• Home
  • About
    • About Us
    • About the Contributors
    • Our Rating Scale (and Searching Tips)
    • Disclosure
    • Legal Policies
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Browse All Reviews

IgniteLit

Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands

July 17, 2015 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

17 Jul

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support!

Elsie's Holidays at Roselands by Martha Finley

Title: Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands
Author:
Martha Finley
Series:
Elsie Dinsmore series, book 2
Major Themes:
Christian Character, United States, 1800s
Synopsis:
Elsie’s father demands she go against her conscience, but she refuses—and when she gets terribly sick, will he be able to forgive her enough to come see her before she dies?

Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands has made me cry the most out of all the other books in the Elsie Dinsmore series. When she refuses to go against her conscience in obeying her father, he decides he must punish her until she relents. He tells her he will not allow her in his presence, limits the amount of people she can associate with, and overall makes her be in disgrace with everyone around.

Elsie, torn between wanting to do right and longing for her father’s love, must decide whether to obey Biblical principles or learn to live with a guilty conscience. After trying numerous ways to break her, he eventually decides to leave for a time. All alone, with no one to talk to, and everyone belittling her beliefs, she slowly turns from a bright, cheerful child into a sad, thin, lifeless little girl.

Then word comes from her father, telling her that if she does not relent to his will she will be sent to a convent to live. This new news causes her already weakened condition to worsen, and she is soon quite sick. Her aunt—one who has learned to love her a little—calls for a doctor, but he shakes his head when he sees the extent of her sickness. In desperation, she sends many letters to Horace, begging him to give up his desire to break his child and come back before it is too late. Each day, though, Elsie’s condition worsens until she is no longer conscious of what is going on around her. Even if her father gets the letters and arrives in time, the doctor has given up hope that she will recover. Will Horace forgive his daughter? Even if he does, will he be able to tell her he has forgiven her before she dies?

I believe Elsie’s Holidays at Roselands is one of the best out of all the Elsie Dinsmore books. In this book, Elsie is tried the most severely, and almost breaks under the pressure. Even though the climax comes half-way through the book, it’s still a poignant picture of our struggles as Christians between the flesh and being Christ-like.

No warnings!

Age levels:

Listening Level—Ages 8 – 12
Reading Independently—Ages 10 – 12, 12 – 15

Links to buy this book:

Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com

——————
Related posts:

Elsie Dinsmore by Martha FinleyElsie Dinsmore Sarah Whitcher’s Story by Elizabeth YatesSarah Whitcher’s Story In Grandma's Attic by Arleta RichardsonIn Grandma’s Attic The Journeyman by Elizabeth YatesThe Journeyman

Keywords: Books for Girls · Character-building Stories · Christian Fiction · Elsie Dinsmore series · Life Lessons · Martha Finley · North America · US History · US History 1783-1860

Leave a Comment

About Esther Filbrun

Esther Filbrun is a 20-something ex-homeschooler with a love for books and a desire to share good stories with others. She has been a bookworm since before she could read well, and spent hours as a child riding a bicycle while listening to cassette tape recordings made by her mother. Besides running IgniteLit and writing reviews, she blogs at A Melodious Sonnet.

« The Phantom Tollbooth
A Single Shard »

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Review Archives

Browse all reviews here!

  • Reset search

RSS Recent Reviews

  • Every Hour until Then
  • Ways to Grow Love
  • Heavenly Rescues & Answered Prayers
  • Across the Ages
  • Our Cry for Revival
  • Birdsong

Subscribe

Subscribe me to (please choose at least one):
/* real people should not fill this in and expect good things - do not remove this or risk form bot signups */


Intuit Mailchimp

Recent Comments

  • Esther Filbrun on The Wise Woman and Other Stories
  • Stacy on The Wise Woman and Other Stories
  • Rebecca Filbrun on Growing Up in the Shadow of Alcatraz
  • April Gardner on A Light Undimmed
  • Esther Filbrun on The Great and Terrible Quest

As Amazon Associates, we earn from qualifying purchases. See our full disclosure here.

Copyright © 2025 IgniteLit · theme by Restored 316 · illustrations by icons8 and Toptal Subtle Patterns