'What Katy Did Next' by Susan Coolidge

Katy Carr can hardly believe it when she is invited to spend a whole year in Europe with Mrs Ashe and Amy. Although a year seems like a long time away from her beloved family, living in the small American town of Burnet, Katy embarks enthusiastically on her greatest adventure. This charming story, first published in 1886, is the third of Susan Coolidge's hugely popular Katy books.

MY THOUGHTS: 

Even some people who aren't really familiar with this one recognise it as the one where she gets a marriage proposal on a gondola in Venice. And cover designers understandably make the most of that.  

 Katy Carr is now 21 years old, and gets a chance to visit Europe. Mrs Ashe is a slightly older widow friend with a little girl named Amy, and she asks Katy to be their travel companion. Of course Katy jumps at the opportunity. Mrs Ashe has a younger brother named Ned Worthington; a dishy naval lieutenant she hopes to touch base with over there. (Are your romance antennae twitching?)

At first I took no great shine to Mrs Ashe. She struck me as a fairly bland character, and a bit of a wilting daisy, who tells Dr Carr at the outset, 'If you can't spare Katy to come with me, I just won't go.' That was intended to come across as the generous gesture of a timid personality, but also carries emotional manipulation. I guess she grew on me as the story progressed, especially by the time she becomes, 'Dear Polly.'  

A personal digression here. I went on two English/European holidays with my parents when I was slightly younger than Katy, and it was almost exactly a century after she went, so reading Katy's impressions of the landmarks and sights brought back great memories. 

I had a similar approach to sightseeing as hers. Katy drew from her rich background of reading to help form their itinerary. We're told her memory was 'stuffed with all manner of little scraps of information and literary illusions, which now came into use.' That's identical to the way I went about with my parents, who took on the role of Mrs Ashe, and were impressed with all the details about stories and authors I was able to tell them. 

A highlight for both Katy and me were our encounters with George Eliot. Hers was an accidental glimpse of the great author paying a taxi driver. Katy made the most of her fleeting gaze at the 'unbeautiful, interesting, remarkable face.' For me, George Eliot's was among the graves I sought at the famous Highgate cemetery. We paid a visit especially to track it down. Time keeps ticking away.  

Anyway, back on track. I hoped the story wasn't going to digress into a mere travelogue, but it is saved by the arrival of Cousin Olivia and Lilly Page, who happen to be staying at the same place in Nice. These two selfish, snobby, social-climbing shopoholics have their eye on Ned Worthington for Lilly, and they're determined their hick relative isn't going to cramp their style. How can Cousin Philip Carr even afford to send one of his daughters to Europe? What a waste! The fact that Ned is Polly Ashe's brother helps it dawn on the mother/daughter duo that perhaps they shouldn't shun Katy's company altogether. 

A famous romantic trope unashamedly comes into play. Shallow, pretty girl versus generous plain cousin. I wonder if you can predict what will happen. Seriously though, Lilly lives to gain attention and Katy lives to give hers to others. Susan Coolidge has a fresh and endearing way of playing the pair of them off against each other. 

The behaviour of young Amy Ashe shows why European holiday treats are sometimes thrown away on small kids. She grumbles her way through the story with a, 'That don't impress me much,' attitude. Amy is a girl of quick and dismissive summaries. 'Nope, I hated that place. It was raining too much... This street had some scary men, so I never want to go back there again... Yeah, we had a good dinner in a restaurant there, so that place is okay.' She's judgmental and condescending toward those she doesn't understand. Even the narrator explains that Amy grew bored with, 'scenery she had no association with and grown-up raptures she did not comprehend.' Perhaps nobody is quite as big a racial snob as a person under the age of ten who's homesick.  

If I just picked up this book first, without the background of the first two in the series, I'm sure I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much as I did. But we who start from the beginning have the benefit of knowing Katy. Mrs Ashe says, 'She's nice all through. So true and sweet and satisfactory.' And since we agree with her, it's a good addition to the series. 

Now, some people assume this is the third and final book about the Carr family, but nope, there are two more. I look forward to getting stuck into Clover, which focuses on another member of the family, Katy's sister. 

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