" i read this because it was an inspiration for l m montgomery-- i believe she got the term "kindred spirits" from it. it was a fun, cozy, boring read (in a good way), but with a lot of funny weird class assumptions embedded in it. in the beginning she talks a lot about how plain her wants are-- except she needs a giant staff to meet those wants. also funny how it just kind of turns into a rambly rant about her english visitor. i wasn't really expecting a plot, and i liked the human interest angle, but i felt like it needed something more than just complaints about the visitor, if it was going to have specific people in it. in many ways, it's a true introvert's manifesto, from a time when, apparently, the idea that you might actually sometimes want to be by yourself was foreign, so that was interesting. mostly enjoyable, somewhat problematic, a good rainy (or sunny) day read. "
— cubbie, 2/3/2014