| Title | : | Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy, #9) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0064405451 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780064405454 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1952 |
Betsy and the Great World (Betsy-Tacy, #9) Reviews
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Betsy and I are fighting right now. You see, I just can't forgive her for lousing it up with Joe. Of course we all know it'll work out right in the end because, in the words of that annoying girl from Sleepless in Seattle they're "MFEO." But for now, I call you out Betsy Ray. You have permission to do the same for me when I inevitably make my own romantic blunders. That is, you could, if you were a real person. Who would probably be dead from old age by now. Regardless.
I'm also fighting with Joe because I can't forgive him for the mustache. A mustache? No, you will regret this, sir. If I've learned anything from romcoms, it's that facial hair incurred during a break-up is never good news. -
09/2015 -stet
09/2012 Wendy asked me to review this from the point of view of someone without a passport, so...
I love visiting pre-WWI Europe with Betsy, much the way I love visiting pre-WWII Greece with
Gerald Durrell. I think that I will never see post WWII anything save the US, and it does make me sad, though I do think I get as much out of reading as a lot of people get out of actually being there.
I love Betsy here although her dependence on men (any man! the passing man, the friendly nephew of the house, the millionaire aboard) is grating. The chapter from London makes me weep. The last few paragraphs make me stand up and shout.
Such a lovely, lovely book. I wish I could see the world that Betsy saw.
12/2009 When I was reading and re-reading this series every season as a kid, this is the book I flew through. I skimmed the tedious descriptions of pre-WWI Europe with a yawn, pined for Tacy and Tib and rolled my eyes at everything but Marco, Mrs. Main-Whittaker, and of course the glorious, perfect last chapter.
This book began to change for me when I was in my mid-twenties, and it's become one of my favorites in the series. The rich and beautiful descriptions of a Europe forever vanished make me wistful, and so grateful that Maud chose to do so little foreshadowing. I still love Marco, though he wasn't right for Betsy. I'm more fascinated with Mrs. Main-Whittaker now that I know she was modeled on Rose Wilder Lane, and I simply adore this book start to finish. Betsy's Europe is idyllic in a lot of ways, even when she's homesick and lost. It annoys me that she's constantly being bailed out by gentlemen, too- but that's true to Betsy, and I have to honor that.
But most of all... Best.Last.Chapter.Ever. Ever. No, I mean it. Ever. -
I missed Deep Valley so much, but I loved reading about Betsy's adventures abroad! I especially enjoyed her time in Italy. I loved Marco! Betsy was a strong woman to not fall in love with him - such a romantic italian. I mean, I LOVE Joe, don't get me wrong, but reading about Marco also gave me butterflies. She had a hard choice to make. She ultimately made the right choice, and now I can have Marco to myself.
It was interesting to read the book knowing that WWI was right around the corner. There were hints in the story that it was coming, but the benefit of historical fiction is knowing what's going to happen before it does. Her time in Europe (Germany and Italy especially) is mostly carefree and idyllic until she reaches London and the war breaks out. It lended some poignancy to the story knowing that those beautiful people and places she just spent so much time in are now caught up in the crushing hands of fate and will never be the same.
But oh my goodness does Betsy have some pride that she needs to learn to swallow. She knew she'd hurt Joe but refused to write to him and apologize which was just SO INFURIATING. Actually, both Betsy and Joe have a streak of pride in them that is not particularly flattering and they'll have to work on in their future marriage. Not to get all preachy, but fessing up when you're wrong and apologizing is like relationship 101. But no. Betsy needed to find an EXCUSE in order to write to Joe, and even when she does finally write him, she doesn't apologize. Just. Betsy. Come on. But, their reconciliation is still heart melting and Joe's response to her in the newspaper was swoony. Once I finished the book I had to pick up the next one right away just so I could witness their reunion immediately. -
I was always sad, as a wee thing, that there were no more than five Betsy-Tacy books for me to read. There they were out in the world, more of them, and I couldn’t get my hands on them.
