Nellies Promise- possible spoilers

[Pat B]

Nellie had no choice but to appear timid. There were no unions to protect her. I am sure she wanted to talk back or to say she was tired. I am sure that she wanted to do something to Eddie Ryland too. In addtion to providing for herself she had to send money home.
I do not think that it is strange that Nellies Uncle was working in the book. At some tine the money would have run out. His job seemed to be that of a day laborer rather than a permanent job.

[moderator]

Nellie seems timid even when only with Samantha in the other books. These are books I've read countless times since I was a little girl, and I never got the feeling or any hints that Nellie was an extroverted character. As an introvert myself, I also didn't want her to be. That's what made her and Samantha so special as friends...they were very different yet embraced one another's differences. It's funny because it's usually outgoing people who befriend me, and I think this is just because of how friends have a way of balancing out one another.

I personally think Valerie Tripp has a hard time writing about introverted characters. [img]redface.gif[/img] She is an extrovert and it may not come naturally. Though she did a good job with Josefina, most of her characters are very outgoing--Agnes, Agatha, Samantha, Molly, Kit and Felicity. I would have preferred if Nellie had stayed the same way she was in the books. Half the Samantha books were not written by Ms. Tripp...perhaps that's the actual reason behind the inconsistency. Variety is the spice of life! [img]biggrin.gif[/img] And Nellie could have still been a strong, responsible person and be introverted. I just strongly felt that the Nellie in this book doesn't much resemble the Nellie in the Samantha series.

It's not necessarily a bad thing and I could be wrong...this is just my opinion. [img]biggrin.gif[/img] I really think Samantha seemed different, too, but that's because the book was through Nellie's eyes and we were able to see how she perceived her friend.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 07, 2004 10:07 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

[AGTeacher]

ok, I have read twice the book!!! And I got some Questions on this topic too on Samantha's living conditions!

One, I agree with Melissa! Samantha was going to return to Grandmary's! Grandmary is the legal guardian of Samantha!

Now, Samantha lives with UNCLE Gard ok, but still he is an Uncle, not father and there is NO adoption papers involed! ok? with me so far?

Then Nellie, Jenny and Bridget move in and Uncle Gard and Aunt Cornellia adopt them. This means that Samantha and Nellie are cousins! NOT sisters!
Samantha is not legally adopted by Uncle Gard!

As stated in Changes book, Grandmary and Admiral were on Honeymoon around the world, that usually takes a year for 1904-06 era! So we assume Samantha moved in for a year!

ok, here is another! Nellie and Samntha sharing a bed? this is the rich side of the fence! They should added another bed in the room! Victorian homes, even in NYC had good sized bedrooms!
So two beds could easily fit!

Also, NO mention of Agnes and Agatha!!! I know they are Samantha's new cousins, but still....

[KariS]

This is something small, but I couldn't understand why Nellie called Gard and Cornelia "Uncle" and "Aunt"...I know calling them Mam and Dad would have been too much, and Mr. and Mrs. Edwards would have been too formal. But since they were adopting her, they wouldn't be her aunt and uncle, right? [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

[moderator]

Ria, I wondered the same thing about why they kept saying they were "for real sisters" and "starting a new family" (not exact quotes, but something close to both of these things were said in the book). I'm still having a really hard time understanding how Grandmary could have just handed Samantha over like that. I know Grandmary was strict, but I liked her character and I didn't like how Grandmary was conveniently "disposed of" in the books. I tend to think about how these books were written by three different people, and wonder how the series might have turned out if the person who began the series finished the series. I think Valerie Tripp, for example, invented Agnes and Agatha. They kind of just "popped up" one day in Samantha's life. [img]wink.gif[/img]

I was also off-put by the "Uncle" and "Aunt" thing, too. Nellie was being adopted by Gard and Cornelia, not Samantha. Yet any family relationships were mentioned in relation to Samantha...that she would be Nellie's, Bridget's and Jenny's sister, etc. No...the three girls would be the children of Cornelia and Gard. Since Samantha wasn't her sister, the "Aunt" and "Uncle" titles wouldn't apply. This might be a regional thing, but some parents have their children call very close friends "uncle" and "aunt." I didn't realize until I was in my teens that two people I thought were my blood relatives were actually just close friends of my parents! [img]redface.gif[/img] But, again, this is something that a reader would have to "assume" and that should have been explained in some way, even if just quickly.

