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Usually the first book of a trilogy is best, but in the case of Geoffrey Strong, Mrs. Tree and Mrs. Tree’s Will, I think the second one wins. Geoffrey Strong was awfully nice, but it was sort of narrow in focus. With Geoffrey and young Vesta out of the way, Laura E. Richards spreads out a bit. Mrs. Tree, sprightly and domineering aunt to Phoebe and Vesta Blyth, is the focal point, but the town of Elmerton — the once and future Quahaug — revolves around her, so you get to see a lot of it. There’s romance here, but it’s in the background. There’s a plot, sort of, but it’s not particularly important. Mrs. Tree is a bunch of bits strung together, and all the bits are really, really good.

I liked Mrs. Tree’s Will less. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that Mrs. Tree dies, and, having lost the focal point of the previous book, Richards never really finds a new one. There’s a lot of reminiscing about Mrs. Tree, but that doesn’t help — it just made me miss her more. To be fair, I guess that adds some realism. Reading Mrs. Tree’s Will is a little bit like mourning for someone, so I won’t say it’s not good, but for the same reasons it’s not a particularly pleasant experience.

One thing I did like about Mrs. Tree’s Will was the way it expanded on the character of Homer Hollopeter, who was a figure of fun in Mrs. Tree, but gets to be a credible person in Mrs. Tree’s Will without losing any of his idiosyncrasies. On the other hand, there’s his brother Pindar, who would fit right in with the other inhabitants of Quahaug if Richards has written him with a lighter hand. The same can be said for the romances of Mrs. Tree’s Will, in one of which Pindar plays a part.

So, Geoffrey Strong was a lovely, self-contained thing. Mrs. Tree is entirely delightful. Mrs. Tree’s Will feels a little like Laura E. Richards felt obligated to write a third book about these characters, but didn’t really feel like it. I’m not sorry I read it…but I also kind of am.

I was going to wait until I’d read Mrs. Tree and Mrs. Tree’s Will to write about Geoffrey Strong, but I’m doing a mystery novel thing now, and I don”t know how long it’s going to take me to get around to them. Also I’m sort of sad about the implied death of Mrs. Tree.

Geoffrey Strong is short and sweet — very both — and reminded me a little bit of Joseph Crosby Lincoln (always a plus) and Myrtle Reed (in a good way, which isn’t a given). In a lot of ways, it’s the same story as Lavender and Old Lace, complete with a woman who puts a lantern in her window every night in memory of a lover who was lost at sea. Only better.

The woman in question here is Miss Vesta Blyth, an elderly spinster of the sweet and softly regretful variety who lives with her sister Phoebe, an elderly spinster of the acid-tongued, man-hating variety. Their house is the nicest house in town, and when Geoffrey Strong shows up in town to sub in for the local doctor, who’s got to go abroad or somewhere for his health, he decides he wants to live in it.

He insinuates himself into the Blyth girls’ good graces in the nicest way possible and moves in with them, and everything’s cool until their niece (also Vesta Blyth) shows up to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. She’s worn herself out at college, and Geoffrey is intensely disapproving, because apparently women are naturally unfitted for study. He’s super condescending, and it’s nice to see that being set up for a fall instead of tacitly approved by the author. Also there’s a bicycle crash, and delirium. It’s great. As for the rest of the book — well, the things you think are going to happen do happen, and the tone stays right all the way through. Laura E. Richards is pretty awesome, you know?

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