Beyond frustrating, I tell you.
But...I’m not sad I didn’t read them now. One’s first time reading a good book is a gift that’s never (or rarely) re-given, and sometimes books get to you at the exact right time in your life. Which is something I think these books did for me. Betsy-Tacy when I was very young, Betsy in Spite of Herself in my teens, and this one now. (This is a perfectly useless fact to put in a review, but after all my one joy in life is writing perfectly useless reviews.)
Anyway, the best thing about this book was the bathtub incident. But also I long to see Munich in the winter of 1914 now, and Venice in spring (or at all), and to be in London as the Great War begins. All of which won’t happen, but reading about it was beautiful anyway. And Betsy is just...does anyone not love Betsy? Because I will fight them. -
I have to say that this is probably my least favorite of the series. I still love it, but there are things lacking such as all the fun surrounding the "crowd" and Betsy's beloved Deep Valley. That being said, it's still a great book and a must read. At twenty-one, Betsy is on the verge of a great adventure. She embarks on a tour of Europe - when Europe was a new horizon for a young writer to see. Betsy soon discovers that she is growing up (she is courted by a dashing Italian during her trip abroad), but she can not forget her beloved Joe.
The Betsy-Tacy books were highly autobiographical and Lovelace perfectly captures the innocence and magic of childhood. If you read this book and love it, please read the series. It will be books that you will never forget as long as you live. I also recommend the "Betsy-Tacy Companion" which is an amazing book that disects each book and compares it to it's real-life counterparts, including pictures of the "real" Betsy, Tacy, Tib and all the gang.
I had the pleasure of visiting "Deep Valley" (aka Mankato, Minnesota) for a Betsy-Tacy convention back in 1996. It was incredible to step back in time and enter Betsy's world. We toured the city and I was actually able to step foot in "Tacy's" bedroom and sit on the famous bench at the top of the big hill. It was truly a life-altering experience. I have to thank my sister, Julie for introducting these books to me and changing my life.
It's obvious how much these books mean to me. My first born child was named Tacy Kelly Maloy. Please read and enjoy. They are a treasure! -
4.5
Just wonderful. I like the German part best, although the shipboard part is great too . 1/2 a star off because the ending is rushed (Betsy's gang in London was too abruptly introduced for me to care anything about them). Also, while I liked the descriptions of Venice, I was unconvinced by Marco, who has all the depth of characterization of Flat Stanley. -
Me @ Betsy: JUST FUCKING WRITE TO JOE YOU SILLY 22 YEAR OLD
And then I cried when she did so it's fine. -
I can't remember the last time I cried in public. Maybe in the movie theater, maybe at summer camp. But if someone had told me at the beginning of Betsy and the Great World that two hundred some odd pages later I'd be sobbing in Barnes and Noble, I would not have believed it.
I spent a lot of the book, charming though it was, thinking that it wasn't as good as the Deep Valley books. I missed the Crowd, Mr. Ray's onion sandwiches, Tacy and Tib. It was definitely fun to read about Betsy's travels through Europe, her attraction to the purser Mr. O'Farrell, her new friends in Munich, her trip to the town with the Passion Play, the handsome Italian Marco in Venice...et cetera. But it got bogged down in the middle with historical detail, with descriptions of the new places. With Deep Valley, you just know where everything is, what it all looks like. I was also distracted by thinking about Tacy and how annoyed I was that she got married so young, and the fact that the cover still says "A Betsy-Tacy Story." The books stopped being about Tacy ages ago. I'm thinking about writing an essay about Tacy.
But then, WAR IS DECLARED and I spent the whole last two chapters crying. The scene in which Betsy and her London crew are sitting all together on her bed listening to the noise outside and waiting for the Bank Holiday to begin, and then they hear cries of "War!" was one of the most heartwrenching depictions of that event I have ever read (and I love books about this period!). The thing is, I guess I knew it was coming. Maybe that's why I didn't feel engaged in the rest of the book, because when Betsy and Tilda vowed to meet up again in Germany in 1917 (neunzehn siebzehn!), I thought to myself, "Wait, but..." And I didn't like it.
