IN THE CLOSED ROOM

By Frances Hodgson Burnett

This is a short story about a shy, quiet little girl living in a big city. When her parents are offered the opportunity to take care of a house in the suburbs for the summer she meets another little girl in the house and they become playmates. (Introduction by Linda Andrus)

 

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• Language: English
• Publisher: iBoo Press House
• Release date: Jan 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781641811330

Frances Hodgson Burnett

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an English-American author and playwright. She is best known for her incredibly popular novels for children, including Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

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IN THE CLOSED ROOM

FRANCES HODGSON BURNET

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ISBN

ISBN

978-1-64181-132-3  (Paperback)

978-1-64181-133-0  (eBook)

The Audio Book of this title is also available for free at www.iboo.com/en/audio-books

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Printed in the USA

PART ONE

In the fierce airless heat of the small square room the child Judith panted as she lay on her bed. Her father and mother slept near her, drowned in the heavy slumber of workers after their day’s labour. Some people in the next flat were quarrelling, irritated probably by the appalling heat and their miserable helplessness against it. All the hot emanations of the sun-baked city streets seemed to combine with their clamour and unrest, and rise to the flat in which the child lay gazing at the darkness. It was situated but a few feet from the track of the Elevated Railroad and existence seemed to pulsate to the rush and roar of the demon which swept past the windows every few minutes. No one knew that Judith held the thing in horror, but it was a truth that she did. She was only seven years old, and at that age it is not easy to explain one’s self so that older people can understand.

She could only have said, I hate it. It comes so fast. It is always coming. It makes a sound as if thunder was quite close. I can never get away from it. The children in the other flats rather liked it. They hung out of the window perilously to watch it thunder past and to see the people who crowded it pressed close together in the seats, standing in the aisles, hanging on to the straps. Sometimes in the evening there were people in it who were going to the theatre, and the women and girls were dressed in light colours and wore hats covered with white feathers and flowers. At such times the children were delighted, and Judith used to hear the three in the next flat calling out to each other, That’s MY lady! That’s MY lady! That one’s mine!

Judith was not like the children in the other flats. She was a frail, curious creature, with silent ways and a soft voice and eyes. She liked to play by herself in a corner of the room and to talk to herself as she played. No one knew what she talked about, and in fact no one inquired. Her mother was always too busy. When she was not making men’s coats by the score at the whizzing sewing machine, she was hurriedly preparing a meal which was always in danger of being late. There was the breakfast, which might not be ready in time for her husband to reach his shop when the whistle blew; there was the supper, which might not be in time to be in waiting for him when he returned in the evening. The midday meal was a trifling matter, needing no special preparation.

Reviews for IN THE CLOSED ROOM

[belana-990668 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a weird story. sweet, somehow, but weird, and sad, too.

[jalenv_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fair Warning: one of those stars is for the physical beauty of my copy, of which I'll write more later. Frances Hodgson Burnett was the topic of my term paper for my History of Children's Literature Class, so I was allowed to read my library school's copies of her books. It was my introduction to Ms. Burnett's works besides Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden. Our heroine is seven year-old Judith Foster, who lives in a small flat (apartment) in a workingmen's building near the elevated railroad in New York City. Her hearty and healthy parents are Jem Foster, mechanic, and his wife, Jane. Jane has a sewing machine in the flat and makes men's coats on it. Judith loves her parents and they love her, but she's not like them. Jane had an older sister who died before she was born. From what she heard about Hester, Jane suspects her frail daughter takes after her late aunt. Judith hasn't told her parents that she dreams about the aunt she never met, just as she doesn't tell them that she dreamed about a rich little girl she saw in the Park [Central Park?] months ago. The girl wants Judith to play with her.This story takes place before electric fans were available for the masses, let alone air-conditioners. Poor Mrs. Foster is having to fan herself with a newspaper as the summer gets hotter. Then Jem gets a lucky break: a summer job as a caretaker for a mansion near the Park. The house is beautiful. It'll be Mrs. Foster's job to keep it tidy -- except for one fourth-floor room that's been locked. The owners, the Haldons, left so suddenly that the house hasn't been prepared for a summer closing. How Judith manages to enter the closed room isn't explained, but the girl who wanted to play with her is there. They play together daily. Judith can't understand why the beautiful flowers from the roof garden that she made into a wreath died as soon as she left. It is a mystery, like the reason her playmate musn't be touched.Although the reader will probably have figured things out long before the mystery is solved, it's still a dear little story. I had to have this edition for the Jessie Wilcox Smith illustrations. The pages, except for the backs of the illos, are decorated with a green line border with green leaves in the corners and blossoms like the gold stamped border around the title on the cover. The decoration is extended to the title and under the page numbers on the pages. If you've seen an e-copy and are wondering how the publisher managed to stretch the story to cover pp.3-130, the answer is wide margins. Not counting the title and page numbers, the text takes up only a little over 3 & 1/2 by 2 & 1/2 inches per page.If my description of the original edition makes you wish you had a copy like it, there is a print-on-demand reprint of this edition available. I hope it's as beautiful as my copy because I don't want other Burnett fans to miss out.