One issue I also found interesting was that Nellie was happy to be adopted. In older children sometimes there is a problem with not wanting to lose their original surname. Nellie was very close to her parents and it seemed interesting that this never came up. For example, in the catalog she is listed as Nellie O'Malley, not Nellie Edwards.

I almost felt like I would have rather read stories about the girls after all of this stuff had been settled (if that makes sense). I mean, a year or so later, when Nellie and her sisters were comfortably adopted and life was more in its normal routines.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ September 07, 2004 11:04 PM: Message edited by: Melissa ]</font>

[dianasmama]

Okay, ladies, only clicking on here to post and didn't read anything!

BUT WHY IS IT KILLING ME EVERY TIME I SEE THIS POST!!!

I refuse to get Nellie's book until we have the doll (and get the book combined, call me cheap, I guess!), but I would like to know the story!

Okay, now I won't even be able to read a response to this!

Ha! In the time I could drink a coffee, I could probably read it at Borders!

Laurie, whose going back to trying to ignore this topic!

Laurie

[lieu2]

I often refer to my daughter as our girl. Meaning she belongs to my husband and myself.

[annkirstin]

OK, I have actually read the book now so I can finally read this thread and comment!

Originally posted by Melissa:
Here are some random thoughts on Nellie's Promise:
* Samantha comes across as quite a different character when seen through Nellie's eyes. I can't quite place the difference, but Nellie comes across as the more outgoing of the two. In the original series I saw Nellie as demure and Samantha as outgoing. How many of you can realistically picture the Nellie in Samantha's series meanly yelling at a man she doesn't know, hands on hips, and calling him an "alley rat?" Samantha is even referred to as being "shy and unsure" (p. 29) at one point. Nellie has a much different view of Samantha than most readers would!

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I thought this made natural sense...Samantha would be outgoing and comfortable in the "wealthy world," knowing what to do and how to behave, and Nellie would be shy and unsure in that world. However, in this book, going to the settlement house is "switching worlds." It seems natural that Nellie would know just what to do in her world, wheras it would be foreign and probably a little frightening to Samantha.

* Uncle Mike seems unrealistic...he's a bum yet he's working? The whole plot with him seemed unrealistic, especially how quickly and easily it ended. In fact, the notes in the book say the laws that Nellie, Gard, and Cornelia referred to were few in existance (75).

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">It depends on how you define "bum." It probabaly means, in this context, a low-down good-for-nothing, and it doesn't surprise me that he manages to get work (at least for a little while till he's fired for bad behavior) because he has to pay for his drinking somehow. And I also wondered about the laws they were talking about. As I read the book, I wondered just how many laws like that there actually were at the time, and then in the historical section in the back it says there weren't many. Perhaps maybe there were one or two at the time pertinent enough to the situation to keep this from being a major plot hole?

[Felicityexpert]

I really didn't like Nellie's promise. The changes book left off with a really big resolution, and then along comes another problem. Alot of the other books leave off a point that could easily have a sequal written. Like Kirsten's ends just as her father is coming home, in Addy's she and Esther are going back home, and alot of people here think there is no resoulution to changes for Felicity. But changes for Samantha leaves a point where it seems like everything is happily ever after, the end, then they go and write a sequal putting thise poor girls through more conflict. *Sigh*

[rachie421]

Ok I know its been like six monthes since anyone posted on this, but I finally got Nellie's Promise when I ran to the bookstore today and read it in about an hour!! LOL Heres my [img]graemlins/money.gif[/img] (for anyone who's still willing to listen LOL)

I thought the book was a little unrealistic as well, but cute nontheless. I agree with what someone said ealier that Nellie's book should have taken place at a later time. Changes for Samantha does have a pretty solid conclusion and a happy one at that. I think it would have been better to create an entirely new conflict that takes place almost a year later and when Nellie feels more settled in her new life. That amount of time would have brought up entirely new situations (this book felt like Changes for Samantha Part 2 sometimes) and would have kept the girls at relatively the same age.

Moving on, I believe Changes for Felicity has the biggest cliffhanger ending of all the sixth books. Im really looking forward to whatever adventure they think up for Elizabeth. I honestly would prefer if her father remains a Loyalist rather than making him change his mind. After all, why would he? Patriots threw him in prison in Changes for Felicity because of his beliefs (right?) Anyway, what are your thoughts on what will be in Elizabeth's book? [img]graemlins/smarty.gif[/img]