And then I started thinking, aren't all of the Deep Valley boys going to go fight in Europe? More tears. Chest heaving, with the strains of Natalie Merchant in the background, staring at a rack of Wheel of Time novels. And of course, in the last two pages, the Agony Column from Joe: Betsy. The great war is on but I hope ours is over. Please come home. Joe. Devastating. And so beautiful.
I'm looking forward to going back to Deep Valley for Betsy's Wedding, but I can't get over the punch to the gut that was the end of Betsy and the Great World. -
Betsy's travels and her minor adventures are great fun, but her love life isn't. I suspect that's because whenever Lovelace relays something that actually happened to her, or happened to one of her close group of friends, she does a smashing job, but she tends to flounder when she needs to make something up out of whole cloth. (Though, not having a thorough grounding in Lovelaceiana, it is also possible that I'm attributing to reality only the things that happened which I liked, and chalking up to to Lovelace's imagination things that I didn't.)
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JANUARY 1914. In those last halcyon days just before the world went mad, Betsy boarded the S.S. Columbic with dreams of living in Europe for the following year.
AUGUST 1914. While Betsy was living in England, the Great War began.
This novel is autobiographical, like all the books in the Betsy-Tacy series. Just like Betsy, Maud Hart Lovelace started a magnificently gorgeous European tour in January 1914, was living in London when World War I started, and had to return home to the US early. She lived it, she felt it, and she shared it with me in this book. I loved it, and I'm so grateful for the experience.
Most of this novel is filled with wide-eyed wonder and light-hearted European adventures, evoking the feeling and atmosphere of some of the most wonderful places I’ve ever visited.
Munich: She went to the Hoftheatre straight from afternoon coffee, for the operas began early, sometimes as early as six. There was always a line of people waiting for “standing places”—shabby, humble-looking people, and soldiers, and students. Yet inside, the great auditorium glittered and shimmered with fashion. Everybody went to the opera in Munich.
Venice: There were no streets except canals. Walking, you went up and down bridges, and along tiny alleys, spanned by clotheslines full of washing, and across picturesque courts where people were always hanging out the windows in vigorous conversation. With Mr. Regali, Betsy explored every tantalizing nook. And always in the end they came out on the Grand Canal. The palaces lifted their airy arches, balconies, and columns above water that changed color all the time.
Only in the last 50 pages of the book do we start hearing the rumblings of war. My heart was in my throat during this section of the book, feeling all the feels.
Betsy worries about her dear friends in Germany: She thought of Tilda. What would this do to her [opera] career? She thought of Helena and Hanni. Each loved a soldier who would now be going to war.
And she worries about her dear friends in England, who are on the opposite side of the conflict. One of her British friends expresses it perfectly: “I can’t take it in,” Jean stammered. “Thousands of men marching off to be slaughtered. Ruin, terror, misery, sweeping us all. Why?” No one knew.
And how have I never heard about this mad-dash escape from Europe? Americans were rushing off the continent like leaves before a storm. They weren’t allowed to leave the railroad stations, even to eat. They were locked into the cars. They couldn’t get money. Many who arrived in London had left all their luggage behind and had only the clothes on their backs.
Confession: I skipped the previous two books in this series (Betsy Was a Junior and Betsy and Joe) because they sounded like plots recycled from Heaven to Betsy, which I didn’t enjoy. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on the Betsy-Tacy series. This book is a treasure and it’s officially on my “Want to Reread” list. -
Opening three years after the events of
Betsy and Joe, the previous installment of Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy~Tacy series, Betsy and the Great World sees its lovable heroine - now twenty-one years old, and about to be a junior in college - head off for a trip to Europe. Crossing the Atlantic on the Columbic ocean-liner, living in a student pension in Munich, exploring Venice with a handsome young man, and facing the onset of World War I with her friends in London, Betsy has many exciting adventures, and makes a diverse range of friends, from a German baroness to an Italian architect. She even meets that elusive type: the American millionaire!
