This quartet by Susan Kirby is perfect for fans of Little House on the Prairie or Ann Martin’s Family Tree quartet. 12 year old Lacey is dealing with a new stepmom and stepsisters and each story her great-grandmother weaves out of special family quilts imparts lessons that relate and help her in life.

As one can imagine, a major theme is family as in the olden days death was common so there were a few second marriages with accompanying half-siblings and step-siblings. The first book, Ellen’s Story, and the final book, Ida Lou’s Story deal with that topic as the protagonists learn to adjust to new family members and accept that finding love for them doesn’t diminish the one you have for your absent parent.

The middle books focus more on tolerance and prejudice. Most specifically Hattie’s Story focuses on her learning to stand up for her family’s beliefs in abolition in pro-slavery Illinois while Daniel’s Story has him looking past the news stories of the day to find out Sioux Natives aren’t the savage menaces settlers think they are. This applies more broadly to Lacey’s situation in which learns to appreciate and tolerate her stepsisters being so different from her personality and that they can still find some common ground.

As it’s a family tree story, it’s cool to see the appearances of family members and other adult characters in subsequent books and see how events have changed them into adults. But the more compelling part is how Kirby brings readers into the past and integrates you to the sights, sounds, technology and mindsets of early farmers and settlers. Like I said before, it gives major Little House vibes because the setting is 1820, 1856, 1890, and 1918.

Hattie’s Story was probably the most powerful, second to Daniel’s Story. Ellen’s Story was probably the most generic/low stakes as the opening of the series while Ida Lou’s Story could have been compelling (being in 1918 in the modern city with a focus on early circus life and aerialists) but it’s unlikable and impulsive protagonist dragged it down.

Hope readers enjoy looking back at this wholesome series.