As Elsie Dinsmore grows up, her family undergoes major changes. Her father, Horace Dinsmore, falls in love and marries sweet Rose Allison, whom Elsie has loved since childhood. Soon two new members, Horace Jr. and Rosebud, join the happy family.
Elsie has grown into a graceful, accomplished, and beautiful young woman of fifteen who faces the difficulties of peer pressure, the allurements of the world outside her family, and the delights and confusion of friendships both false and true. She confronts the greatest crisis of her life while visiting her maiden aunt Wealthy, when she experiences first the joy of first love and then the deep pain of betrayal.
In an attempt to cure her broken heart, Elsie’s family takes her on a tour of Europe. Upon her return, when she least expects it, Elsie discovers the wonder of true love.
Martha Finley (1828–1909) was born in Ohio. She was a private educator in Pennsylvania until she became ill and moved to Elkton, Maryland, where at age twenty-six, she began her literary career as a means to support herself. She wrote twenty-eight Elsie books and was one of the most beloved children’s authors of all time, with over twenty-five million readers in both America and England.
Marguerite Gavin is a seasoned theater veteran, a five-time nominee for the prestigious Audie Award, and the winner of numerous AudioFile Earphones and Publishers Weekly awards. She has been an actor, director, and audiobook narrator for her entire professional career. With over four hundred titles to her credit, her narration spans nearly every genre, from nonfiction to mystery, science fiction, fantasy, romance, and children’s fiction. AudioFile magazine says, “Marguerite Gavin...has a sonorous voice, rich and full of emotion.”