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Mable Riley
"Historical fiction buffs, especially those interested in the women’s suffrage movement, will enjoy sharing the eye-opening experiences of Mable Riley." — PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It’s the year 1901, and fourteen-year-old aspiring writer Mable Riley is on her way to fulfilling her dreams, or so she hopes. After moving with her sister to a faraway town, Mable meets a real writer, one who wears daring fashions, unnerves the townsfolk by sharing her opinions, and has a few shocking secrets as well. Designed as a vintage journal, MABLE RILEY follows a feisty girl as she finds her own voice in a time when women struggled for independence — a charmingly told tale that is as funny as it is inspiring.
It’s the year 1901, and fourteen-year-old aspiring writer Mable Riley is on her way to fulfilling her dreams, or so she hopes. After moving with her sister to a faraway town, Mable meets a real writer, one who wears daring fashions, unnerves the townsfolk by sharing her opinions, and has a few shocking secrets as well. Designed as a vintage journal, MABLE RILEY follows a feisty girl as she finds her own voice in a time when women struggled for independence — a charmingly told tale that is as funny as it is inspiring.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2006
About the author
Marthe Jocelyn
61 books183 followersCanadian born
22 books published for young readers"
22 books published for young readers"
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 3, 2023
Albeit that Marthe Jocelyn's Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance should have totally been right up my proverbial reading alley so to speak (considering that I tend to adore historical fiction and especially if it is penned as a first person narration), I do have to admit that while Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance did start getting much more readable and enjoyable about half way through my perusal, I also really cannot say that I ever managed to fully warm up to fictional diarist and first person narrator Mable Riley and certainly and therefore do not and will not consider her a true kindred spirit (even though I of course also very much acknowledge that Mable really does majorly mature and start to become less self-invloved the further along her fictional journal entries and letters stretch).
But yes, when I first started reading Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, while Mable's narrative voice was definitely interesting and engaging enough, especially in the first part of her journal entries, in the first part of Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, I did and most annoyingly and frustratingly so consider Mable as more than a bit too full of herself and also with a most annoying tendency to boast about her literary talents and her supposed lyricism (using criticisms of others that were not really ever truly warranted, acting all holier than thou and certainly showing a massively inflated ego) and so much so that I was more than once in fact even tempted to stop reading Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, since while I do generally very much enjoy first person narrations, I also tend to react rather majorly allergically to first person narrators with overly inflated egos and a ridiculously and overly exaggeratedly high opinion of themselves.
And while by the end of Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance I could certainly then appreciate Mable Riley as a person and how much she has managed to mature, to become less of a diarist and letter writer simply tooting her own horn (and that yes, some of her considerations regarding Mrs. Rattle and the strike at the cheese factory do indeed pretty much brilliantly demonstrate just how much Mable has grown), I still cannot really say that I have found Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance an unadulterated reading pleasure. And therefore, only three stars maximum as a ranking for Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance (because aside from me often having my issues with Mable Riley's voice and her attitudes and behaviours at the beginning of Marthe Jocelyn's presented narrative, I have also found that I was often needing to skim over and sometimes even skip Mable Riley’s inserted and “penned by herself” romance tale, finding it majorly and annoyingly tedious, although the inserted romance text also and of course manages to point out rather vigorously the both content and stylistic based mistakes especially new and younger writers often tend to make, but indeed, this did not and does not really make Mable's little story any more pleasant to read, although I also do think that this is meant to be deliberate, that Marthe Jocelyn has in fact intended the inserted romance tale in Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance to be a rather frustrating reading slog).
Finally and edited to add is that while I have in fact very much enjoyed the sense and spirit of historical time and Southern Ontario turn of the century place and feel that Marthe Jocelyn has created a nicely realistic piece of historical Canadiana with Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, I also do kind of wish that Jocelyn had made a note with regard to Berlin, Ontario, as I am not sure that all readers would automatically know that Berlin, Ontario is today’s Kitchener, Ontario and that Berlin was changed to Kitchener during WWI due to anti German attitudes and sentiment.
But yes, when I first started reading Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, while Mable's narrative voice was definitely interesting and engaging enough, especially in the first part of her journal entries, in the first part of Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, I did and most annoyingly and frustratingly so consider Mable as more than a bit too full of herself and also with a most annoying tendency to boast about her literary talents and her supposed lyricism (using criticisms of others that were not really ever truly warranted, acting all holier than thou and certainly showing a massively inflated ego) and so much so that I was more than once in fact even tempted to stop reading Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, since while I do generally very much enjoy first person narrations, I also tend to react rather majorly allergically to first person narrators with overly inflated egos and a ridiculously and overly exaggeratedly high opinion of themselves.
