Betsy's Wedding

Betsy is back in the USA after a long time in Europe-and Joe is there to greet her. After being in love for years, the couple agree to get married, within the week no less! After Betsy convinces her family to agree to this, we watch as Betsy and Joe are married, and embark on a new life together.Set near the turn of the century, around WW1, this is a view of every young woman's dream of marriage-a fun, intelligent, strong husband who adores you. Betsy and Joe are friends first, lovers second, something which is always important. At one point, Joe states that he can talk to Betsy, and that he fantasizes about their home life. A lot of guys could take a page from Joe's book!This book is in no way dated, bringing Betsy to the close of her girlhood and teenage years. If you liked "Anne of Green Gables" or other books by Montgomery, check out Lovelace, for both your little girls and not-so-little girls.

What a great story! I keep it on my window seat to flip through often--it's one of my very favorite stories!Betsy and Joe finally meet in New York after Betsy's year-long trip to Europe! They are finally together and determined never to be seperated again. Afetr many years of loving each other, they will be married. Joe convinces Betsy to marry him in a week. The scene in the restaurant in New York where Joe tells Betsy how much he loves her, how they belong together, and how she must always love him is so touching! Through this part(and the moment when they saw each other when Betsy came off the ship) I was oblivious to everything as I read. Of course, that was the case through the rest of the book as well. Joe's job hunt is hilarious. The day before they are married, he and Betsy go from one newspaper place to the other, Joe determined to find a job so Betsy's father will consent to the match. Well, of course, he succeeds. They are married. Joe and Betsy have a wonderful relationship. It is truly the best I ever read about. They both treat each other with such consideration. Joe is so gracious as Betsy learns to cook(which is a big undertaking for her.) He is so considerate of Betsy, reading to her at night, helping her with the dishes when her cooking endeavors fail, and many other things. Betsy tries so hard to be a good wife to Joe, considering that the most important thing in her life. She even refuses a job in newspaper writing, feeling that she has another job already as keeper of the house and companion to Joe. I liked the way that Betsy handled Aunt Ruth's coming. She did not mask her feelings and was honest, but still,unselfishly, let her come. It ended up working out too! Well, I just loved the story. Their relationship taught me a lot about marriage. I loved the way they treated each other. I don't see the like much these days. It was great! I cried and cried when Joe left for war. But, my fellow readers, I have learned that the books about Betsy were largely based on the author's life. In a biography about her I learned that her husband (who was much like Joe) returned from war--so take heart--Joe returned too and he and Betsy, no doubt, continued their "golden world."

The whole Betsy Tacy series is a triumph---some of the best reading there is. Like few others series (the Little House books are the other that comes to mind) we truly can read and watch Betsy grow from a little 5 year old to a married woman, and grow along with her. As a little girl, I read the early books in this series, and didn't know there were more. You can imagine my delight when I discovered the high school years and beyond were also part of the continuing story! In this book (as you can guess) Betsy gets married, but so does Tib! I like it that Betsy's wedding is not the end of the book--we also get to see her get started on married life during the diffecult WWI period. I remember the minute I finished this book. I had a feeling of happiness but also sadness that never again would I read something new for the first time about Betsy, Tacy, Tib, Joe, Julia, Margaret and all the rest! But the last lines were done so well--they looked to the past and into the future and made me feel that although this was all that was written about them, they continued to exist somewhere out there in the land that wonderful characters in wonderful books live on in! If you have never read this series, I envy you! Get all the books, read them, and you will remember and make them part of your life forever.

My mother first read the Betsy-Tacy books when she was a little girl (born in 1936). I bought her all the available ones for a Mother's Day gift. I discovered the first Betsy-Tacy in our school's library and read it to my third graders. The first day they made me read the first FOUR chapters!!! I "borrowed" my mother's copies and within the course of one month, I have read all except for Betsy in Spite of Herself (it wasn't in stock)--including Betsy's Wedding in two days' time. I couldn't put it down. I have been allowed to inhabit a wonderful, beautiful world that I didn't want to leave. It makes married life sound so wonderful. Maud Hart Lovelace does an excellent job of creating an entire world--the details, the big picture and everything in between.

Betsy-Tacy books are infamous for their light-hearted fun, and this book is no exception. When Betsy returns to the US after a trip to Europe, she and Joe soak up the giddy atmosphere of New York City before heading home to Deep Valley to get married. After a merry wedding ceremony, they then go on an idyllic honeymoon that doesn't seem to end after they return from Lake Minnetonka; throughout their marriage, they continue to go to dances, visit friends, and enjoy each other's company. Betsy and Joe are not only great friends; they are also very much in love. Betsy supports her husband through his blue moods and silences, while Joe supports Betsy's writing at every opportunity. Most couples would do well to emulate their example of treating each other with kindness, consideration and respect. One thing that always impressed me about this book is how Betsy manages to defer to Joe during times of crisis without losing her identity. In other words, she's more interested in making the relationship work than in getting her own way all the time. Joe also shows the same respect to Betsy when he knows something is important to her. Theirs is a truly beautiful relationship, one that mirrored Maud Hart Lovelace's marriage to her husband, Delos. She once wrote to a fan, "Delos and I found that marrying each other was the perfect solution to life." You can tell she meant it after reading this book. The only flaw in this book is its MORONIC cover, which I guess is supposed to appeal to a more "modern" market. It's too bad current readers aren't able to see Vera Neville's lovely illustration of Betsy in her bridal gown that appears on the cover of the original edition. Lucky buyers of this edition are instead treated to an image of a hunky guy in all ill-fitting tuxedo marrying a smokin' babe with Barbie-like proportions. O di immortales! (Translation: barf.)