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Aunt Jane Of Kentucky
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone
298 pages, Hardcover
Published September 10, 2010
About the author
Eliza Calvert Hall
28 books6 followersEliza Caroline "Lida" Obenchain (née Calvert), was an American author, women's rights advocate, and suffragist from Bowling Green, Kentucky. Lida Obenchain, writing under the pen name Eliza Calvert Hall, was widely known early in the twentieth century for her short stories featuring an elderly widowed woman, "Aunt Jane", who plainly spoke her mind about the people she knew and her experiences in the rural south.
Lida Obenchain's best known work is Aunt Jane of Kentucky which received extra notability when United States President Theodore Roosevelt recommended the book to the American people during a speech, saying, "I cordially recommend the first chapter of Aunt Jane of Kentucky as a tract in all families where the menfolk tend to selfish or thoughtless or overbearing disregard to the rights of their womenfolk."
Melody Graulich in the Prologue to the 1990 reprint of Aunt Jane of Kentucky notes that Lida Obenchain has women's relationships as a major theme of her writing. The significance of female relationship is further reflected in her choice of her grandmother's maiden name and her own maiden name as her pen name. Through Aunt Jane and the other characters in her stories, Lida tells of the problems facing women of her time with imagery and symbolism taken from the domestic arts of sewing, cooking, and gardening.
Lida was a passionate advocate of suffrage and women's rights. She envisioned a time when "woman's growing self-respect made her rise in revolt, and out of her conflict and her victory came a higher civilization for the whole world."
Lida Obenchain's best known work is Aunt Jane of Kentucky which received extra notability when United States President Theodore Roosevelt recommended the book to the American people during a speech, saying, "I cordially recommend the first chapter of Aunt Jane of Kentucky as a tract in all families where the menfolk tend to selfish or thoughtless or overbearing disregard to the rights of their womenfolk."
Melody Graulich in the Prologue to the 1990 reprint of Aunt Jane of Kentucky notes that Lida Obenchain has women's relationships as a major theme of her writing. The significance of female relationship is further reflected in her choice of her grandmother's maiden name and her own maiden name as her pen name. Through Aunt Jane and the other characters in her stories, Lida tells of the problems facing women of her time with imagery and symbolism taken from the domestic arts of sewing, cooking, and gardening.
Lida was a passionate advocate of suffrage and women's rights. She envisioned a time when "woman's growing self-respect made her rise in revolt, and out of her conflict and her victory came a higher civilization for the whole world."
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 30, 2024
Aunt Jane of Kentucky is truly a book from long ago, about life in Kentucky at the end of one century and perched on the edge of a new one. The book is woven through with elder wisdom offered by Aunt Jane to her younger visitor who in relaying Aunt Jane's stories to the reader proves a much more sophisticated point of view. . . at one point using 'Desdemona and her bridal sheets' as an inspiration in response to one such story.
This is a collection of tales of a community in Kentucky, using the dialect of the region, and specific struggles, challenges, joys and sorrows of women living then and there. Quilts, gardens, cooking, life events and getting through them, all find a way to the reader - laced with the author's strong opinions on women's rights. Eliza Calvert Hall (her writing pseudonym) in real life was a mover and shaker with suffragette efforts to change the profile of the rights of women in the US.
Chapter names are telling as to what Aunt Jane will be opining on within:
I. Sally Ann's Experience
(a charming, yet sharp snap about the unfair and abusive laws having to do with few to none women's property rights, encouraging women to raise their voices to continue making changes)
II. The New Organ
(dealing with religion and the "to sing or not to sing" aspect, along with the conflict about whether instruments should be allowed or not - especially ones as conspicuous as organs)
III. Aunt Jane's Album
(the daily work of a woman's hands - especially in sewing, weaving, knitting the entire family's needs in the form of textiles, clothes, and bedding - are essentially the journals, diaries, and "albums" of a busy woman who rarely has time, skill or money to put pen to paper)
The rest are stories about members in the community and often have women dealing with the foibles, endearing and difficult, of their menfolk -
IV. Sweet Day of Rest
V. Milly Baker's Boy
VI. The Baptizing at Kittle Creek
VII. How Sam Amos Rode in the Tournament
VIII. Mary Andrews' Dinner Party
IX. The Gardens of Memory
(a sentimental wrap-up of end of life memories, gardens, graveyards and a life well lived)
Highly recommended for those with particular leanings toward the above topics, as well as history - national and regional to Kentucky, and the Cumberland areas, with a patience in dealing with writings in dialect.
