This is a wonderful story of an intelligent woman and a mystery surrounding a house she inherited. A great who-done-it to the end!

Anybody who thinks Gothic novels were always about wimpy heroines in flimsy nightgowns... hasn't read an Elsie Lee novel. Her heroines were smart, witty, often even wordly. Chloe Wingate can keep up with any hero. Even when she's frightened, she doesn't wimp out and depend on somebody else to get her out of a jam.

Also, Elsie Lee wasn't afraid to deal with controversial issues. In Wingarden, the heroine unearths violent racial prejudice in the South during the 1960s.

Persis Bradbury is 6 foot tall and blue-eyed who believes she is engaged until her boyfriend dumps her for a blonde model and since she is so tall it's hard to find a guy of the appropriate height and she ends up asking her boss to send her to Madrid to work on a project for the company. She meets a girl on the plane (Doris) and becomes friends and meets Dom Sebastian (the Madrid Partner) and ends up marrying him. There is a mystery involving some lost/stolen artifacts, the war, her Uncle Ted who was a secret resistance fighter, a curse and a prophecy about a "blue-eyed witch from across the waters" who will lift the curse. This is one of my favorite Elsie Lee books and once again she has a very strong female protagonist.

I love this book with the identity switch, crossed lovers, and well-maintained suspense. Elsie Lee just has a light way with her characters that hooks me. They are fun, talented and always sound like someone you would enjoy meeting.
Great setting (German castle) and convoluted plot (kidnapping, Nazi uprising) that the heroine handles deftly.

It's been a while since I read this book but, as usual, Elsie Lee was writing powerful heroines before this ever became the style. In this particular one the heroine Fran is married to an engineer named John. They are stationed somewhere in the mideast (Lebanon or Saudi Arabia?) and he is involved in an oil contract with some sheik. There is a murder (in the 1st or 2nd chapter) and the man dies in Fran's arms and of course she becomes highly involved in the ensuing mystery. It's all about political intrigue, murder, etc. and life in the foreign encampment along with the person intrigues of the people involved. I love Ms. Lee's strong, women heroines and wish she had written many more books than she has. She does not fail here to create another admirable heroine who is in complete charge of her life and love. A very charming mystery with a slight romance.

This is one of the best regency novels ever written, on a par with Georgette Heyer's best.

Unusally written from the hero's point of view, from where his uncle's "little dab" of a young widow comes into his life with her ladies companion, hindu servents, talking bird, mongoose and two siamese cats (oh, those cats!), it abounds with wit and humor. The change in this lord's life, from ennui to awareness of his own desires, and the machinations of the Nabob's Widow with his family and friends, are a pure joy to read.

This particular book is another of my favorites. I own most of Elsie Lee's books (with a few exceptions) and this was one of the first I ever read of hers. It's about a woman involved in a very messy divorce with some faked pictures of her to inflame her husband whom she is still in love with. She retires to her family home to nurse her wounds in private and lo and behold -- the man who made the faked pictures is living next door to her and she starts trying to find out how/why she was set up. I can't tell you much more without giving everything away, but once again, we have a very strong woman character who is self-sufficient and highly intelligent -- a wonderful combination and a fascinating mystery as well.

If you have read my other reviews, you know by now that I'm a real Elsie Lee fan. I love her strong women characters and I love a good mystery as well. In this particular book the main character is divorced by her artist husband at the beginning and she hits on a sure-fire way to avoid him and her immediate social circle by suggesting to her company that they pay her a stipend to travel Europe doing research while the gossip dies down. She ends up staying at the Villa Miranda and who shows up but her ex-husband (the artist) who is painting the wife of one of the owners. A wonderful who-dunnit involving smuggling and murder with another one of Ms. Lee's strong women protagonists.

I listened to the Author's daughter explain about the making of this book and about some of the details in the paintings. It was remarkable! Ken Stark did a fabulous job researching the history and painting accurate pictures to go with the story. After listening to the speaker my Grandma and Mom talked for an hour easy about what it was like growing up in Illinois.
Great read for young and old alike!

Normally I do not read many children's books but the cover ofGrowing Seasons caught my eye as Susan unpacked [the] book...

Leafing through the book caused me to feel very nostalgic, reliving the time when I was a young boy on a small Pennsylvania farm in the late 1930's. Detailed artwork and attention to detail in all the illustrations make a person feel part of the activity being described.

Elsie Lee Splear must be congratulated on her factual portrayal of farm life in the 1900's and her choosing an outstanding artist who's attention to detail produced outstanding illustrations of family farm life in the 1900's.

This book should be read by people of all ages to better understanding what farm life was like in the 1900's.

Can anyone imagine not having an inside toilet and must use the little house out back many times referred to as the "outhouse" with only remnants of an old Sears catalogs which served the need at hand and also provided the patron some reading. Can one believe a life without Charmin?

I highly recommend the younger generations to buy this book, study the wonderful detailed paintings and enjoy reading the descriptions of how it used to be before television. I will always cherish this book and when I need a pick-me-up, I will browse through Growing Seasons and reminisce about the times that were.

GROWING SEASONS lets the reader in on farm life nearly 100 years ago: chores before dawn, life without electricity,refrigeration,or running water,and raising almost everything needed by the family. It also shows the simple joys to be found in rural life: picnics, Christmas services, Fourth of July celebrations,and reading while tending the cows. Ken Stark's realistic illustrations help the reader step back in time to more richly savor the various aspects of being a tenant farmer a century ago.

The story numerous everyday events: homework by the kitchen stove, homemade dresses for Christmas, perserving meat before refrigeration, cooking for days to feed a threshing crew, and hiding from tornadoes. This is an excellent children's book for learning about farm life in the early 1900's.

This particular book is probably my least favorite of all her books I have read. It starts out more as a love story than a mystery although there is a mystery involving smuggled political information and murder. After you get into the story it does improve but I really didn't like the way this one started out. Still I wouldn't give up this book for anything. I have read most of her books anywhere from 4-5 times each and every time I re-read one I enjoy it as much as the first time I ever read it. I think the main thing I have against this one is it's about women "trying to get a man" and that scenario has never been one of my favorites -- it seems sort of demeaning -- a woman is not a woman without a man, but if you can get past this part it's a wonderful mystery, as usual.

Although I doubt that anyone will ever manage to top Georgette Heyer at Regency novels, Elsie Lee comes closer than anyone else I've read and Prior Betrothal is one of her best. With the exception of the uncle who adopted her, Clytie Flower has been disowned by her family on the instructions of the head of family. However, on discovering a betrothal agreement signed by her father and the late Duke of Banglor, between her and the duke's heir, her uncle comes up with the idea of trading the duke an unbetrothal in exchange for the assistance of the dowager duchess in bringing Clytie out. The result is a charming and charmingly funny novel.