Fleda Ringan is an 11 year old orphan who lives with her grandfather in Queechy, Vermont. After a tragic incident, Fleda has to live with her aunt in Paris, Mrs. Rossiter. She travels to Paris under the care of young Mr. Carleton and his mother, a rich Englishwomen. Every young man who meets Fleda loves her, but she adores only Mr. Carleton. Once Fleda's aunt Mrs. Rossiter looses all her money, they return to America where Fleda learns to farm and cook to support her family. Mr. Carleton is always around to help out but never utters a word about love to Fleda.

There are many romantic tales about a handsome and rich man falling in love with a beautiful lower class woman over the objections of his family. Remember Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy? however, it takes more than a good woman to secure a man's happiness. He has to have mental strength. It is not certain that our hero, Tom, has that. Lois is a great woman. However, according to his sister, she is a "nobody." Does money and position control everything? Certainly not. Good people deserve to be happy...

The author Thomas Archer lived 1830 – 1893; he wrote several juvenile stories, and this book: Miss Grantley’s Girls – And the Stories She Told Them, was published in 1886. It is a book in 7 chapters. Miss Grantley is a teacher and works as a governess, and she after some coaxing tells somewhat romantic stories to “her” girls. In the first chapter it says: “There was nothing romantic in Miss Grantley’s appearance, and yet she was the sort of person that you could not help looking at again and again if you once saw her...