Life After Betty - Grace Livingston Hill: Part One

Betty Keira and I decided to do a couple of posts each about Grace Livingston Hill. So here goes...

Grace Livingston Hill (1865-1947) was born on April 16, 1865 to a Presbyterian Minister, Charles and a published author, Marcia, in Wellsville, New York. She was an early 20th century "Christian Romance" novelist. She was immensely popular in the time that she wrote, contributing hundreds of novels and short stories during her lifetime. Her characters were most often young female ingénues, frequently strong Christian women or those who become so within the confines of the story. -Wikipedia

Neither Betty Keira or I are particularly fond of "Christian Romance", but we make an exception for the occasional GLH. Grace did have the tendency to be fairly heavy-handed with the religious elements within her stories...which sometimes weighs down the storyline too much - to the point of dreariness, but when she does it with a light hand, her books can be quite fun. Betty and Grace both specialized in clean romances, but there are vast differences in themes and characters:

*GLH heroines are most often described in terms of "dainty, wraith-like and delicate" no 'Olivia's' allowed.

*Instead of being hearty trencherwomen like Betty's girls, GLH girls live on things like one lettuce leaf, and half a radish, although they are generally capable of cooking for the menfolk.

*Favorite hair color? Nary a mouse to be found. GLH heroines are nearly all ethereal blondes.

*Parents, in GLH, if living, are generally feeble and aged, in much need of tender care because they are liable to pop off at any time - making Neel's parents seem quite robust in comparison.

*GLH did not countenance drinking, dancing, smoking, make-up, gambling, divorces...

*Fun can be had in healthy sports such as swimming, tennis, bicycle riding, horse riding and visits to the oceanside for convalescent parents.

*Heroes have vague sort of careers...something to do with "Banking", something to do with "The Government," etc...generally the heroes are described as being "very good in their line"- I find myself pretty much left in the dark as to what that "line" might be.

*Plots are often highly melodramatic (think 'silent movies')...but considering when Grace started writing, they were probably mainstream. I find that when reading GLH it's best to act like it was written 'tongue in cheek', and simply enjoy the anachronisms, which fly with merry abandon.

Exit Betty - 1919 (available for free download here). First of all, the name....Exit Betty! This was the first GLH book that I ever read. Betty collapses at her wedding when she sees that the bridegroom is not who she expected...it's her evil stepbrother, Herbert! She escapes out a side door and runs into Jane (who would have been a friendly Cockney if this had been written by LaNeels). Jane takes her in, dyes Betty's golden hair and ships her off to her hometown in Ohio. If you can get past the character of Betty (who makes the most wispy of Aramintas look positively 'butch') - who is about as dumb as a post, there's plenty of inadvertently campy fun to be had.

For more free campy fun try:

The Man of the Desert - 1914. (also available as free download). The heroine is carried off by a runaway horse after she slaps a divorced man who tried to kiss her!