I enjoyed this grownup Betsy~Tacy adventure immensely, although - as my friend Wendy warned me - I did find some of the changes a little jarring. Had the Rays moved away from Deep Valley, I wondered, when Betsy references their home in Minneapolis? Betsy and Joe seemed to have such a wonderful understanding, at the close of the previous book, and although Lovelace explained how they drifted apart, it was still a little disappointing to see their estrangement! I also couldn't help but wish that there were some intermediate titles, covering Betsy's college years, although if they were so unhappy, perhaps it's for the best that the author glossed over them.
Despite these concerns, I soon settled into this delightful tale of travel, which has always been one of my own passions. Lovelace writes beautifully, capturing a pre-war Europe that was soon to disappear, and inserting many fascinating social observations into her narrative. The idea of discrete social classes, held by both Tilda and Helena, is very foreign to Betsy, and I was rather impressed that Lovelace didn't allow her intrepid American to "resolve" everything, and make everyone friends. I also relished Betsy' passionate defense of the cause of woman suffrage, and her rejection of Mr. O'Farrell's false dichotomy of the feminine and the feminist.
All in all, Betsy and the Great World was a great book - entertaining, thought-provoking, and emotionally satisfying. Especially, as another friend notes, that wonderful closing chapter! I can't wait to read
Betsy's Wedding! -
Still haven't been to Venice, but I re-read this while in Rome.
5-14-2009 review:
Oh how I love this book. I re-read it in preparation for my trip to (part of) the Great World. I especially love it because Betsy travels alone, something that I enjoy very much. Maud gives us everything with this one: the joys and frustrations of travel; culture & geography lessons; ROMANCE; yearnings for a bath; exciting news from a far-away friend. Not to mention the foreshadowing of the Great War and, oh, did I mention the romance?
The details of Munich and Venice are particularly rich. I haven't yet been to Venice but, when I visited Munich in 2004, I used Betsy's explorations as my itinerary. It was the perfect way to see the city. -
i was actually in agony and misery the whole time reading this because a) i missed The Crowd like nothing else because i get over attached to side characters and these particular ones i missed like the dickens i missed the old fun and banter of the previous books and those porch scenes at the Rays' house and onion sandwiches and everyone falling for each other :( like it was FUN reading about grown-up Betsy and her adventures in Europe but like - three years passed and what HAPPENED to everyone? who is Bob who is Effie I do not know them and b) knowing that WWI was going to come to Betsy's friends in Europe was actually painful they were all so much i will miss them too
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I think this is my very favorite Betsy book out of all of them. I will also add that the authoress's descriptions of Europe are colorful and delightful, making this a good book to encourage your child to read for some history.:)
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another great Betsy Tacy book.
SPOILER:Joe’s notice in the newspaper at the end was TOTALLY The Great War by Ts 😭 -
Comfort reread ❤️
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Love-hate relationship is too strong a phrase for this book. How about love-annoyed? Then again, I seem to have had that with Betsy all along in the series. The annoyed part was related to the male aspect. Again, that seems to be a trend. Yet it was a very good growing up part for Betsy and I think these were some of the greatest lessons in that area she has gained in the series. (I suppose that is like life for us, though--we learn more in various areas as we get older and have more experiences.) It also slightly annoyed me that she had some of her vain moments, and I was relieved that many parts of her trip had her "doing without."
That aside, I loved the book. I loved being with Betsy on her adventures, and being reminded of my own venture into the Great World. I regretted and still regret that I could not spend more time in an area and actually live there to truly know the place and the people, so I envied Betsy her chances there. However, I could see even more how grateful I was to be in a tour group with so many friends and acquaintances to share my experiences, as compared to the times Betsy was alone or the effort she had to put forth to find friends in foreign lands. She probably grew more than I did in that regard, but I see that both of our Great World experiences were very eye-opening and life-altering.
