Could be otherwise titled, 'a bunch of women utterly fail to parent a young girl until a childless dude turns up and tells them how to do it'. Maybe I would have liked this better had I read it when I was young, but I doubt it. The characterisation is incredibly weak, the cast prolific and indistinct from each other, and the plot barely existent under the syrupy, moralistic rubbish. I can hardly believe it's the same author who wrote Little Women; that at least had a story and characters that were enjoyable to read about. There's none of the wit and realism of that book here - just platitudes, galling paternalism, and enough saccharine to choke you. It would have been a far more interesting tale had Alec and the cousins just stayed well away, and had it been about Rose, Phebe and the aunts, about women's thoughts and lives, about education and choices.