And while by the end of Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance I could certainly then appreciate Mable Riley as a person and how much she has managed to mature, to become less of a diarist and letter writer simply tooting her own horn (and that yes, some of her considerations regarding Mrs. Rattle and the strike at the cheese factory do indeed pretty much brilliantly demonstrate just how much Mable has grown), I still cannot really say that I have found Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance an unadulterated reading pleasure. And therefore, only three stars maximum as a ranking for Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance (because aside from me often having my issues with Mable Riley's voice and her attitudes and behaviours at the beginning of Marthe Jocelyn's presented narrative, I have also found that I was often needing to skim over and sometimes even skip Mable Riley’s inserted and “penned by herself” romance tale, finding it majorly and annoyingly tedious, although the inserted romance text also and of course manages to point out rather vigorously the both content and stylistic based mistakes especially new and younger writers often tend to make, but indeed, this did not and does not really make Mable's little story any more pleasant to read, although I also do think that this is meant to be deliberate, that Marthe Jocelyn has in fact intended the inserted romance tale in Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance to be a rather frustrating reading slog).
Finally and edited to add is that while I have in fact very much enjoyed the sense and spirit of historical time and Southern Ontario turn of the century place and feel that Marthe Jocelyn has created a nicely realistic piece of historical Canadiana with Mable Riley: A Reliable Record of Humdrum, Peril, and Romance, I also do kind of wish that Jocelyn had made a note with regard to Berlin, Ontario, as I am not sure that all readers would automatically know that Berlin, Ontario is today’s Kitchener, Ontario and that Berlin was changed to Kitchener during WWI due to anti German attitudes and sentiment.
May 26, 2023
I quite enjoyed Mable Riley - she's a spunky heroine living in the early 1900s in rural Ontario (Canada). I had flashing reminders of L.M. Montgomery and Louisa May Alcott - if you enjoy their work, you will probably like Mable.
The story is told through her diary entries. Mable is 14 years old, and wants to be a writer. She has accompanied her sister, Viola to a farming community near Stratford, Ontario where Viola is to be the new teacher. Their mother is widowed, and the family needs the income. Mable reports on her life, which on the surface may seem dull. She enlivens her world by writing a romance involving a train robbery and handsome villains and a stronger than normal damsel in distress. But real life takes a turn: she encounters Mrs. Cora Rattle, who wears bloomers and speaks her mind, and is considered to be a crazy lady by the town. Mrs. Rattle invites Mable to a 'reading society' which turns out to be a cover for a group of women who support suffragist causes. Through this group, Mable learns a thing or two about reality for women, and grows up quite a bit in a short time. We note her maturity in her later approach to her romance writing, which she comes to see as silly.
It's a gentle introduction to feminism, probably more gentle than this generation of young women need - they can certainly handle a tougher approach. But it's a good reminder of how far we have come, how our ancestral sisters fought their battles, and how every woman (young and old) needs to ask questions and be open to learning, like Mable is, and unlike her upright sister, Viola.
The story is told through her diary entries. Mable is 14 years old, and wants to be a writer. She has accompanied her sister, Viola to a farming community near Stratford, Ontario where Viola is to be the new teacher. Their mother is widowed, and the family needs the income. Mable reports on her life, which on the surface may seem dull. She enlivens her world by writing a romance involving a train robbery and handsome villains and a stronger than normal damsel in distress. But real life takes a turn: she encounters Mrs. Cora Rattle, who wears bloomers and speaks her mind, and is considered to be a crazy lady by the town. Mrs. Rattle invites Mable to a 'reading society' which turns out to be a cover for a group of women who support suffragist causes. Through this group, Mable learns a thing or two about reality for women, and grows up quite a bit in a short time. We note her maturity in her later approach to her romance writing, which she comes to see as silly.
It's a gentle introduction to feminism, probably more gentle than this generation of young women need - they can certainly handle a tougher approach. But it's a good reminder of how far we have come, how our ancestral sisters fought their battles, and how every woman (young and old) needs to ask questions and be open to learning, like Mable is, and unlike her upright sister, Viola.
January 24, 2026
I absolutely loved this read.
There was so much excitement and the writing style made me feel like I was a little girl experiencing things for the first time again. I loved the propriety and monolpgue that gave a glimpse into the early 1900s.
There was so much excitement and the writing style made me feel like I was a little girl experiencing things for the first time again. I loved the propriety and monolpgue that gave a glimpse into the early 1900s.
August 10, 2009
Award-winning historical fiction set in rural Canada (Ontario) in the early 1900s. Subplot deals with women's rights and suffrage.
December 31, 2009
Started off a little slow but it sure picked up by halfway! "Mrs" Rattle is a fantastic character and I'd dearly love to read more about her. :)
June 7, 2023
Fun, witty, and at times hilarious read
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews