Tracy Park, 3/11

Links to parts one and two.

There’s an abandoned cottage on the grounds of Tracy Park. It’s called the Tramp House because tramps often sleep there, and when Arthur Tracy came home, Frank suggested they have it torn down. But Arthur is kind, and when he hears that tramps sleep there, he doesn’t try to get rid of them. Instead, he puts in a new door and windows so that the tramps will be more comfortable. Isn’t that cool?

The morning after the storm, Mrs. Crawford’s rheumatism is pretty bad, so she sends Harold for the doctor. On the way, he stops to take a look at the Tramp House, having seen a light there the night before. Inside, on the table that’s the only piece of furniture there, is the dead body of a woman.

Tracy Park, 2/11

Link to part one.

So, it’s 7:30, and the Peterkins are the first to show up because they’re uncultured and don’t understand the concept of being fashionably late. Harold does his job, which is to stand at the top of the stairs and say “ladies this way, and gentlemen that way,” but, again, the Peterkins are uncultured and don’t understand, and so Mrs. Peterkin goes the wrong way and Harold has to go take her wraps out of the mens’ dressing-room and put them in the women’s, leading to an accusation of theft later on. Harold is suspected of stealing diamonds three separate times during this book, which is kind of excessive, I think.

Tracy Park, 1/11

Tracy Park, by Mary Jane Holmes, is perhaps my favorite of the books I’ve discovered online. I’m not really sure why that is, because I can’t really think of anything that makes it special, but I’m ridiculously fond of it and I’ve read it quite a few times now.

Frank and Arthur Tracy are brothers. They’re not well off, but they have a wealthy uncle, after whom Arthur is named. Frank marries a young woman named Dolly, and they’re quite poor, but they love each other and they’re pretty happy. Then the uncle dies and leaves all his money to Arthur. Frank and Dolly aren’t too happy about this, but Arthur buys a grocery store for them to run, and they’re better off than they were before. Meanwhile, Arthur moves to Tracy Park, the deceased uncle’s home, and sets himself up as a model gentleman. And he’s naturally aristocratic and generous and stuff, so everyone likes him. He spends most of his time with his best friend, Harold Hastings, and they live at the Park House with the housekeeper, Mrs. Crawford, and her daughter Amy.