This is a collection of tales of a community in Kentucky, using the dialect of the region, and specific struggles, challenges, joys and sorrows of women living then and there. Quilts, gardens, cooking, life events and getting through them, all find a way to the reader - laced with the author's strong opinions on women's rights. Eliza Calvert Hall (her writing pseudonym) in real life was a mover and shaker with suffragette efforts to change the profile of the rights of women in the US.
Chapter names are telling as to what Aunt Jane will be opining on within:
I. Sally Ann's Experience
(a charming, yet sharp snap about the unfair and abusive laws having to do with few to none women's property rights, encouraging women to raise their voices to continue making changes)
II. The New Organ
(dealing with religion and the "to sing or not to sing" aspect, along with the conflict about whether instruments should be allowed or not - especially ones as conspicuous as organs)
III. Aunt Jane's Album
(the daily work of a woman's hands - especially in sewing, weaving, knitting the entire family's needs in the form of textiles, clothes, and bedding - are essentially the journals, diaries, and "albums" of a busy woman who rarely has time, skill or money to put pen to paper)
The rest are stories about members in the community and often have women dealing with the foibles, endearing and difficult, of their menfolk -
IV. Sweet Day of Rest
V. Milly Baker's Boy
VI. The Baptizing at Kittle Creek
VII. How Sam Amos Rode in the Tournament
VIII. Mary Andrews' Dinner Party
IX. The Gardens of Memory
(a sentimental wrap-up of end of life memories, gardens, graveyards and a life well lived)
Highly recommended for those with particular leanings toward the above topics, as well as history - national and regional to Kentucky, and the Cumberland areas, with a patience in dealing with writings in dialect.
April 6, 2024
This was free on Kindle. Sweet and funny stories of people Aunt Jane knew and her memories of them. Nice bedtime reading.
May 30, 2011
Amazing book! I wish there were 10 stars to give to this book written in 1907. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book more. Aunt Jane's stories set in the 1800's are priceless. I laughed and cried at the strong women throughout the book who reminded me of my beloved Grandma Effie Lee (her middle name was chosen in honor of Robert E. Lee, of course.) Can't wait to get my hands on her other two books!
July 14, 2010
I enjoyed this book but it was a slow read. It reminded me of being with my father & grandmother; listening to stories about people long since gone. My favorite part was the final chapter about Aunt Jane's love of her garden. She hoped that heaven would include her husband, her children, her old house & her garden. She would give up the streets of gold & the pearly gates for those simple pleasures. Oh I hope heaven is that place.
February 19, 2011
I highly recommend this book for evenings when you want to escape to a nice place, safe in the knowledge that nothing truly devastating is likely to happen. For a light book, there is surprising depth of wisdom in the narrator's folksy commentary. This book was first published over a hundred years ago. It is a treasure that has weathered the years very well.
June 6, 2011
I really like this kind of book- stories that are little gems of insight and wisdom into the common, everyday occurrences of the lives of ordinary people; in this instance, Aunt Jane of Kentucky. A quick little read and thoroughly enjoyable.
February 15, 2016
Interesting Look Into the Past
For anyone born and raised in Kentucky, this is a must read. I can actually remember folks like Aunt Jane This book was a trip back to the past, back to a simpler time
For anyone born and raised in Kentucky, this is a must read. I can actually remember folks like Aunt Jane This book was a trip back to the past, back to a simpler time
February 27, 2016
Spunky Aunt Jane has an opinion about nearly everything that happens in her little Kentucky town! If you enjoy these, be sure to read the companion volume also, "Land of Long Ago."
If you read and loved Margaret Deland's classic Old Chester stories, these are a must-read.
If you read and loved Margaret Deland's classic Old Chester stories, these are a must-read.
April 7, 2007
Lots of life lessons related to quilting.
October 8, 2011
one of the books that will stay on my bookshelf always... full of wisdom and insight... read bits of it from time to time and it always warms my heart and makes me smile...
October 28, 2011
Great view of Kentucky history! Family joys and sorrows are very similar from generation to generation.
March 31, 2015
One of my favorites, filled with humor, and depth of gardening, farming, and loving relationships!
January 26, 2025
The dialect reminded me of my family
I felt like each story was a chance to sit down for a visit with my Grandma.
