The Hall in the Grove

MP3 Audio CD. Mrs. Fenton commenced a Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle in the town of Centreville because she fears that Robert, her son, will be very academically excellent and too clever that he will be disrespectful to his parents. The Chautauqua Literary & Scientific Circle has members of all levels of society, including the maid of a well-known family, three lazy, wild youths, sophisticated girls, and the eminent Professor Monteith. The members of the Circle who study at home and the social activities and events at the Chautauqua, New York mold and challenge their former interests and beliefs.

Isabella Macdonald Alden was an American author who wrote under her pen name, Pansy, as her father would call her. She was the daughter of her intellectual parents Isaac Alden and Myra Spafford Macdonald. At an early age, she developed a skill in writing a daily journal. When she was ten years old, she wrote her first book ?Our Old Clock? and was published. She was married to Reverend Gustavus Rossenberg Alden and had a son named Raymond. She pursued in writing, attending to church activities, and teaching at Oneida Seminary in New York.

Alden wrote around 100 books, which are mostly influenced by religious values. Her works are mostly inspired by Biblical passages and translated it into what a good Christian should be. Her books were also based on life experiences, some others by her interest in the Chautauqua movement.

Alden was very close to her sister Marcia, who married the Reverend Charles Livingston, they lived under one house for several years. When Alden?s husband and son died, she lived with her daughter-in-law. Her unfinished autobiography, Memories of Yesterday, was completed by her niece, Grace Livingston Hill.

One of her words of wisdom is ?Never be discouraged because the good things go on slowly here; and never fail daily to do that good which lies next to your hand.?