
In a quiet Devonshire village a widow and her three daughters learn to turn grief into quiet strength. The girls—Primrose, born in spring; Jasmine, a dark‑eyed child of a sun‑lit Italian summer; and little Daisy, christened with daisies from the cottage garden—share a close bond that steadies their mother after the loss of their father overseas. Their personalities blossom like their names: Primrose is calm and practical, Jasmine is lively and imaginative, while Daisy, the family’s cherished baby, is sweet but a touch indulgent.
Life in the modest cottage is simple but full of gentle routines: school lessons with Miss Martineau, piano practice on an old instrument, and afternoons spent wandering the fields. The sisters create their own light‑hearted rules, turning everyday chores into shared adventures that keep the household lively. As they grow, their differing strengths promise to shape the choices they will face, offering a tender portrait of sisterhood, resilience, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.
Language
en
Duration
~9 hours (531K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Suzanne Lybarger and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
Release date
2005-02-22
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1854–1914
Best known for lively girls’ school stories and a huge range of popular fiction, this Irish-born writer helped shape late Victorian and Edwardian reading for young audiences. She was remarkably prolific, writing adventure tales, mysteries, historical fiction, and stories that reached far beyond the schoolroom.
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