| Plot Summary of Housekeeping |
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"Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, are being brought up by their Aunt Sylvie. When the girls were small their mother left them with their grandmother, then left and ran her car off a bridge; very likely it was suicide. The girls' grandfather had died much earlierin an amazing train wreck, for which their grandmother was still known. When grandmother dies, two great aunts come to take over, but they find it difficult to care for the children, and summon the girls' mother's sister, Sylvie. Sylvie turns out to be even more unconventional than their mother - what they remember of her - and their grandmother. The girls often don't go to school, spend days playing by themselves, and Sylvie kind of does her own thing. Yet she cares for the girls in her own way. Lucille eventually realizes she wants to be more like other children, and leaves, going to live with another family in the town. The sadness over losing her sister brings Ruth closer to Sylvie and they have some strange adventures together. In fact, the town people are becoming worried about them, and Ruth is inevitably going to be taken from Sylvie. Sylvie tries hard to do the things that are expected of her, but even Ruth knows it's too hard, and eventually they find a way to stay together."
Tena Van''t Foort, Resident Scholar
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"Ruth and her younger sister, Lucille, are being brought up by their Aunt Sylvie. When the girls were small their mother left them with their grandmother, then left and ran her car off a bridge; very likely it was suicide. The girls' grandfather had died in an amazing train wreck, for which their grandmother was still known. When grandmother dies, two great aunts come to take over, but they find it difficult to care for the children, and summon the girls' mother's sister, Sylvie. Sylvie turns out to be even more unconventional than their mother - what they remember of her - and their grandmother. The girls often don't go to school, spend days playing by themselves, and Sylvie kind of does her own thing. Yet she cares for the girls in her own way. Lucille eventually realizes she wants to be more like other children, and leaves, going to live with another family in the town. The sadness over losing her sister brings Ruth closer to Sylvie and they have some strange adventures together. In fact, the town people are becoming worried about them, and Ruth is inevitably going to be taken from Sylvie. Sylvie tries hard to do the things that are expected of her, but even Ruth knows it's too hard, and eventually they find a way to stay together.
"
Tena Van''''t Foort, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Housekeeping |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book?
- thoughtful
Time/era of story
- 1930's-1950's
Kids growing up/acting up?
Yes
Family, loving relations
Yes
Special relationship with
- aunt
Is this an adult or child's book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Parents/lack of parents problem?
- orphan story
Main Character
Gender
- Female
Profession/status:
- student
Age:
- a teen
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Main Adversary
Identity:
- society
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a moderate amount
- an average amount
Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings?
- 8 (a significant amount)
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
Small town?
Yes
Style
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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