Grace Livingston Hill: Part Two

I thought I'd round up a few of my favorite titles. I don't love all of hers but the ones I like best are the domestic ones that talk about cooking and cleaning and sewing--it's like a picture post-card of the past of the profession I know best.
Some of her strictures I find interesting (no dancing?!--ever?) and she can sometimes be heavy-handed. I remember reading one early work where a sister goes to live with her brothers who, before she gets there to change their lives, are uncivilized louts. The character's horror upon seeing...(hold on, I may shock you)...a...(I daren't say it!)...pipe...(I had to!)...on the mantle made me want to immediately take up smoking in protest--and I actually have specific religious health codes against it!
But there are lots and lots of fun ones that warmly share her faith, make you laugh and are great reads.

The Honor Girl (1927): This is barely a romance at all but I love it just the same. Elsie is a young girl gaining acclaim and honor as the cherished niece of a wealthy man. But how would she fare if she returned to her father and brothers--living in squalor and desperately needing her help? She returns to her family home (after being raised by her aunt and uncle) on a whim and finds that she must stay. Lots and lots of wholesome cooking, rehabilitation, linen purchasing and room turning-out. Betty would have approved.

The Enchanted Barn (1918): Shirley Hollister's family (including one of GLH's patented near-death mothers) is about to be homeless. Her discovery of a beautiful stone barn in the country leads her to approach its owner--a young man anxious to facilitate one of those yuppie loft renovations you see in the condo district--and ask to rent it. Will her family countenance living in a barn--even one as trendily made-over as this? Will you stomach the way GLH must faithfully recreate ethnic accents and kid-speech? (Never tum bat any moh! Oh, mine nice, pitty dear home!)

More Than Conqueror (1944): Charlie has loved Blythe all his life and when he goes off to war, even though they're practically strangers, his last stop is at the rich house on the hill where she lives. Of course they're meant for each other but what about Dan--the wastrel hanging about Blythe? What about her parents? What about facing certain death in the teeth of the enemy? Lots of home front details, letters and one good clinch at the end.