I’ve always loved the Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace. My sister gets her name from these books, whose main character is Elizabeth Ray, known to one and all as Betsy. The funny thing is, the Betsy in the books has brown hair, like me. (My Betsy, the real-life one, is blonde.) And the book-Betsy is a writer, also like me. So I’ve always felt a kinship with her, though she shares my sister’s name.
I remember reading only the first four Betsy-Tacy books when I was little – I guess that’s all we had at my house. It wasn’t until later – maybe high school or college? – that I read the other ones, all the way from Heaven to Betsy, when she’s about 14, to Betsy’s Wedding, the final book in the series. I loved them just as much as the four familiar stories – I love Betsy’s pluck, and her humorous way of looking at life, and her warm family, and her stubborn determination to make it as a writer. Recently I learned, via Book Club Girl, that HarperCollins is reissuing the last six books in the series in September, in three two-book volumes with the original Vera Neville cover artwork. I have an old library copy of Betsy and the Great World, published sometime in the 1940s, but I don’t own any of the others, so I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of these beautiful books.
Meanwhile, though, I checked out Betsy’s Wedding from the library for at least the third time. And I had to share this little speech by her great love, Joe, which makes me well up every time:
“I want to be married to you and have you around all the time. I want to come home from work and tell you about my day. I want to hear you humming around, doing housework. I want to support you. I want to do things for you. Betsy, you fit into my life as perfectly as a rose fits its stem. You and I match like the pieces of a broken coin. Love me always, Betsy! I have given my whole heart to you.”
Sigh. Isn’t that fantastic? The perfect happy ending for one of the sweetest, spunkiest characters in all of children’s literature. If you haven’t read these books, or have only read part of the series, go find the rest of them right away. They’ll make you believe in the goodness of life and the strength of true friendship – and love – again.
Hm… that rose on a stem line is clever. The 1950s housewife connotation doesn’t sit well with me though… I’ll have to check and see.
I love the Betsy-Tacy books! So sweetly old-fashioned and classic.
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