6 h 4 minAudiobook17 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 6 h 4 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What does success mean when a bright, warm-hearted young woman wants to prove her worth?
Patty Fairfield is kind, lively, and quick to laugh. In Patty's Success, Carolyn Wells follows a young woman who wants to show what she can do. Her wish for independence gives this cheerful story its central question: what does it mean to achieve something of your own?
Around Patty is a comfortable American world of families, friends, and neighbors in the early twentieth century. Wells moves briskly from one small episode to the next, keeping the mood light and humorous. Beneath the fun lies a thoughtful interest in ambition, worth, and a young woman's wish to prove herself.
What you’ll discover
- A heroine worth knowing Meet Patty Fairfield, whose warmth and ready laughter make her an inviting companion.
- Ambition treated with respect Follow a young woman's wish to prove herself, without having that wish dismissed as foolish.
- A cheerful social world Step among the families, friends, and neighbors who surround Patty in everyday life.
- Room to consider success Consider questions of worth and achievement within a story that aims to cheer and amuse.
- A light, brisk touch Enjoy short sentences and small episodes that keep the story moving with ease.
Who will love it
Readers who enjoy a cheerful heroine, quick banter and gentle humor, and anyone who likes a story of friendship, family warmth and good intentions put to the test in old New York.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Patty comes home to a warm welcome
- A forgotten duty starts Patty thinking
- A Christmas of trees, tricks and a ring
- Skating, dancing and a quiet new feeling
- A bold claim becomes a wager
- Needlework and baby slips teach costly lessons
- Goldfish, a hat shop and a pointed refusal
- A club, a plea and a surprising new post
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Patty FairfieldA bright, golden-haired girl of eighteen who has everything and wants to prove she can earn her own money and do real good.
- Nan FairfieldPatty's young stepmother, tactful and loving, who teases her, helps her, and keeps her father calm while Patty tries her schemes.
- Mr. FairfieldPatty's kind, wealthy father, who sets the wager and believes the experience will teach his daughter more than it costs her.
- Mr. HepworthA thoughtful portrait painter of thirty-five who brings Christine Farley's case to the family and secretly cares for Patty.
- Kenneth HarperA law student and old friend who loves nonsense, gives Patty the goldfish and the crystal ball, and cheers her on.
- Elise FarringtonPatty's rich, dark-haired friend, a little discontented, who admires Patty and quietly hopes Kenneth will notice her.
- Roger FarringtonElise's good-humored brother, who plays the mistletoe trick, organizes outings and is openly fond of Patty.
- Philip Van ReypenA lively young man with a teasing manner who meets Patty on his aunt's staircase and wants to know her better.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet, computer or Kindle, with the type as large as you like.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 6 h 4 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 17 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Read and hear Il successo di Patty in 25 languages and switch at any time. Or read two side by side, paragraph by paragraph: the way to learn a language with a book you love.
Il successo di Patty
by Carolyn Wells · 1909
Patty Fairfield bets her father she can earn fifteen dollars in a week, and tries embroidery, sewing and hats.
Easy read5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Patty's Success is a light and funny novel by Carolyn Wells, an American writer who died in 1942. It belongs to her books about Patty Fairfield, a golden-haired New York girl, and it begins in the winter after she comes home from a year in Europe.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Patty comes home to a warm welcome
The story opens in the middle of December on a New York pier. Mrs. Allen is tired of waiting for the Mauretania, which carries her daughter Nan, Nan's husband Mr. Fairfield, and his daughter Patty. Kenneth Harper looks down the river through binoculars and says he can see Patty's yellow head over the bow. Roger and Elise Farrington have come too, and the young people seize on Patty as if they will never let her go again.
The customs inspector is the first person to fall under her spell. He handles her feathered hat carelessly until Patty protests, and then he puts it back in its box as carefully as a baby in a cradle. He lets her trunks through with hardly a fuss. Patty waves off the praise and says it is an easy trick, since people are kind to you if you flatter them a little. Then four of them squeeze into a cab, Roger rides outside with the chauffeur, and they head for the Fairfield house on Seventy-second Street.
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What is Patty's Success about?
It follows eighteen-year-old Patty Fairfield, who boasts she can earn fifteen dollars a week without training. Her father bets that if she does, he will pay for a talented young artist's board. Patty tries several jobs, with comic results.
Who is Christine Farley in Patty's Success?
Christine Farley is a shy, poor, gifted young artist from a small Virginia town. Mr. Hepworth brings her story to the Fairfields, and Patty's wager is made so that Christine can afford an art education in New York.
Is Patty's Success a true story, and when was it written?
It is a work of fiction by Carolyn Wells, written in the early twentieth century as part of her Patty Fairfield series. Details such as motorcars, telephones and steamers place it in that time.
The author
Carolyn Wells
1862–1942 · American humorist and mystery writer
Carolyn Wells (1862–1942) was an American writer born in Rahway, New Jersey. She later lived in New York City, where she died. She wrote poetry, humor, children's books, and mystery novels. Her works include the Patty and Marjorie series, The Clue (1909), and The Gold Bag (1911).
More by Carolyn Wells
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