The Young Visiters

I have a complete gem to share with you today!

While my family and I were staying in my aunt's house in Newcastle recently, I came across this book on one of the shelves. I have read it before, but a long enough time ago that I don't remember it well, and that I was too young to really appreciate it at the time.

It's The Young Visiters [sic] by 9-year-old Daisy Ashford, and it's a pretty hilarious but also surprisingly detailed depiction of upper-class life in late-19th-century England. She apparently rediscovered The Young Visiters  as an adult and it was published in 1919 (though this lovely illustrated edition comes from 1949).

As I was reading it, I couldn't resist taking pictures of the funniest quotes. It's so full of comic gems! Here are just a few:

'...an elderly man of 42...'

'...the egg which Ethel had so kindly laid for him.'

'...she has a most idiotick run.'

'...a hose thing for washing your head.'

'...getting rarther flustered with his forks.'

'...ancesters do turn quear at times.'

'...I will get you a pair of knickers tomorrow.'

'...ladies of every hue...'

'...and how is the dear Queen...'

'...take care of your gout and the silver...'

'I am stopping with his Lordship...and have a set of compartments in the basement so there.'

'...while imbibing his morning tea...'

'...merangs...'

'...taking the bull by both horns he kissed her violently...'

'...Mr Salteena sadly threw a white tennis shoe at them...'

'She had very nice feet and plenty of money.'

'...his wife was a bit annoying...'

The edition was also full of beautiful line drawings and illustration plates:

I've already raved about how much I love pretty books, which was probably a major part of why I loved this edition so much, but reading it was also filled with nostalgia for me (as well as providing a good few laughs).

Anyway, I hope I didn't get too carried away taking pictures of funny quotes! As you can probably tell, I recommend this book to anyone who would like something short and amusing to read. I think it's especially funny if you've read a few other books from that time period, but that's definitely not a prerequisite!

Let me know if you've ever read this book (I don't think I've ever met anyone outside my family who had!) and what you thought of it! Do you have any other recommendations for random, little-known-but-well-worth-it reads that I could check out?