A House Far from Home

Edwin G. Higgins was a freelance writer in Sudbury, Ontario.

This is the entertaining, action-filled story of Lorinda and her brother James, who are sent to stay with their childless aunt and uncle while their father recuperates from chronic bronchitis in Texas. The children have never been away from their Nova Scotia home before, and their adventures begin on the plane to Toronto.

For the first time, they have rooms of their own. The principal of the new school is kind, and both children make new friends.

But their uncle is remote, their aunt, they decide, is chilly, clean and perfect. The new school is huge, and not everyone is friendly. Lorinda is not allowed to be on the hockey team, she is then accused of theft, and Aunt Marian disapproves of James’s favorite friend.

Things grow worse and worse until Lorinda explodes in a rage of frustration and homesickness. The tide turns, life becomes easier and warmer, and the children enjoy the rest of their stay so much that there are tears at the airport when it is time to go home.

A House Far From Home is an interesting, well-told story of particular interest to girls.