However, I'm apparently weird in that I'm actually glad Rose ended up with Mac instead of Charlie, because I totally would've picked Mac myself. However, I wouldn't necessarily have gone to the extreme of sanctimoniously killing Charlie to get him out of the way if it'd been my book.

Mac was totally the guy to get. He's a kind-hearted bookaholic nerd who loves kids--what's not to like? He had his jerk moments in Eight Cousins when he was recovering from whatever illness it was he had and was battling to save his sight. (Such a literary cliche!!) I loved the bond that he and Rose developed at that time, and after that, it was a given they would hook up in my mind.

Charlie was a rogue and wastrel, and, by Victorian lit standards, had to die.

I remember reading, ages ago, that the women at a bookstore in Paris - Shakespeare & Co.? - when Henry Miller asked them for something to read on a long train trip gave him Petite Femmes (apologies for my lousy French spelling). He grabbed it, expecting something with sex ... and was quite disappointed.

Mac was totally the guy to get. He's a kind-hearted bookaholic nerd who loves kids--what's not to like?

Cool, so I'm not alone! I've just been in so many discussions of Rose in Bloom that centered on grumbling over Charlie's death and Rose's preference for saintly Mac that I'd concluded it was the "Susan in The Last Battle" incident of the LMA canon.

No- I much prefer Mac-- I don't think charlie, really could have been reformed, even through love.

I can't remember if Phoebe (from Rose in Bloom, not Friends) ended up with a significant other. I really wanted her too.

That illness of Mac's in Eight Cousins was a complete set-up for their future relationship. Not only does she become more sensitive to him and his plight and taps into her more caring side, but he eventually takes pains to try and be thoughtful of her as well, even though he does try and hide it from his brothers to cover up any wussiness.

Actually, now that I'm talking about it, I want to reread Eight Cousins. I'll have to see if my bookstore has it for me to pick up when I work tomorrow. Maybe it's less "alternative education tract" than I remember Uncle Alec's techniques being.

I can't remember if Phoebe (from Rose in Bloom, not Friends) ended up with a significant other. I really wanted her too.

She does. The family eventually relents and decides she's good enough for Archie after she risks her own life nursing Uncle Alec through an illness he gets while helping some immigrants. (Gotta love all the class and ethnic issues packed into that subplot!)

It's online, Sophia. thefreelibrary.com

I forgot about Phoebe and Archie getting together! Phoebe was a great friend for Rose to have, and did a good job balancing the flightiness of some of her aunts.

The store does have Eight Cousins in stock, so I'll be reading it tomorrow night. Yay!

It's been so long since I read Old-Fashioned Girl or Eight Cousins. I should reread. I have Little Women practically memorized, though.

It's online, Sophia. thefreelibrary.com

Awesome! of course, I should be working.....

I remembered the subplot, but not the result. I think I sort of paired her with Rose's Uncle (Alec???) in my head, even though that would be such a May/December creepy thing. But I think I picture Phoebe as, say, 20 when Rose was 15. But Uncle thought so highly of Pheobe