When Rose Campbell, a shy orphan, arrives at "The Aunt Hill" to live with her six aunts and seven boisterous male cousins, she is quite overwhelmed. How could such a delicate young lady, used to the quiet hallways of a girls' boarding school, exist in such a spirited home? It is the arrival of Uncle Alec that changes everything. Much to the horror of her aunts, Rose's forward-thinking uncle insists that the child get out of the parlor and into the sunshine. And with a little courage and lots of adventures with her mischievous but loving cousins, Rose begins to bloom.
MY THOUGHTS
This book and its sequel are one of my favourite feel-good duologies. I feel confident enough to promise anyone who loves the Little Women series that you'll get equally invested in the Campbell family. Alcott has a way of making sure we do.
Rose is a lonely orphan who's thrown on the mercy of her father's extended family after his death. There are six overwhelming aunts who all long for custody of her. They agree it would be lovely to be in charge of a girl since they've only managed to produce seven boys between them. But Rose's dad intended for Dr Alec Campbell, the bachelor uncle, to take the reins. And Alec resolves to transform tired, sickly young Rose into a blooming and energetic 13-year-old. He challenges his sisters-in-law to watch him do it over the space of a year, and then dare to dispute the question that he should be the rightful guardian.
There's some awkward history there, since the two brothers were both in love with the same woman; Rose's mother. Doing right by his niece will be Alec's way of making up for his part in the rift.
At the same time, Rose is nervous at the prospect of hanging out with her seven male cousins, since she's had nothing to do with boys and finds them intimidating and full-on. Getting to know and love them all is initially easier said than done. There's capable Archie, the eldest and chief; Charlie, the cool, trendy, good-looker; nerdy Mac the bookworm; try-hard young Steve who always has his finger on the fashion pulse; Geordie and Will the 'brats' and little Jamie, the baby of the connection. We no doubt all know 21st century counterparts of each of them.
I'm probably not alone in calling Mac my favourite of the boys. It's surely a split between him and Charlie for most readers, although there's something very likable about dependable Archie too. But as well as being a geek, Mac's an unrefined teenage boy. When he suffers a severe and prolonged trial with his eyesight, Rose glimpses the vulnerability and sensitivity he hides beneath his crude facade, and warms to the cousin she initially finds least attractive. It's quite a delicate touch from Alcott, who tends to lay on moral observations with a shovel.
Speaking of which, Rose blows up at a couple of the others for smoking. When Charlie argues with her for panning such a harmless, trendy hobby, all Rose has to fall back on is that it's, 'A very bad habit because it wastes money and does you no good.' The fact that it's also a toxic and life-threatening habit hadn't come to light in the 1880s. Even clued-up Dr Alec hadn't latched onto that yet.
Alec is so smug and opinionated at times, he crosses the line from being a jolly uncle to a know-it-all prat and back again. I'm sure on many occasions, elegant Aunt Clara feels like smacking his face, for she is one of his favourite targets to deflate in public, and then crow over. Interestingly though, some of his attitudes that may sound like common-sense to us were quite radical for his nineteenth century friends and family. 'Nature knows how to mould a woman better than any corset maker!' Or, 'A happy soul in a healthy body makes the best sort of beauty for man or woman.' He believes schools shouldn't try to cram several branches of knowledge into students' heads rather than just the two or three that would most suit each individual. Bravo, the world hasn't really caught up with that one yet, Alec. And he thinks young women who are bent on making themselves into fashion plates compromise their own health with their full-on beauty regimes.
Eight Cousins ends with the anticipation of interesting developments in the next book. The adults clearly hope for Rose to marry one of the boys, since that was what first cousins did back then to keep big money in the family. Some dynamics will really have to shift to bring this about. Rose's maid-cum-best friend, Phebe with the golden voice, will no doubt be drawn into some romance too, although the Campbell aunts and uncles won't like that so much! They like Phebe as a loyal employee, but no nameless menials for their boys, thank you very much!
Stay tuned and I'll soon discuss Rose in Bloom.
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Oh wow! I must admit, I never thought to dig into Alcott's oeuvre beyond Little Women. I guess subconsciously I just figured nothing else would live up to it? But this sounds fantastic!
ReplyDeleteHi Sheree, I think the fact that she'd been writing for longer and had developed more craftsmanship probably shows too. But I still like Little Women just as much.
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