ending story. It introduces us to a
dozen or more village girls of varying ranks. One has had superior
opportunities; another exceptional training; two or three have been
'away to school;' some are farmers' daughters; there is a teacher, two
or three poor self-supporters,--in fact, about such an assemblage as any
town between New York and Chicago might give us. But while there is a
large enough company to furnish a delightful coterie, there is
absolutely no social life among them.... Town and country need more
improving, enthusiastic work to redeem them from barrenness and
indolence. Our girls need a chance to do independent work, to study
practical business, to fill their minds with other thoughts than the
petty doings of neighbors. A What-to-do Club is one step toward higher
village life. It is one step toward disinfecting a neighborhood of the
poisonous gossip which floats like a pestilence around localities which
ought to furnish the most desirable homes in our country."--_The
Chautauquan._

"'The What-to-do Club' is a delightful story for girls, especially for
New England girls, by Helen Campbell. The heroine of the story is Sybil
Waite, the beautiful, resolute, and devoted daughter of a broken-down
but highly educated Vermont lawyer. The story shows how much it is
possible for a well-trained and determined young woman to accomplish
when she sets out to earn her own living, or help others. Sybil begins
with odd jobs of carpentering, and becomes an artist in woodwork. She is
first jeered at, then admired, and finally loved by a worthy man. The
book closes pleasantly with John claiming Sybil as his own. The labors
of Sybil and her friends and of the New Jersey 'Busy Bodies,' which are
said to be actual facts, ought to encourage many young women to more
successful competition in the battles of life."--_Golden Rule._

"In the form of a story, this book suggests ways in which young women
may make money at home, with practical directions for so doing. Stories
with a moral are not usually interesting, but this one is an exception
to the rule. The narrative is lively, the incidents probable and
amusing, the characters well-drawn, and the dialects various and
characteristic. Mrs. Campbell is a natural story-teller, and has the
gift of making a tale interesting. Even the recipes for pickles and
preserves, evaporating fruits, raising poultry, and keeping bees, are
made poetic and invested with a certain ideal glamour, and we