Betsy and the Great World/Betsy's Wedding: Betsy-Tacy Series

“There are three authors whose body of work I have re-read more than once over my adult life: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Maud Hart Lovelace.” - Anna Quindlen

With a Foreword by Anna Quindlen

The adventures of Betsy Ray continue in this treasured collection featuring the final two books in the series, Betsy and the Great World and Betsy’s Wedding.

Now a young woman with ambitions of becoming a writer, in Betsy and the Great World, Betsy embarks on the journey of a lifetime: a grand tour of Europe. From the artistic energy of Munich to the enchanting canals of Venice and the historic streets of London, she soaks in the culture of the Great World, gathering experiences that will shape her future.

But when the outbreak of World War I brings her travels to an abrupt end, Betsy returns home in Betsy’s Wedding to Minnesota and her high school sweetheart, Joe Willard. This charming novel follows their sweet romance as they finally get married, find their first little house on Canoe Place and navigate the joys and challenges of newlywed life in the early 20th century. It’s a story about growing up, finding your place in the world and building a home filled with love.

Featuring a foreword by New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen, cover art illustrated by Vera Neville from the original 1952 publication of Betsy and the Great World, interior illustrations by Neville, along with archival material and photos of Maud Hart Lovelace, her friends and the town of Mankato, MN, the basis for Deep Valley.

Many of places and homes from the books can still be seen today, including Betsy’s and Tacy’s childhood homes, which are available to tour thanks to the Betsy-Tacy Society.

Read all the books in the classic Betsy-Tacy series, which follows aspiring writer Betsy Ray and her friends from the age of five through to Betsy’s post-high school travel in pre-WWI Europe and her wedding, spanning the first decade of the 1900s and beyond. These iconic stories, based in large part on Maud Hart Lovelace’s own childhood, teenage years and young adulthood in Mankato (Deep Valley), MN have been beloved by generations of readers and authors alike:

The Betsy-Tacy Books
Betsy-Tacy
Betsy, Tacy and Tib
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown
Also available in the four-volume omnibus The Betsy-Tacy Treasury
Heaven to Betsy/Betsy in Spite of Herself (two-volume omnibus)
Betsy Was a Junior/Betsy and Joe (two-volume omnibus)
Betsy and the Great World/Betsy’s Wedding (two-volume omnibus)

The Deep Valley Books (books about other characters in Betsy’s Crowd and town):
Carney’s House Party/Winona’s Pony Cart (two-volume omnibus)
Emily of Deep Valley