Robin Redbreast

Mrs. Molesworth wrote this late-Victorian tale for young readers, following the Mildmay children while their parents serve in India. Jacinth, Frances, and their little brother Eugene have been handed from one relative to another, and after their step-grandmother dies they settle in the quiet town of Thetford with their aunt Alison, a dutiful, charitable woman who means well but shows children little warmth. Nearby stands an ivy-covered house called Robin Redbreast, home to Lady Myrtle Goodacre, an elderly widow who was once the closest friend of Jacinth’s own grandmother. As that old tie draws the families together, the book turns on loyalty, honesty, and the small daily choices that shape character. First published in 1892 by W. & R. Chambers, it belongs to the large body of domestic fiction Molesworth wrote for children.