Synopsis
Without doubt Lassie was the finest collie in all of Yorkshire. For three years the Duke of Rudling tried without success to buy the dog from her owner, Sam Carraclough. But hard times came and Sam was forced to sell her so that he could feed his family. Sam’s boy, Joe, was heartbroken, and Lassie longed for her young master. Time and again she escaped and came home to Joe, only to be returned to the Duke by Sam. Then Lassie was taken to the Scottish Highlands. But she was undaunted and set out on a 400-mile journey over unfamiliar country to return to her beloved Joe. When the Duke finally realized that nothing could keep Lassie and the boy apart, he solved the problem in a way that brought happiness to all concerned.
My Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ & ❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎❤︎
5+ stars (8/10 hearts). I’ve been wanting to read this for years, and now I finally did. I did not expect to get this emotionally involved, though I was sure it was a great story! Lassie’s story made me think of “The Incredible Journey,” but so much harder, more suspenseful, and more heart-tugging. I loved the Duke, and his relationship with his granddaughter. I loved Elnora and Michael. I loved Dan and Dally. I loved Lassie. I loved Ritchell. And oh, I loved the Carracloughs. <33 I loved Joe’s parents. They were so loving, so brave and strong, and so perfect for each other. I always loved Yorkshire and this made me fall even deeper in love with it and its people. <33 It’s hard to express what this story did to my heart, but it at times it broke my heart, and then it would just touch me so sweetly. The ending scene just… I can’t describe it beyond saying it melted me. Just so sweet and perfect and heartwarming. <33 And that, I think, describes this story.
A Favourite Quote: “To Joe Carraclough’s father, life was laid out in straight rules. When a man could get work, he worked his best and got the best wages he could. If he raised a dog, he raised the best one he could. If he had a wife and children, he took care of them the best he could…. In [his] mind, there were no devious exceptions and evasions concerning life and its codes. Like most simple men, he saw all these things clearly. Lying, cheating, stealing—they were all wrong, and you couldn’t make them right by twisting them round in your mind.
“So it was that, when he was faced with any problem, he so often brought it smack up against elemental truths. ‘Honest is honest, and there’s no two ways about it,’ he would say.”
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: “Sitting there beside his father in the dimness, he knew that his father was ‘making it easy for him.’ He knew that his father was protecting him from worries that grownups had. Suddenly Joe felt grateful to his father, who was big and string and who had followed him up to the moor to try to comfort him.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “…right beside Lassie, one of the forbidding doors opened, and a voice sounded…. ‘What’s going on out here? Do you realize there’s a court of Law sitting…’
“That was as far as he got. For at that moment a tawny figure streaked by him, almost upsetting him… His face twisted itself into an expression of horror and outraged dignity. He gave one glance of utter contempt to the two men with the net. Then he shut the door.
“…Then a somber voice spoke. ‘Do I understand that this is the surprise witness that the defense has promised?’
“… Lassie barked, once, shortly.
“The great man beamed. ‘I presume that is an answer in the affirmative. And I may add that this is the most intelligent witness I have had before me in twenty years, for it is the first one that can answer yes or no without equivocation.’”
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Tags: 8-of-10-hearts, adventure-genre, british-fiction-and-nonfiction, classics-genre, hisfic-1900s, historical-fiction-genre, middle-grade-juvenile-fiction-genre, my-favourite-books, scottish-fiction-and-nonfiction, secular-books, slice-of-life-books, standalones, young-adult-genre.
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