There's something so wonderful and comforting about reading a childhood favorite. I listened to the audiobook, beautifully read, and it felt like my grandmother was reading this lovely story to me just like when I was little. It has problematic bits, as one might expect given that it was published in the late 1800s, but it still has so much to recommend it.

Nearly forty years ago, I was in a hot car, on a long road to upstate New York for a vacation with my family. I had finished what I brought to read, was incredibly bored, and about to tease my sister into a state which would likely have led to my premature death at the hands of my parents, when I found a copy of Eight Cousins in the back seat. Out of sheer desperation, I began reading it, and found myself fascinated by this period piece by Louisa May Alcott. Later, I found and read the sequel Rose in Bloom, and found it equally satisfying and enjoyable. Recommended.

A positively adorable, completely Louisa May Alcott sort of book!

After her father's death Rose is listless and ill, until her new guardian, Uncle Alec, encourages her to try healthful food, sunshine, and exercise. Gradually, Rose begins to improve both in health and spirits, and soon she is able to join her cousins in their frolics and adventures. She has seven cousins, all boys, who gather around her with energetic fun. But Rose also has a great many meddlesome aunts, who object to Uncle Alec's parenting style, saying that he will make her into a shameful tomboy instead of an elegant young lady. Ultimately, Rose has to decide which path is the best for her own happiness.

This book just gets sweeter every time I read it! What a comfort it is to reread old favorites! I always cry at the sad parts and cheer for Rose when she triumphs.

I just adore the close relationships between the family. The cousins really look out for each other and help each other in the sweetest way. I especially love the friendship between Rose and Phebe! They are so cute and giggly, but their friendship is also strong through tough times.

I always think it's so weird and funny that the characters think it's vain of Rose to want to wear earrings. I guess it was a new fashion back then. They sure make a big fuss about it in several scenes, and everyone tells Rose how silly and frivolous she is. Haha!

I love the charming writing style. It really pulls you into the story, and makes you care about the characters. The plot is very wholesome with dozens of moral lessons, but I like that. It's told in such an emotional and interesting way that I don't mind being preached at.

Childhood nostalgia.

I liked this one a lot more than Little Women, while it is still on the more didactic end of the spectrum it is a most wonderful little story. Now I must state that if you have read any Alcott the same basic principles apply. But unlike little women rather than having a narrator tell you how to live your life, the lovable Uncle Alec does so in a not too preachy manner. Now as the children are still children they are overly perfect and sweet, yet the adults (who are for the most part overlooked) are what makes the book for me. I love Aunt Jessie and wish that I had one or that I could be one sometime in the far distant future.

I like how there is an emphasis on children remaining children. With my 6 year old sister asking to dye her hair blonde it seems like the final nail in the coffin of childhood is very close to being hammered down. This is a wonderful childhood classic and one that should be read rather than looked over.

I decided to revisit this childhood favorite. It's sweet, it's quaint, it made me want to have a bunch of geographically close cousins all over again.

Not quite as good as I remembered, and a notch or two below the great Little Women, but those who think of Louisa May Alcott as a stodgy 19th century moralist will be astonished at some of the shockingly modern opinions she expresses. Rose, a rather droopy, recently orphaned 13 year old is handed over to the care of a clutch of fussy aunts. Not until dynamic Uncle Alec takes over does Rose recover her health and spirits, as he promptly banishes corsets, coffee, and "ladylike" pursuits in favor of housework, hearty food, and the companionship of her 7 rambunctious male cousins. Dr Alec is a bit of a Renaissance man (he can sew, cook, speak several languages, and practice medicine) and a clear devotee of Rousseau: Rose's "geography" lesson consists of learning to sail a boat and visit merchant ships from China. There's the usual Alcott paean to self-reliance and anti-snobbery, (Rose and Dr Alec both admire the quietly independent housemaid Phebe for her skillful common sense and work ethic), but also some delightful ridicule of then current fashion trends that kept women from being able to move or even breathe healthily. Best of all is Alcott's critique of "the gospel of getting on"; Rose's Aunt Jessie, the most sensible of the aunts declares, "This love of money is the curse of America, and for it men will sell honor and honesty".

Just finished a 3rd read and feel I must mention some disturbing elements; notably the shockingly offensive descriptions of Fun Se, Uncle Alec's Chinese protege. I also found myself getting increasingly irritated at Alec's relentless mocking of the female characters; I agreed with most of his advice but he came off as bullying and paternalistic. And the advice that Rose and other "good women" are responsible for modeling the morals and behavior of al those irresponsible boys was just plain nauseating.

Far too much advice and not enough plot and character. Pity.

It was interesting to do a read-along with Bonnets at Dawn as the book is very much a product of the time. It is also clearly aimed at children so has a slight fairy-tale feeling - orphan whose uncle is her guardian, and the interplay with her multitude of aunts (where they live is called "Aunt Hill" giggle) and her 7 male cousins.
A sweet re-read, though I didn't remember it very strongly.