The Kellyhorns

The Kellyhorns is book one in a Lost Treasures series that I'm very unfamiliar with. As I was reading it I was thinking, "It's a cross between The Parent Trap and . . . something else." Lo and behold, the only two Amazon.com remarks is that it's a cross between Anne of Green Gables and The Parent Trap. Being something of a fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery's writing, I will stop short of saying that this book is like Anne. It isn't. It isn't written as well which is likely why it went out of print in the first place. But it IS like The Parent Trap. I'll give it that.

Originally published in 1942, this is the story of two twin girls that were separated at birth. They find each other at a county fair and switch places, unbeknownst to their father and aunt. They were separated at birth after their mother died. Their mother's sister, Aunt Ivory, had also been in love with the girl's father, Barnabas. When her sister died, she took one of the twins to raise in hopes of easing her regret over the spoiled relationship between the parents. You can predict the outcome of the book if you've ever seen The Parent Trap.

This book was republished in 2001 and the back cover describes it as "an exciting plot, lively characters, and rich humor." Well, not if you read widely. All the same, it was a cute book with an old fashioned feel to it. I think the emotions of the characters are a bit unreal at times. The girls are far too accepting of their interesting position following their life long separation. Lots of things seem a game that would been frightfully hard to deal with in real life. I'm not saying the book should be chalk full of negatives but it's so positive that it's hard to believe or really latch on to any of the characters or the story itself. It's a neat and tidy read though, wholesome and non-objectionable.

I picked up my copy at a used book store because I was curious about it. It IS a curious read but now that my curiosity is satisfied, I'll be moving on. I've debated whether or not I would keep it on my bookshelves for my own kids to read when they are older. I think I'm going to save the space for something else, solely because I think there are works that are of higher quality that would be enjoyed much more. Given the value of shelf space around here, I don't think I'll use it up on this. That said, if you like clean read alouds, this IS worth some consideration. It certainly is not a bad read in the least. I just didn't really believe it.