5 ★ - (adored, absolute favorite) RTC CWs, or things that caught my attention: jealousy, grief, spying, child abuse?, poverty

I really wanted to like A Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton Porter's tale of a young girl, Elnora Comstock, who grows up near a swamp and with a mother who can't forgive her for making the mother go into labor while her husband was drowning. It seemed to be in the nature of an LM Montgomery book, which I do think it was. Porter focuses on the nature of the area and Elnora's love and appreciation for everything surrounding her. You first meet Elnora as she's about to enter high school and a completely new social group and follow her along as she fights through numerous road blocks to furthering her education and happiness. Sadly, when Porter decides she's going to make a character a hero/heroine, she doesn't seem interested in making that character anything but perfect. It's gag-worthy how perfect Elnora is, always the loving daughter, an attentive friend and obliging helper to the poor and down trodden. Give me a break. Oh, sure, Porter tries to give them faults, but they're so laughable they just underline how perfect the characters are. Not to mention that I refuse to believe anyone has ever talked in such a way as these characters do - almost every speech seems to be some sermon on good morals. The book did have a few highlights, however, mostly in Porter's dealing with the characters she did give a dark side to, such as Elnora's mother. She did a wonderful job of painting a complex picture of them, showing the events that had shaped them and made them full of fear, anger and hurt. I wouldn't say that these bright moments were enough to make up for the rest of the book, but they kept me from giving this book just one star.