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Published in 1913 by Kate Douglas Wiggin, The Story of Waitstill Baxter is intended for an adult audience. Famous for her children's books, most notably Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Kate Douglas Wiggin addresses serious social issues in this story.
Waitstill Baxter, a young woman caring for a younger sister and an ogre like father, is a model of all the virtues. Her father, a mean spirited, hot-tempered man, had buried three wives, all of whom were described as glad to die to get out of his household. Despite these unpromising circumstances, Waitstill and her sister Patience grow into beautiful, innocent, and virtuous young women who are capable housekeepers and models of early twentieth century womanhood. Though they and another primary character, Ivory Boynton, face trials and tribulations, the story has a happy ending in which the virtuous triumph, and the wicked suffer. Patience Baxter, the younger sister, is the most interesting character, since she is allowed to have a little bit of human weakness in the form of wishing for nice things and rebelling against the father's strictures. Waitstill is so good that no one could really identify with her--unless other readers are also completely virtuous at every moment.
Touches of humor make this is good read. The dialogue is often funny, such as the discussion of "entomology" [etymology] describing the history of various words in an absolutely ridiculous manner. The courtship efforts of the character Cephas are also a source of fun.
It is also interesting to this reader that Wiggin introduces serious social issues through the vehicle of a novel. This story touches on the status of women, poverty, the dark side of patriarchy, suicide, adultery, serial marriages, illegitimate birth, child abuse, domestic violence, and mental illness. In the early twentieth century many female authors were writing stories that brought alive the social ills of the day, particularly the status of orphans, and placing these topics in the context of readable and popular stories. Gene Stratton Porter, Kate Douglas Wiggin, Jean Webster, Eleanor Porter, Lucy Maud Montgomery and others wrote popular novels depicting the experiences of children dealing with congregate care in orphanages, poverty, child abuse, orphaned status, and the experiences of women struggling to be accepted and acknowledged as full human beings--capable of "womanly virtues" while also being persons of learning and intelligence. (Carol Massat)
