Household Puzzles

Household Puzzles peeks into the life of the Randolph family, four daughters and one son. They are financially strapped but must follow societal expectations . . . and the expectations of Helen, the eldest daughter, who is a slave to the whims of society. Half the family are professing Christians, but only the father really lives it out. Helen's marriage, Tom's job in a saloon, their cousin's visit, and other events all have an impact that reverberate through the family. (Intro by TriciaG) (7 hr 58 min)

Chapters

"Split Things"	13:50	Read by TriciaG
Raisins	14:16	Read by TriciaG
Two Peters	14:42	Read by TriciaG
Theory	17:01	Read by TriciaG
A Sermon	13:44	Read by TriciaG
Smoke and Bewilderment	18:18	Read by TriciaG
"What Is the Difference?"	16:40	Read by TriciaG
Mourning and Dressmaking	15:02	Read by TriciaG
Debts and Doubts	16:08	Read by TriciaG
Light Without Logic	17:18	Read by TriciaG
Mistakes--Great and Small	16:29	Read by TriciaG
Weighty Matters in Small Scales	17:31	Read by TriciaG
Practical Arithmetic	18:24	Read by TriciaG
Sentiment and Dust	17:39	Read by TriciaG
Ways and Means	18:28	Read by TriciaG
Puzzling People	19:15	Read by TriciaG
Opposing Elements	18:55	Read by TriciaG
The Force of Argument	19:20	Read by TriciaG
Real or Imitation?	16:16	Read by TriciaG
A Protector	19:02	Read by TriciaG
A Puzzling Discussion	18:03	Read by TriciaG
Light	16:52	Read by TriciaG
A Discussion Closed	17:02	Read by TriciaG
Theology in the Kitchen	17:53	Read by TriciaG
God's Mystery of Grace	19:12	Read by TriciaG
Laces and Duty	17:24	Read by TriciaG
Storm and "Moonshine"	16:06	Read by TriciaG
A New Start	17:48	Read by TriciaG

Reviews

a Pansy triumph

(5 stars)

okra

I didn't think that Pansy had it in her to write as disagreeable a character as Helen Randolph. Oh my goodness, The number of times I got worked up over how utterly self-absorbed and self-righteous that girl could be with her family. I wanted to shake her and throw her out of the house. Good literature creates strong feelings.

Sustainable Fashion?

(4 stars)

Phxjennifer

There's an interesting discussion about the contrasting claims on a Christian's money between charity and 'fitting in'. (They called it propriety.) In an era when upper-middle class ladies were expected to wear silk dresses made of 12 yards of fabric and furlongs of trimming, all sewn by hand, one day dress could easily cost more than $500, and evening dresses could top $1000. (In 1870s money!) The rest of the book is very much in Pansy's usual vein: temperance, bad romantic decisions, illnesses, deaths, Christians reaching out to help (or not,) people refusing or accepting help, young people pairing up, etc. I enjoyed it.

A little slow at the start

(3.5 stars)

Wendy L

I enjoyed this book but found it a bit hard to get into for the first couple of chapters. I enjoy everything read by Tricia G.

Entertaining & Inspiring

(5 stars)

Scarlet576

Beginning of a series of sweet stories of the salvation of the Rudolph household. Interesting characters and pleasant reading voice. Well done.

Emjoyed

(5 stars)

Mary

The puzzles of living life for God surrounded by those without thought of Him

Lovely story

(5 stars)

J.S.

Make sure you listen to The Randolphs after this as it's the sequel.

(5 stars)

A LibriVox Listener

for the next part, listen to "The Randolphs" also read by TriciaG