5 h 54 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 5 h 54 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Step into a world where a warm welcome, a lively party and a new friend make everyday life an adventure.
In Carolyn Wells's Patty's Friends, Patty Fairfield is quick to laugh, quick to help and quick to make friends. This bright, good-natured American girl moves through a comfortable social world where companionship matters. The pleasure lies in meeting the people around her and seeing what they mean to one another.
Parties, outings, dances and visits give Patty and her companions plenty of reasons to gather. They arrange entertainments, welcome guests and find themselves in everyday scrapes. Wells keeps the excitement gentle, with a friendly voice, short scenes and plenty of conversation. Loyalty and kindness give this cheerful social story its heart.
What you’ll discover
- A warm-hearted heroine Meet Patty, whose ready laughter and willingness to help make her easy to like.
- Friendship at the center Discover a story that finds its interest in companionship and the people gathered around Patty.
- A lively social world Join young people for parties, dances and visits filled with conversation and shared plans.
- Humor with a gentle touch Enjoy Wells's jokes and playful turns of phrase without the edge of sharp conflict.
- Room for small adventures Settle into everyday scrapes and gentle excitement, where the pleasures remain light and sociable.
Who will love it
If you enjoy cheerful heroines, quick tea-table talk, riddles in rhyme and a gentle puzzle about hidden treasure, this book is for you. It suits readers who like Edwardian England seen through American eyes.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Patty turns strangers into friends
- Pride keeps a family apart
- Plain words reach Sir Otho
- Patty gives kindness a plan
- A beautiful home carries worries
- A hidden fortune leaves riddles
- Patty looks closely at clues
- Friendship joins gentleness with nerve
Who’s who
- Patty FairfieldA cheerful, quick-witted American girl almost eighteen, who loves puzzles and parties and wants to help every friend she makes.
- Lady HamiltonCalled Kitty, a young widow in white, lonely and proud, who longs to make peace with her father but will not ask first.
- Sir Otho MarklehamKitty's stern father, a stubborn man who serves in Parliament and hides a wish to forgive.
- Mabel HartleyA shy English girl and Patty's close friend, sad because her family may lose its beloved country home.
- Sinclair HartleyThe serious elder brother, a law student who tells family stories well and refuses to borrow money.
- Bob HartleyA teasing, high-spirited brother who wants to be an engineer and digs for the lost fortune.
- Mrs. CromartyCalled Grandy, a dignified old lady who has lived at Cromarty Manor for decades and keeps her hopes quiet.
- Tom MeredithA funny, good-natured neighbor who makes verses, loves games and grows fond of Patty.
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- Large print hardcover
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Patty's Friends
by Carolyn Wells · 1908
An American girl in London persuades a stern man to make peace, then searches for a lost family fortune.
Medium level2–5 hours to read2 languages
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In short
Can a girl not yet eighteen, new to London and far from home, bring a stubborn English gentleman back to his own daughter? In Patty's Friends, she tries it with a few sprays of lily of the valley and a good deal of nerve.
Patty's Friends at a glance
- Reading time
- About 3 h 25 min2 h 40 min fast, 4 h slow
- Length
- 48,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1908by Carolyn Wells
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Patty makes friends wherever she lands
The story opens in April in London, where Patty Fairfield, her father and her stepmother Nan are settled at the Savoy Hotel. Patty is almost eighteen, and she wishes she were twins so she could attend two parties at once. The family has no fixed plan for the summer, and that open question steers the whole book.
Patty loves English tea, hot buttered muffins and the shops of Bond Street. At a musicale she sits with Mabel Hartley, a large English girl who is her opposite in nearly every way. She also meets Grace Meredith and her brother Tom, who amuses the company with comic verses.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1908
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 3 h 50 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Wells, Carolyn. Patty's Friends. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/pattys-friends.
Wells, C. (2026). Patty's friends. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pattys-friends (Original work published 1908)
Wells, Carolyn. Patty's Friends. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pattys-friends.
@book{wells2026pattys,
author = {Wells, Carolyn},
title = {Patty's Friends},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/pattys-friends},
note = {First published 1908}
}
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What is Patty's Friends about?
It follows Patty Fairfield, a cheerful American girl, during a London season and a summer in the English countryside. She helps a lonely lady reconcile with her father, then joins a family hunting for a hidden fortune.
Who are Patty's friends in the book?
Her closest friends are Lady Hamilton, called Kitty, and Mabel Hartley. She also befriends Mabel's brothers Sinclair and Bob, the Merediths Grace and Tom, and Sir Otho Markleham, who is first her opponent.
What is the Cromarty fortune?
It is money hidden by Uncle Marmaduke Cromarty, who brought a fortune from India and died suddenly. He left only odd rhymes about where it lies, and his family has searched for nearly forty years.
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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