I enjoyed "visiting" some of the places I knew with Betsy, and really enjoyed going to new places. It was another reminder to me of how much I loved traveling and still long to go traveling. A whole year for Europe would be ideal. Give me another for Russia and another for Asia, and I'd have only just begun!
I think what stood out to me most in this book, however, was the role of war. Considering how lightly the rest of the series had dealt with world affairs and knowing WWI was pending, I wasn't sure what would happen. But the book foreshadowed it as only a Betsy-Tacy book could. And I loved that the people, the cultures, and the places were much more real to Betsy--making the conflicts in the countries that much more prevalent and "meaningful" to her. (Especially considering 2 of 3 countries that she lived in, and the parts they would soon play in WWI.)
The rating is more of a 4.25 stars.
P.S. Did I ever miss Tacy--but I SO knew what was going to happen when Betsy was in the doll shop!
P.P.S. I never was impressed by Marco. In the least. Yet I liked Mr. Brown right off! Is that the author's doing or a sense of my "taste?"
2/6/16-2/17/16 Reread! I think I enjoyed this much more this time around. Knowing how Betsy is, she didn't annoy me in the least. I actually love how honest Maud is about her own self through Betsy. Again found myself reveling in the same places Betsy and I both visited, wishing I could spend weeks at a time instead of 1-2 days, and longing to travel more. I also had refreshed myself with the history at the back of the book as to what was real and what was fiction. And since my last read, I have been a fan of Downton. So more parts stood out to me than they did before--the whole thing about upper class, maids, etc. It is sometimes uncanny to think that the times of Betsy and Meet Me in St. Louis were during the same time as Downton pre-war. Such different worlds! And to live in a country where class systems had that elements. (Though the U.S. didn't have royalty, it still had class divisions to a degree.) Anyway, my study of the Edwardian period over the last few years definitely came in to play as I re-read this book. -
This is probably my least favorite of the older Betsy-Tacy books. Just because Joe isn't really in it. Yes, the ending is really sweet ... but for most of the story
I do love all the descriptions of different people and places. It really makes you want to visit Europe ... though not nowadays. I basically want to travel back to the pre-WW1 era just to visit Europe. Because I feel like it just wouldn't be any fun nowadays.
I wish we could hear how all of the friends Betsy made in Europe ended up. For instance, Helena (if I remember the name correctly). She has such a tragic story, and we never get to hear how that ends up! So sad. (Yet another reason for more Betsy-Tacy books ...)
Overall, this is a great story ... but not my favorite. I love the conclusions Betsy comes to. I always love seeing inside her head. :)
~Kellyn Roth,
Reveries Reviews -
We skip two years before this book begins, during which time Betsy went to University, hated it, dropped out, and lost touch with Joe when he went off to Harvard. And so, Bob Ray being the kind father that he is, offers a "snoggestion" that Betsy take some time to explore Europe.
So this book differs from the rest of the series, set alternately on an ocean liner across the Atlantic, in Italy, in Munich, in Paris, and in London. Betsy makes friends, falls in love with an Italian musician, socializes with socialites and cleaning staff alike, all while the shadow of the Great War creeps across Europe. And then the war begins, and Betsy makes plans to come home. And in the newspaper, a personal ad from Joe Willard reads: The Great War is on but ours is over. Come home. Joe."
