Rob Baker’s Reviews > Heidi > Status Update

Heidi feels like a literary cousin of Anne of Green Gables, an orphan who brings joy and laughter wherever she goes.

Were "Heidi" written today, the beginning would probably have been darker, focusing on trauma and victimhood.

Five-year-old Heidi's, whose parents had suddenly died a few years back, is abandoned by her aunt (who no longer wants to care for her) at a remote cabin where her depressed, angry grandfather lives.

The writing has a much lighter mood than a modern novel dealing with such topics would use.