Mixed Company (orginal title: Mixed Blessings)

by Marian Cockrell

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0445044217
• ISBN13: 9780445044210
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Popular Library
• Length: 284 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Also published under the title "Mixed Company"

A Fawcett book (Popular Library, Div of CBS) edition of this novel (IBSN: 0-445-04421-7) was published under the name change of "Mixed Company", in 1978. (This book refers to the original title of "Mixed Blessings" as well.)Set in 1902, this novel describes the efforts of Miss Alfreda Esmond, "Freddy", nineteen years old, to run a boardinghouse and support herself and her younger brother Jason after her mother is killed in a buggy accident. She is also waiting for her reluctant swain Rob to come up to scratch and request her hand in marriage, which she hopes will deliver her from her current troubles.Meanwhile she struggles with a group of assorted boarders with various eccentricities and personality conflicts; including an elderly drifty professor type, a gluttonous dowager and eventually her adventuous son as well, who was once imprisioned in the wild West for trumped up crimes, a man-hating mother and her meek pale daughter, a hired hand with a reluctance for work, and a strong minded family retainer cook who does her best to give some guidance to Freddy and her brother Jason while keeping the house running.Freddy does her best to manage the situation and her responsibilities, and to cope with the financial concerns of her ever dwindling pocketbook. But complications such as quarantine for scarlet fever and a trial challenging the mental competency of one of her boarders make life interesting for Freddy, while her best friend Hope also being in love with Freddy's suitor Rob makes for awkward relations there as well. To top things off, two of the boarders elope with one another and that causes complications also.Dr. Simon Fletcher, the gruff and surly doctor who practices medicine under a cloud of town suspicion of past malpractice (which gossip is finally resolved by the eloping couple playing sleuth on their honeymoon, but until then the mystery lingers through much of the book,) provides medical care to the boarders yet also makes Freddy's life miserable for some time. But all ends well eventually.The trial turns out in favor of Mr. Clarkson, the elderly boarder who has his sanity questioned by greedy relatives, and he in the end provides Freddy with unexpected help and security, which amply repay her support and concern for the old man. By the last pages, the boarders have all bonded together into an unorthodox but comfortable surrogate family, Freddy's financial and romantic troubles appear to be solved (her situation with Rob finally sorted out but with a surprise twist at the end,) and her life seems to be joyful and comfortable at last.Mr. Clarkson is a collector of superstitions and combines famous quotations in a rather unique way. The unusual prayers he assembles at mealtimes (Jason in fact collects them, writing them down right at the table,) punctuate the book throughout, often summing up circumstances in an intricately convoluted yet appropriate way. And the novel's last words are a f

A Joy

Simply the most enjoyable novel I've ever read. There are novels that are more realistic (Catcher in the Rye), more absorbing (To Kill a Mockingbird), or more whacked-out funny (Cosmic Banditos), but for all-around sweetness and a warm glow when you're finished, this one is the tops. Many libraries still have it...get it!