And so she does. -
Reread March 12, 2019
Read August 30, 2013 -
When I was a teenager, I was in love with the idea of the 'year abroad' - not so much backpacking and hostels, but more along the lines of the glorious European Grand Tour. Who knows what books formed my romantic notions, but I'm sure this would have been one of them. This novel, the penultimate in the Betsy-Tacy series, is an anomaly in some ways: no Tacy and Tib, very little of the Ray family, and almost nothing of Joe Willard. The family closeness, the Ray family rituals, the seasonal traditions - all of them are missing from this book. But what the reader gets instead is a fascinating slice of social history, and a glimpse of what Europe was like in the prosperous decades before World War I. It begins with a Betsy who has lost her 'grounding' in many ways. She has completed two fairly unsatisfactory years at the U (University of Minnesota in Minneapolis), she has fallen out with Joe, and she has more or less lost her way. It's a painful time for Betsy, and I think it's a painful time for her loyal readers, too! Both of us (Betsy, and the reader) have to adjust; we have to have our horizons gradually broadened. The novel follows Betsy's progress through Europe: first her long ship journey, with a stopover at the Azores and a crush on a charming Irish purser; then her time in Munich, where she befriends two German girls from very different social classes; then her trips to Bayreuth and Oberammergau; another romance in Venice; and finally, brief visits to Paris and London. While Betsy is in London, the war breaks out and she scrambles to get passage back home. I'm not quite sure how to classify this book; in some sense, the older books could be described as classic Young Adult, but I think this book will appeal mostly to adult readers who have some context for the people and places described in the book. It's not the most emotionally satisfying of the Betsy-Tacy books, but it is a unique pleasure to read.
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Ok, breaking it down:
I wouldn't have picked it up out of a store, probably - or out of the library. But I'm really glad I read it. I think I would have loved it when I was 10 or 11. The friendships would have kept me reading the whole series, I expect.
It really played the long game with Joe (and the resolution I know happened because of the tip-off of the next book's title in the back of this one is a good conclusion).
I think it's always interesting to write with a foreknowledge of circumstances in historical fiction for younger readers so the hinting at German soldiers was deftly done. Also, my birthday is on June 28 so the murder of Franz Ferdinand is something I think about sometimes and I liked that it was in here specifically when so few dates are.
The character of Betsy seems exactly like what Louisa May Alcott would have come up with if she had been alive and writing when Maud Hart Lovelace was so it was also great that Little Women was mentioned (2x) in the book.
I really liked that the nuances between types of love and degrees of love were explored. The overall values of the Betsy (and the author) I could get behind - she was a very thoughtful and socially conscious writer.
My mom growing up loved the book Marjorie Morningstar which was written around the same time period (also about a strong willed young woman who wants to be an artist - actress instead of writer). It was written by Herman Wouk (so, a man). In that book, in what has always seemed to me to be a not uncommon approach to 1950's values (especially from a man's perspective; and that something like The Feminine Mystique would have been an answer to), Marjorie gets any angst or desire for more satiated when she falls in and out of love with Noel Airman before settling into the
inevitability of domesticity. And absolutely, there is nothing wrong with any choice a person makes about their life circumstances.
But, when I read that book as a pre-teen I was disappointed. She goes to live in a way she had never seemed to truly want, until she did. And she could have had more, she just didn't take her own aspirations seriously because no one else had, or if they did - it was only to use her.
In this book, I love that Betsy maintains her individuality and passion and insistence on her own dreams as career worthy. AND I LOVE THAT PEOPLE IN HER LIFE SUPPORT HER.
She has an admirable amount of agency and foresight and is a great character/would have been a great role model when I was a kid/might be a great role model now, too. -
In 1914 Betsy does the Grand Tour, cruising her way to Europe in style before settling down in Munich, then Venice, Paris and London. Betsy being Betsy, she can't help making some good friends and having several romantic adventures.
Notably in Munich she is torn between her friendship with Tilda, a sweet girl who is studying singing, and Helena, an impoverished countess who refuses to associate with Tilda because of class differences (apparently Betsy is OK even though a shoe salesman's daughter because she is American). And the other great romance of her trip comes in Venice, where her good friend Marco falls deeply in love with her and declares his love.
Throughout it all, Betsy keeps thinking of Jim back home - they had a falling out before she left the US and though she can't bring herself to write, she can't forget him either. And looming over everything there is the war to come. Betsy promises her Munich friends she'll return in 1917, but we as the reader are very well aware that's not going to happen, and by the end of the book the war has well and truly begun.
