I found this to be a sweet little tome, telling the story of Rose, who finds herself orphaned and taken in by her many aunts, and her guardian Uncle Alec. While this novel clearly become an opportunity for Uncle Alec to become a voice for the Alcott family’s values and views, much like Marmee in Little Women. Much of it is refreshing, for example how Rose is encouraged to treat her body like an instrument and not an ornament, something girls then and today could benefit from.

However, there is an entire section of the novel that deals with the family’s business relationship with some Chinese men. The descriptions of their “beady eyes” etc. is incredibly offensive. And other elements of this are certainly outdated.