Homing

Homing is one of my favorite Grace Livingston Hill books. The lonely, poverty-stricken heroine works soul-grinding hours at the button counter of the department store, only to go home at night to the world's worst boarding house. Meanwhile she is dreaming about:

"Wide windows and pretty curtains. Cool in summer and warm in winter. A little fireplace somewhere with the brightness and comfort of firelight. . . She would have a pretty rug. Perhaps not an oriental, but one with soft colors. And a bookcase with books she loved. A desk to sit and write letters at, only she knew no one to write to, and a little table to have five o'clock tea on with frosted cakes. . ."

Don't worry, her fortunes take a turn for the better and in fact she not only gets to visit the shore, but is able to purchase (for $1.98) a new dress to wear there, a light summer frock of pink dimity with a lovely white collar, and a wisp of black velvet ribbon making a tiny dash of smartness at the throat! And that's only the beginning. . .