The first story made me chuckle and there were many more. Of course, they weren’t all funny. Some stories reminded me of people today. The last chapter made me yearn for Heaven.
The style of story telling was very familiar to me but I’m not sure if a young person today would completely understand the language or the context.
I hope they will. It would be a shame if the wit of the Aunt Janes of the early 20th century was lost.
I felt like each story was a chance to sit down for a visit with my Grandma.
The first story made me chuckle and there were many more. Of course, they weren’t all funny. Some stories reminded me of people today. The last chapter made me yearn for Heaven.
The style of story telling was very familiar to me but I’m not sure if a young person today would completely understand the language or the context.
I hope they will. It would be a shame if the wit of the Aunt Janes of the early 20th century was lost.
July 28, 2022
I first heard the audiobook version of Aunt Jane on a quilting podcast. Im not a quilter, but I was smitten.So I downloaded the book, and loved it even more. I have a real fondness for books about life in a small town especially from another era (late 1800’s) - when times were a lot simpler and innocent. Aunt Jane is a collection of stories about when she was growing up in Kentucky. It’s a quick read , but I kept reading parts over and over to savor the sweetness of each memory.
April 29, 2021
This book was written in 1911. It is a woman’s recollection of Kentucky in the 1830s perhaps or maybe even earlier. She’s talking about life and what she’s learned over her life she’s about 80 years old. It is an easy reading book. Written in dialect
December 19, 2025
This is a collection of short stories, all memories being told by an elderly Aunt Jane who has lived a full life. The stories are funny, tender, and thought-provoking. The writing and feel of this book reminded me of L. M. Montgomery.
July 26, 2019
Just an ok read for me.
July 31, 2020
An old book but funny and nostalgic rendition of small town southern life.
December 30, 2024
I really enjoyed this book! So much wisom.
October 16, 2021
Listened to the book read on The Quilt Fiction Podcast while following along in a Kindle version (free in public domain). I thoroughly enjoyed it and wish it had been much longer. Aunt Jane is a smart old bird dispensing some good old-fashioned country wisdom and stories. Highly recommend.
May 13, 2021
Makes you laugh and then makes you sigh. Who can resist writing such as this?
"In every one's mind there is a lonely space, almost abandoned of consciousness, the time between infancy and childhood. It is like that period when the earth was 'without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' Here like lost stars floating in the firmament of mind, will be found two or three faint memories, remote and disconnected. With me one of these memories is of a garden. I was riding with my father along a pleasant country road. There were sunshine and a gentle wind , and white clouds in a blue sky. We stopped at a gate. My father opened it , and I walked up a grassy path to the ruins of a house. The chimney was still standing, but all the rest was a heap of blackened, half-burned rubbish which spring and summer were covering with wild vines and weeds , and around the ruins of the house lay ruins of the garden. The honeysuckle, bereft of its trellis, wandered helplessly over the ground, and amid a rank growth of weeds sprang a host of yellow snapdragons. I remember the feeling of rapture that was mine at the thought that I had found a garden where flowers could be gathered without asking permission of any one. And as long as I live, the site of a yellow snapdragon on a sunny day will bring back my father from his grave and make me a little child again gathering flowers in that deserted garden, which is seemingly in another world than this. "
SIGH....
"In every one's mind there is a lonely space, almost abandoned of consciousness, the time between infancy and childhood. It is like that period when the earth was 'without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.' Here like lost stars floating in the firmament of mind, will be found two or three faint memories, remote and disconnected. With me one of these memories is of a garden. I was riding with my father along a pleasant country road. There were sunshine and a gentle wind , and white clouds in a blue sky. We stopped at a gate. My father opened it , and I walked up a grassy path to the ruins of a house. The chimney was still standing, but all the rest was a heap of blackened, half-burned rubbish which spring and summer were covering with wild vines and weeds , and around the ruins of the house lay ruins of the garden. The honeysuckle, bereft of its trellis, wandered helplessly over the ground, and amid a rank growth of weeds sprang a host of yellow snapdragons. I remember the feeling of rapture that was mine at the thought that I had found a garden where flowers could be gathered without asking permission of any one. And as long as I live, the site of a yellow snapdragon on a sunny day will bring back my father from his grave and make me a little child again gathering flowers in that deserted garden, which is seemingly in another world than this. "
SIGH....
June 26, 2016
This book is like sitting down next your Grandma and listening to her tell stories, I really enjoyed it!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews