This past fall, I discovered the Mother-Daughter Book Club
series by Heather Vogel Frederick, and it reminded me how much I love
immersing myself in a great intermediate series. Rather disappointingly,
there are only four installments in that particular series, and I
haven’t heard that there will be more, so I decided that in 2011, I
would like to find some more extensive series to explore. I decided to
start with Trixie Belden, which has come highly recommended by a couple
of friends with impeccable taste. Now that I’ve finished the first book,
I am happy to report that I have indeed found another series to get
hooked on, and with nearly 40 more volumes to go, I anticipate her
adventures keeping me busy for a while.
Julie Campbell’s Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion
was published in 1948, which means that there is a certain
old-fashioned quality to it, particularly when it comes to some of the
vocabulary used in the book, like “dungarees” for blue jeans and the
frequent exclamation of “Golly!” It’s also interesting to see what
literary references are incorporated into the book, notably Beatrix Potter’s Peter Rabbit and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
In the case of the latter, the book is never mentioned by name, but
when Jim, the young runaway Trixie and her new friend Honey encounter in
her ailing neighbor’s mansion, compares his stepfather to Simon Legree,
the wicked slave owner in that novel, both girls know exactly who he is
talking about.
Trixie Belden is the plucky 13-year-old for whom
the series is named. As the book begins, she is preoccupied with a
desperate desire for a horse. She’s never ridden one, but she lives on a
farm, so she’s a lot further ahead than I was when I had the same
starry-eyed dream at her age. A horse is actually within the realm of
possibility for her, provided she spends the next year doing as many
extra chores as possible and saving every penny given to her by her
parents. Trixie does a bit of whining in this book, but mostly she
pursues her goal with gusto. A welcome distraction soon arrives,
however, in the form of Honey Wheeler.
Honey, also 13, is a
sweet, timid girl who has everything that money can buy but would prefer
the time and affection of her parents. She has spent most of her
childhood in boarding schools and camps or under the care of
governesses, most of whom have been quite as disagreeable as those who
preceded Mary Poppins or Maria in The Sound of Music.
But things are looking up for Honey, as she now has a governess she
loves – the kind but practical Miss Trask – and, for the first time, a
real friend in Trixie, who soon overcomes her initial misgivings about
this newcomer – especially when she finds out that she has horses and a
groomsman who would be happy to provide riding lessons. That groomsman,
incidentally, an affable fellow named Regan, is my favorite supporting
character in the book. Cheerful and devoted to his work, he is a fine
fellow in the vein of great groundskeepers like my beloved Sam Gamgee and Rubeus Hagrid.
Both
of the girls are very appealing protagonists. Trixie sometimes comes
across as a bit self-serving and stubborn, especially when it comes to
the horses, but she’s kind-hearted and clever. I especially like her
relationship with her endearingly rambunctious little brother Bobby, and
their relationship is at the heart of her finest moment in the book. I
like gentle Honey even better. Her charitable demeanor reminds me of
Jane in Pride and Prejudice, and I can sympathize all too well with her Piglet-like struggles with anxiety. It’s heartening to see a character as timid as I am finding courage when she needs it most.
Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion
is about the formation of the bond between these new neighbors, but
it’s also about their covert friendship with Jim Frayne, who is
squatting in his great-uncle’s nearby mansion. Old Mr. Frayne has been a
cranky old miser for as long as Trixie can remember, but her parents –
also great characters in their own right – recall a time when he was
warm and friendly. Now he’s in the hospital, unconscious and unlikely to
recover from his bout with pneumonia, and Jim is his heir, but there
doesn’t seem to be a will anywhere to prove that, and Jim lives in
constant fear of being discovered by his greedy, abusive stepfather. The
three of them must work together to determine whether any of Mr.
Frayne’s fortune remains before Jim decides it’s too risky to stick
around.
While Trixie, Honey and Jim are in many ways ordinary
kids, they certainly have more than their fair share of adventure here.
They get lost in the woods and witness the explosion of an airplane.
Even more harrowing, the book includes a fire and a rattlesnake bite; in
both incidents, there is not only pulse-pounding action but solid
advice on what to do when faced with such a situation, especially in the
case of the copperhead. Reading the book may also encourage those who,
like Trixie, are lucky enough to be part of a close-knit family to be
more appreciative, as her situation is contrasted with that of orphaned
Jim and Honey, whose parents are usually simply too busy to bother about
her.
I’m glad I decided to finally pick up the Trixie Belden series. Secret of the Mansion
gets things off to a rousing start, leaving me with a cliffhanger that
made me glad I took out the second book along with the first, and I look
forward to getting to know these characters much better as time goes
by.
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