The Young Visiters or Mr. Salteena's Plan

Three reasons to read The Young Visiters (sic) by Daisy Ashford, written in 1890 and published in 1919:

1) For its storylines of romance and social advancement -- the foreword proclaims it “a Victorian novel in miniature.”

2) For its nine-year-old author, though to be clear this isn't a story

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about children, nor necessarily even one for child readers. Ashford's spelling is often phonetic (she especially loves sumshious) and the subtext is funny, even racy; yet she senses the needs of readers and is versant on the concerns of adults (including men).

3) For its literary dustup, where (especially in the USA) J.M. Barrie’s preface (not included in my edition) prompted questions about whether Ashford or Barrie really wrote the book. (This 1920 NY Times article (pdf) concludes for the child, as generally does history.)

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This 1890 book, "the greatest novel written by a nine-year-old", chronicles the adventures of Mr. Salteena and his friends Edith and Bernard as the first attempts to climb the social ladder and the latter two fall madly in love. Of course, having been written by a nine-year-old, it's comical in

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that way that kids can be when they're deadly serious about something. The author evidently incorporated her favorite phrases from books and overheard conversations, but still retained the spelling and grammar of a child, which leads to such sentences as "I am stopping with his Lordship said Mr Salteena and have a set of compartments in the basement so there." The crowning moment of the book comes when Bernard proposes to Edith during a picnic next to a river; Ms. Ashford really pulled out all the stops and packed in just about every 19th century romantic cliche in existence, to hilarious effect. As J.M. Barrie writes in the preface, "It seems to me to be a remarkable work for a child, remarkable even in its length and completeness, for when children turn author they usually stop in the middle, like the kitten when it jumps."

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A delightful story, and noted also for the illustrations of Posy Simmonds. Written by a young girl, but quite famous for the immense number of phrases that are innocent but have a soert of double entendre to them for the louche adult eye. Simmonds' illustrations tend to enhance the process!

I'm less convinced than most apparently are that this was actually written by a child, but be that as it may, this is a decent, quick read. However, its main lasting value is to allow one to fully appreciate Ring Lardner's parody "The young immigrunts".

Hilarious story written by a nine-year-old girl in 1890. 3 1/2 stars.

This novella was supposedly written by Daisy Ashford at the age of nine (some suspect J.M. Barrie, who sponsored its publication, actually wrote it. It was published in 1919 in the format of the original manuscript with spelling errors and all. The story concerns a love triangle between Mr.

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Salteena "not quite a gentleman," the more attractive Bernard Clarke, and the even more attractive heroine Ethel. I got this because it was mentioned positively in Josephine Tey's Miss Pym Disposes as a book that makes readers smile.

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This was, apparently, written by a 9-year-old girl in 1890. Precocious for that age, yes, but there's not much else to say about it, I'm afraid.

It was a very cute story and all the spelling errors were left in. Written by a child of 9, I found it sweet and amusing.

That rare creature, the truly hilarious book. Young authoress Daisy Ashford has apparently been reading quite a bit above her age level and attempted to create her own novel without quite understanding the way the world works. It's a delight from start to finish ... slightly wearing nearer the end,

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but it's awfully short, so it's fine. It's the only thing like it (I'm sure lots of other young writers have turned out something similar, but without being quite so charming, and without getting published!) Also turned into quite a faithful film with Tracy Ullmann, if you're so inclined.

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This short book is rather a novelty, having been written by the author as a 9 year old in 1890, though not published until 1919. While obviously displaying the inexperienced in life approach one might expect, it shows an understanding of narrative and plot, and an eye for descriptive detail unusual

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for one so young, The author wrote other stories at a young age, including one when even younger than when she wrote this one, some of which have been lost. Don't expect great drama, obviously, but this shows some familiarity with, and ability to laugh at, some of the habits of the time.

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