Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville

3 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
When Uncle John unexpectedly acquires a farm, he and his nieces go out visit, and find an intriguing mystery.

Review
Aunt Jane's nieces continue much in the same vein as before – they're clever, pert, but also sometimes wrong. In fact, one of the pleasant things about the series is that everyone gets to be wrong some of the time – the clever ones, the pretty ones, the practical ones, and, importantly, the older ones. Baum isn't afraid to let the wise uncle make as many mistakes as the young nieces do.

On the other hand, you know that good and virtue will always win out in these books, and they do here – in just the kind of happy ending we want and expect. If that means papering over a few things, and taking for granted that good people always recognize good people, well, that's the way of things.

On the other hand, and not likely in accord with Baum's intent, I found the nieces a little mean-spirited in one episode toward the end of the book. The man who suffers is clearly a cad, and he's shown to take it well, but to my mind it didn't fit the tone of the books. The girls have verged on this kind of cruelty before, but never gone over the edge. In this story, I felt they did, for a piece of humor I didn't feel was necessary – and there is some very good humor here. It's a mystery, and, as Baum reminds us, “That's the way with mysteries; they're often hard to understand.” There are other little touches that suggest Baum had fun writing this. However, as with the previous book, there's a casual slur included that no longer reads well – and is somewhat surprising in a writer who's so clearly progressive in his tendencies.

Overall, an easy, light read, but not quite as effective as the previous books.