"Dolly Franklin's Decision": Sarah Orne Jewett's Definition of "A Good Girl"

The setting of "A Good Girl," as in many other Jewett stories, also contrasts the unhealthy atmosphere of the city with the rejuvenative powers of nature. Life in the cities in Jewett's works is often equated with the withering health of both humans and plants; one is reminded of how in "A White Heron" Sylvia's failure to thrive in the city is associated with the "wretched dry geranium that belonged to a town neighbor" (228). The Franklins are more than happy to leave their city house, for "the street was dark already...a high block of buildings had lately been put up on the other side." In contrast, the area around the new house is "sunshiny," and Mr. [Franklin] chooses it in large part for the large, leafy linden tree in the yard which gives the house a serene feeling. Domesticated nature is in further evidence, for "There was a bit of ground behind each house where one might have a very small garden, and there was a narrow strip for flowers at the side next the driveway to the shed." Contact with the sunshine and the garden (tended by [Dolly]'s younger brother [Bob]) helps Mrs. Franklin's health improve dramatically. In addition, when Dolly brings a tray of broth and biscuit to a sick neighbor, Mademoiselle Trevy, she "picked a bright pink geranium flower and two of its fresh green leaves" from Bob's garden "to make the tray look pretty." Needless to say, this bit of kindness and touch of the natural world helps Mlle. Trevy recuperate. I first became aware of this story's existence while leafing through a crumbling scrapbook of the Associated Literary Press newspaper syndicate in the S. S. McClure Papers at Indiana University's Lilly Library. A small piece of newsprint that read "A Good Girl, by Sarah O. Jewett" was stuck on a page along with the headings of other materials slated for publication on 24 November 1889; the clipping gave no indication of whether this was a work of fiction or nonfiction. I then began my search for newspaper printings of this story; finding them would, as I knew from previous experience, be no easy task. After all, McClure's syndicate at this time typically sold galley proofs of individual stories to over fifty newspapers for simultaneous publication, but the firm did not record the names of the subscribing newspapers. Thus far, a search of over a dozen newspapers for this date has turned up four printings. One, in the Boston Globe for 24 November 1889, is entitled "Dolly Franklin's Decision, | Or How a Boston Girl Brought S