aunt Harriet’s opinion) who live on a farm in Vermont.
The change in scenery and attitude does Elizabeth Ann a world of good. In the country air where she has to do chores and where she can romp around and play with the animals, Elizabeth Ann becomes Betsy — a robust and happy girl.
- About the author: Dorothy Canfield Fisher was an educational reformer and best-selling American author in the early 20th century. In addition to writing novels, short stories, memoirs, and educational works, she wrote extensively as a literary critic and translator.
