I am searching for a book I read when I was a teenager, so it would have been in the 1960’s or 1970’s. I cannot remember the name, and the details are a bit foggy. But, it was about a girl whose parents died or were gone or something like that. She was living with a family that had a number of boys. She fell in love with one of the boys, and another of the boys hated her. She was trapped in a cellar, and almost died, but did recover. The boy she was in love with died, and the boy who hated her eventually fell in love with her. I wish I could remember more! I hope you can identify this book for me!
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Perhaps “They Loved to Laugh” by Kathryn Worth? It’s about a 16 year old orphan named Martitia that moves in with Quaker family with 5 sons.
This just might be it! I ordered it from Amazon this morning, and will get it on Wednesday. I will let you know for sure as soon as I read it.
Check the FLAMBARDS trilogy. It was published in an omnibus edition, but originally as three separate books, FLAMBARDS, THE EDGE OF THE CLOUD, and FLAMBARDS IN SUMMER. A final book, FLAMBARDS DIVIDED, concludes the series.
They Loved to Laugh?
This sounds a bit like Rose in Bloom (or its prequel, Eight Cousins) by Louisa Alcott
Thank you all for your help! This _is_ “They Loved to Laugh” by Kathryn Worth. It was written in 1942, and I probably read it when I was about 11 or 12, in 1963 or 1964. It was every bit as good as I remember it being! However, I did have a few details wrong! The person who didn’t like Martitia was the sister, Ruth, and she thought Martitia was useless, because Martitia had never been taught to cook, clean or do anything besides painting and playing piano. And the boy I thought she was in love with did die, but loved her, and she loved one of the other boys. Again, thank you for the help!! I have probably been searching for this book for 20 years!!