Story summary
Samenvatting van Roodborstje
- 8 min. leestijd
- 10 parts
- Binnenkort te beluisteren
Three mourning children arrive at a stiff aunt's door, and an old house called Robin Redbreast waits down the lane.
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Roodborstje in het kort
Samenvatting: 8 min leestijd
- Leestijd
- Ongeveer 5 h 10 min4 h 5 min fast, 6 h 10 min slow
- Lengte
- 73.700 woorden
- Bibliotheekniveau
- Gemiddeld longer sentences, everyday words
- Voor het eerst verschenen
- 1890by Mrs. Molesworth
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). Hoelang het duurt om de klassiekers te lezen · Bijgewerkt
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Roodborstje in short
Robin Redbreast tells how three children, parted from their parents, find a home first in a dry aunt's narrow house and then in an old lady's warm one. Their lives are tied to the Harpers, who have lost both money and the goodwill of a rich relative. Frances stands loyally by her friends, Jacinth drifts into pride and jealousy, and their mother pleads for the Harpers with courage and tact.
What Roodborstje is about
Two girls and a small boy step from a hired carriage into a narrow brick house in a quiet English town. What can an old house in a lane called Robin Redbreast do for them?
Robin Redbreast was written by Mrs. Molesworth, and it belongs to the Victorian tradition of family stories for young readers. It follows Jacinth, Frances and their brother Eugene over several years. It asks what we owe to family, to strangers and to our own conscience when money is at stake.
Voor wie is het?. You will enjoy this book if you like warm Victorian family stories, sisters who quarrel and make up, old houses with gardens, and quiet questions about pride and honesty.
The story in 10 parts
Key idea 1 · free to read
Three children arrive at a stiff house
One late October evening, a hired carriage stops at Number 9 Market Square Place in Thetford. It brings Jacinth, who is fourteen, her sister Frances, who is twelve, and little Eugene, who is six or seven. With them comes their young uncle Marmaduke, whom everyone calls Uncle Marmy. All four wear mourning for the old lady who raised the children.
Their parents serve in India, and the children have not seen them for years. Now their father's sister, Miss Alison Mildmay, has agreed to take them in. She is a neat, dry woman who spends her days on charity work and has never raised a child.
The two sisters differ sharply. Jacinth is controlled, proud of good manners and good at hiding her feelings. Frances is warm, quick-tempered and blunt.
On the morning Marmy leaves, they stop at tall gates in an ivy wall. Behind it stands a red house with two round attic windows like watching eyes. Jacinth wishes aloud that her family could live there. A first goodbye and a first wish are tied to the same gate.
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A thirsty boy and a name at the gate
Half a year passes, and the children settle into a plain routine.
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A letter, a garden party and a secret
Next morning Aunt Alison sits at breakfast with a letter and an irritated look.
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Castles in the air at Robin Redbreast
Lady Myrtle invites Jacinth to spend a weekend at Robin Redbreast.
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The Harpers sink while the Mildmays rise
Mrs Mildmay's long letter from India arrives, and Frances at last tells Jacinth everything.
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Mamma comes home and pleads for strangers
In May the children drive to the station to meet their mother.
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Lady Myrtle's plan and the Colonel's refusal
Colonel Mildmay arrives in July, tall and grave, with a hidden gift for fun.
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Who has a claim on money and kindness
The book keeps returning to one question: what do we owe to people because of birth?
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Two kinds of honesty and a jealous heart
Jacinth is the book's study in how a good person drifts into a quiet unkindness.
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How the story is told and what it uses
The narrator speaks in a friendly, old-fashioned voice, stepping in now and then to comment.
Read all 10 key ideas now
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Characters, plot and themes
Main characters
- Jacinth Mildmay The older sister, reserved, proud and orderly, who longs for a grand home and must learn that honesty matters more than comfort.
- Frances Mildmay Her younger sister, warm, blunt and quick to cry, who stays loyal to her friends the Harpers whatever it costs.
- Eugene Mildmay The little brother, greedy for cake and bad at saying hungry and thirsty, whose thirst brings the family to Robin Redbreast.
- Lady Myrtle Goodacre The stately old owner of Robin Redbreast, lonely and generous, who sees her lost friend in Jacinth and holds an old family grudge.
- Miss Alison Mildmay The children's aunt, strict, fair and busy with charity, who does her duty without knowing how to show affection.
- Bessie Harper A bright, brave schoolgirl who guards her family's pride and will do anything to help her sick father.
- Margaret Harper Bessie's gentle, delicate sister, who tells Frances the family secret and worries over everything.
- Mrs Mildmay The children's cheerful mother, home from India, who speaks up for the poor Harpers even at risk to her friend's favor.
How it ends (spoiler)
Lady Myrtle is told of Jacinth's honesty and chooses to call on Captain Harper and his family when they meet abroad at Basse, and old wounds begin to close. Years later she dies abroad, and Jacinth learns that her father and Captain Harper are the executors of her will. The old dream at Uncle Marmy's gates comes true, and Uncle Marmy returns home. Jacinth even hopes he will marry Camilla Harper.
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What is Robin Redbreast about?
It follows Jacinth, Frances and Eugene Mildmay, sent from Stannesley to their aunt in the town of Thetford. They befriend an old lady at Robin Redbreast and must choose between comfort and honesty when money and family loyalty collide.
Why is the house called Robin Redbreast?
It was once a coaching inn whose sign showed a robin. When the old inn was saved and made into a private home, the name stayed, and the bird became a symbol of welcome throughout the story.
Who are the Harpers in Robin Redbreast?
They are Bessie and Margaret, schoolfriends of Frances, and their family. Captain Harper is the lame nephew of Lady Myrtle, but she has cut off his branch of the family because of her wasteful brother Bernard.
Who wrote Robin Redbreast and when is it set?
Mrs. Molesworth wrote it, a Victorian author of children's stories who died in 1921. It is a made-up story set in English towns and, later, at the southern resorts of Basse and St Rémi.
Is Robin Redbreast easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that warm scenes take precedence over unexpected turns in the story. Short chapters, lively dialogue between the sisters and a friendly narrator make it easy to follow and pleasant to read aloud.
Verwijs naar deze uitgave
Molesworth, Mrs. Robin Redbreast. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/robin-redbreast.
Molesworth, Mrs. (2026). Robin Redbreast. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/robin-redbreast (Original work published 1890)
Molesworth, Mrs. Robin Redbreast. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/robin-redbreast.
@book{molesworth2026robin,
author = {Molesworth, Mrs.},
title = {Robin Redbreast},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/robin-redbreast},
note = {First published 1890}
}
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