8 h 11 minAudiobook11 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 8 h 11 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
How do you choose your own happiness when the people you love have a stake in your answer?
Miss Billy has a boy's nickname and a warm, restless heart. In Eleanor H. Porter's gentle romance, she faces a choice that touches more lives than her own. Love pulls one way, loyalty another, and Billy cannot think only of herself. Her happiness matters—but so does the happiness of those she holds dear.
Around her, early twentieth-century Boston is full of family dinners, music, painting, and well-meant meddling. Porter brings warmth and humor to a story where feelings and family ties carry real weight. As Billy's decision draws near, watch how others respond to the prospect of her happiness or disappointment.
What you’ll discover
- A heart pulled two ways Follow Billy as love and loyalty make a personal choice matter to everyone around her.
- Warmth with a restless edge Meet a young woman whose generous feelings leave room for wishes of her own.
- A lively domestic world Step into a Boston setting of family dinners, music, painting, and well-meant interference.
- Character revealed through feeling Notice what responses to another person's happiness reveal about the people close to Billy.
- Good cheer as strength Enjoy Porter's gentle humor in a quick-moving story that takes the heart seriously.
Who will love it
Readers who like warm, witty romances full of mistaken identities, tender family circles and generous heroines, and who enjoy music, painting and the cozy old streets of Boston.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A letter from a mysterious Mary Jane
- The sign of the pink at the station
- A tenor in the living room
- A house full of Billy's pictures
- Weddings, Kate and a clock that tells the truth
- Ice cream for others, and a quarrel with pride
- Billy plays Cupid and gets it wrong
- The wrong story and the wrong guess
- Kate's letter and Billy's sacrifice
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Billy NeilsonA bright, generous young songwriter who loves to give small joys to others and is engaged to Bertram, though she fears he loves only her face.
- Bertram HenshawA popular portrait painter, adoring but easily troubled, who wants to win Billy and to paint the portrait that will make his name.
- M. J. ArkwrightA tenor with a rich voice and a hidden name, who studies for grand opera and has long admired Billy from afar.
- Aunt HannahBilly's gentle companion, always wrapped in shawls, who worries about proper behavior and says Oh my grief and conscience when startled.
- Kate HartwellThe Henshaws' managing sister from the West, who disapproves of Billy's choice and wants her to marry William instead.
- Alice GreggoryA proud, talented young music teacher who lives in poverty with her crippled mother and refuses anything that looks like charity.
- William HenshawThe eldest Henshaw brother, a kind collector of teapots and mirror knobs, devoted to Billy like a daughter.
- Cyril and Marie HenshawA brooding musician and his gentle bride, who love darning and puddings, and whose wedding lights up the middle of the book.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 8 h 11 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 11 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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Miss Billy's Decision
by Eleanor H. Porter · 1912
A letter from a certain Mary Jane sends Billy Neilson to the train station with a pink, and a bearded man steps forward.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Miss Billy's Decision is a novel by Eleanor H. Porter, a sequel to her earlier book Miss Billy.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A letter from a mysterious Mary Jane
The story begins in Paris, where Calderwell and his friend Arkwright share a table. Calderwell has teased his friend about the initials M. J. for months and has secretly nicknamed him Mary Jane. To his shock, the family really does call Arkwright that. When they talk about Billy Neilson, whom Calderwell has proposed to every three months, Arkwright admits he knows of her through Aunt Hannah and has long admired her songs.
Calderwell then tells the old story of how Billy once wrote to a Mr. William Henshaw as plain Billy. The three Henshaw brothers took her for a boy, and a girl arrived. It shows how much trouble a name can cause. Arkwright smiles, says he means to leave for America to study for grand opera, and keeps quiet about where.
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What is Miss Billy's Decision about?
It follows Billy Neilson, a songwriter in Boston, after she becomes engaged to the painter Bertram Henshaw. Mistaken identities, a jealous fear of music and a meddling relative strain her happiness.
Who is Mary Jane in Miss Billy's Decision?
Mary Jane is the family nickname of M. J. Arkwright, a tenor who studies for grand opera. Aunt Hannah thinks the letter comes from a girl, and the mix-up starts the story.
Is Miss Billy's Decision a sequel?
Yes, it continues the story of Billy from Eleanor H. Porter's earlier novel Miss Billy. The first chapters explain the past, so you can follow the story without having read the first book.
The author
Eleanor H. Porter
1868–1920 · American novelist
Eleanor H. Porter (1868–1920) was an American novelist born in Littleton, New Hampshire. She lived in Massachusetts and died in Cambridge. She wrote novels for children and adults. Her books include Miss Billy (1911), Miss Billy’s Decision (1912), Pollyanna (1913), and Miss Billy—Married (1914).
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