Fairest Girlhood

by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

From "If an apology were needed for modestly adding another to the number of books written especially for girls, I might make it in a single sentence. So much of my life has been devoted to work among girls, so large is the circle of whom I think as I wrote to them, and so intimate is my knowledge of their hopes and aims that I am assured of a hearing when I send forth this little book."

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1906

About the author

Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (pen name, Aunt Marjorie) was an American poet, author, and editor. Her poetry was inspired by family and church themes, and included hymns and sacred texts. She worked in several fields including book reviewing, story writing, and verse making. For a quarter of a century, Sangster was known by the public as a writer, beginning as a writer of verse, and combining later the practical work of a critic and journalist. Much of her writing did not include her name.

Her literary productions were numerous, and she was a regular contributor to many of the leading periodicals. She gradually drifted into editorial work, and in 1871, she became the editor of Hearth and Home. In 1873, she took an editorial position on the Christian at Work, which she held for six years. In 1879, she joined the staff of the Christian Intelligencer, and served as assistant editor until 1888. In 1882, she added to her work the editing of Harper's Young People, then starting. In 1890, she became the editor of Harper's Bazar. During these busy years, she also wrote poetry. Her miscellaneous work included stories, sketches, essays, editorial comment, criticisms, and other writing implied in the journalistic positions she held. Her published books are Manual of Missions of the Reformed Church in America (New York, 1878); Poems of the Household (Boston, 1883); Home Fairies and Heart Flowers (New York, 1887), and a series of Sunday school books.

She married George Sangster, of Williamsburgh, New York, in 1858, and accepted the care of a family of children, and was a successful stepmother. She had one child of her own, a son, George Sangster, a journalist, later becoming a grandmother to Margaret E. Sangster, a writer and magazine editor. She made her home in Brooklyn, where she was active in connection with church and Sunday-school work. She essentially gave up writing until after his death in 1871; she never remarried.

Reviews

[Nix · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm sorry I had to rate this 2 stars. I feel bad rating it two stars, since I haven't read the entire book. I couldn't read the entire book . . . I hate to say this, but it was boring.

Some parts of the book had pretty good advice. But some really didn't apply.

For example. The entire What to Wear chapter was irrelevant because people really don't wear skirts nowadays. Not that I blame the author. She wasn't really a 21st century person.

Also, the whole Love's Dawn chapter wasn't particularly useful at this point. It isn't as if I need advice picking out a husband. I'm not gonna get married anytime soon, for goodness sakes!

Speaking of that, she also condemns expletives like goodness, my land, and heaven and earth. Heh. She'd be horrified - completely and utterly horrified - if she lived nowadays. "Goodness" is extremely mild.

In the chapters where she talked about herself in the third person, it almost seemed a bit arrogant. I guess that's just the effect of using third person on yourself.

She seemed to be talking to an audience a lot older than me. (Maybe not a lot, but considerably older than me.) Some of it, like getting exercise, did apply to me. But most of it didn't.

Maybe my mom gave this to me in the hope that it would help me. Parts of it did, indeed. But whereas "girl" now refers to any female personage from the ages of 0-18, "girl" must have had a higher minimum age in Sangster's time.

[Jaclynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gem of a book! Originally published in 1906, Margaret covers the subjects that girls face when the grow into womanhood. This book is filled with wise, steady counsel. Not over the top and with an open mind, the author's advice for the most part, still applies to girls today. Covering topics such as: Health and Beauty, Signing Your Name, Love's Dawn, To Please People, Right and Wrong in Recreation, What to Wear, Days of Illness, The Motherless Girl, The Writing Talent, and Christian Service.