The bit I liked least was probably her journey over to Europe - it's a bit too much "gosh look at the natives" when she stops at places along the way. But I did love her long stays in Munich and Venice especially, going from being a lonely and homesick stranger to a confident traveller. And it gave me a kind of sense of closeness to Betsy to realise that the iconic places of Venice back then are still the iconic places today, the same places I saw as a visitor too. -
I can't tell you how much I disliked this book. I only kept reading because I had become so invested in Betsy and her friends by reading the first eight books in the series.
At the end of the previous book, it seemed that Betsy has come to her senses, realizing that Joe is the only one for her. But in this book she and Joe have parted because when he went to Harvard and heard she was going around with another fellow, he broke up with her. Betsy is so surprised that Joe doesn't understand that this fellow means nothing to her. Honestly???? She keeps falling for the wrong men in this book ALL THE WHILE KNOWING IN HER HEART OF HEARTS THAT JOE IS THE ONE FOR HER. I got tired of her foolishness.
Since much of these books are biographical, this may be what really happened in Lovelace's life, but it must have been frustrating for loyal readers of the series to see Betsy continually making poor choices. Thankfully, it ends up all right, but it's agony until then. -
An old favorite, and the perfect comfort read for moving abroad. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t specifically tried to find a flat it Taviton Street just because of this book. There’s no one like Betsy Ray!
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I love the Betsy-Tacy books but this was the most boring book in the series. It could have been written and summed up in one chapter. I hope the last book does not disappoint.
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enjoyed this much more than I thought I would; I didn't care much for it the first time I read it 20 or so years ago, but liked it lots this time around.
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"Betsy and the Wide World" is not one of Ms. Lovelace's finest. The reason: After Betsy's absence from a couple of the intervening Deep Valley books, she returns to the scene essentially unchanged from what she was in high school. And even after her European tour described in this Wide World book, she remains unchanged. I am sorry to conclude that, to me, Betsy is an unlikeable and boring girl. She was more interesting when her age was in the single digits.
In Betsy and the Great World, we dive with Betsy from one shallow puddle into another. Her observations about the interesting places she visits --- The Azores, Morocco, Munich, etc. --- are superficial. She does not ever explore below the surface of what she sees. Witness her wide eyed innocence in merely asking "Why do they hate us so?" when she visits Tangiers briefly. Fortunately, she need not dwell on the question (even if she were so inclined) because she can return to the ship and revel in thinking about what she'll wear to some ball or other.
In sum, Betsy is a passive observer. She looks at the world with an unchanging frame of reference, and the great world does not appear to affect her. I do not mean to diminish her ability to negotiate travel in foreign countries as a "girl alone". (Her aloneness is nominal, however, as there is always someone to take her under his/her wing, or to fall in love with her, etc.) But she remains essentially the same high school girl that she was in many other books --- the one who seeks "fun", who wants to belong to a set, to impress with airs and affectations, etc. She is really quite a dull child. And although she may be popular with her peers, adults seem really simply to indulge her.
It is remarkable to me that Ms. Lovelace portrays Betsy as a young woman aspiring to a career as an author of fiction. Betsy's writing must indeed be of the most conventional sort, suitable for publication in popular magazines. (I did a google search of Ainslee's magazine, which paid Betsy $100 for a story.) Her desire to soak up atmosphere and visit places because it would help her writing is simply a pose. It is in this light that Ms. Lovelace has her visit the fashion show at Longschamps in Paris. Please! Betsy has no interior life out of which she could write. If she did, Mr. Ray could have saved his hard earned money and kept her home in Minneapolis. On the other hand, without an interior life, perhaps a trip to Europe was in Betsy's professional interest. At least she could collect charming locations.
It is remarkable to me that Joe Willard --- who is a person of character --- could actually be charmed by this lover of hats, mirrors, and silk kimonos. I suspect that it is Joe who will provide Betsy with "character" in the next and last of the Betsy-Tacy series.
Actually, I've really enjoyed reading this series. I suppose I would have stopped if I didn't. Also, I wouldn't feel so strongly about Betsy if Ms. Lovelace hadn't drawn me in so well!
