WHERE THE HEART IS by Janet Lambert

 

Oh Christy Drayton - I have been waiting so long to meet you! Most of the Lambert fans I have met have strong opinions on who there favorite heroines are. Some favor Penny, Jennifer, Tippy, even Candy, but Christy is a pure delight! Sure, she's a little earnest and pretty goody-goody, but she is hard working and positive and I love her. Of course there appears to be only 2 books featuring her, which is sad for me, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one. 

You may have noticed that my last Lambert write up was MISS TIPPPY in July of 2020 and before that it was FRIDAY'S CHILD in January! Well, we had a world wide pandemic and it put me off my game. I am only allowed to read JL when I am at the gym and since I couldn't go I both gained weight and fell behind on my reading. But I am back! I am not in any kind of shape, but I am getting to go back to the wonderful world of the 1940s and the fictional teens who inhabited it. 

So, let us begin. It is 1948, the war is over and the housing crisis is on! The Drayton family has moved from Indiana to Pennsylvania for Mr. Drayton's fancy new job in advertising. However, the family from whom they have purchased a house refuses to move out so they are living in hotels and it SUCKS! Mr. Drayton has a cousin - Edwin Codding - who is by all accounts a selfish jerk. This cousin has a house that would be  super-convenient for the family to visit. He is on a cruise, but he mother says it will be FINE for them to visit, they're family after all. 

So they pack up and head to the country. When they get there they find the house locked up tight as a drum. But the cute boy who takes care of the horses says that the barn has been fixed up into kind of an in-law apartment. So they decide to move in. 

The Draytons and their crabby housekeeper Bertha move in and take to the area quickly. Christy, who is probably 14 or 15 and her brother Jon [17] are popular with the local teens and soon fit in to the crowd. Little brother Keith [8] meets a neighbor kid he can play with and who cares what older sister Celia [19] thinks because she is a pill. 

There's some parties and a little love triangle consisting of Christy, Bill - a local boy who used to be a child star and is entitled, and Roger - the sweet hard-working stable boy. Don't worry about old Roger having to compete with a former movie star. His dad is a famous playwright. It's not like he is actually POOR or anything!

Anyhoo, it comes as no surprise to the reader that Cousin Edwin comes back unexpectedly at the worst possible time and is a jerk. [It is Chekov's Cousin Edwin. If they mention him in the first chapter, he is bound to go off at the halfway mark.] It is also no surprise that Christy, with her warmth and high spirits brings him around to love the family. And he gives her a house for her family to live in. Which is what happens when you are nice to old men. Take note girls!

Yes, it was predictable, but it was also adorable. There are horses and hayrides and sibling rivalry. And it humanizes the housing shortage in the second most interesting way. The first being APARTMENT FOR PEGGY which I just adore. Feel free to watch it here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R21pstqcQPY . You won't regret it!

All in all, it was a lovely book. I am now reading the sequal - TREASURE TROUBLE which is billed as Janet Lambert's lone mystery. I am keeping my expectations low for the plot, but I plan to completely enjoy all the time I have to spend with Christy.