The Proper Place

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Proper Place" by Anna Masterton Buchan. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

They were standing in one of the bedrooms, and Nicole felt that never had she realised how shabby it was until she saw Mrs. Jackson glance round it. That lady said nothing, but Nicole believed that in her mind's eye she was seeing it richly furnished in rose-pink. Gone the faded carpet and washed-out chintzes; instead there would be a thick velvet carpet, pink silk curtains, the newest and best of bedroom suites, a rose-pink satin quilt on the bed. In one of Hans Andersen's tales he tells how, at a dinner-party, one of the guests blew on a flute made from a willow in the ditch, and behold, every one was immediately wafted to his or her proper place.

A social historian reviews women's changing roles since the Civil War, discussing the shifting norms regarding sex, jobs, and childrearing and society's dawning realization of women's needs and capacities.

There was no denying that Sadie's mother, coming to see the new baby, would make things uncomfortable. Sometimes it looked as if they never would escape from their cramped, dingy rooms and find a proper place to bring up Brendan, but Sadie and Kevin had been through a lot together already.

The Proper Place is delightful reading and is Miss O. Douglas at her best. The story deals with the Rutherfurd family, who have to leave their beautiful country house and all their friends on Tweedside and settle in the littler Fife sea town of Kirkmeikle. Here, Lady Jane and the attractive, friendly Nicole rapidly make a niche for themselves until we feel it is indeed Kirkmeikle that is their "proper place." It is a joy to read of their endless ability to give happiness to all with whom they come in contact - inculding their readers. This book is as fresh and invigorating as the sea breezes of Fife.

One hundred years ago, a lord lived happily in his castle. Alcohol flowed freely and the festivities were endless. One day, while he was out hunting, he jostled a young goose herder who was saved in the nick of time by a bonnet maker. The lord always said "Everything in the right place!" and that is what happened, to the lord’s great chagrin. Over the years, things would change a lot. Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875) was a Danish author, poet and artist. Celebrated for children’s literature, his most cherished fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Little Mermaid", "The Nightingale", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Snow Queen", "The Ugly Duckling" and "The Little Match Girl". His books have been translated into every living language, and today there is no child or adult that has not met Andersen's whimsical characters. His fairy tales have been adapted to stage and screen countless times, most notably by Disney with the animated films "The Little Mermaid" in 1989 and "Frozen", which is loosely based on "The Snow Queen", in 2013. Thanks to Andersen's contribution to children's literature, his birth date, April 2, is celebrated as International Children's Book Day.