Just curious, did anybody else who had an abusive childhood absolutely ADORE stories where a girl would, like, be in an absolute SHIT situation and have to create a cozy, safe place for herself?
A Little Princess is KIND OF the thing, but also kind of isn’t, but it’s close enough. Secret Garden is A LITTLE BIT?
Mandy by Julie Andrews
Some of Scott O’Dell’s stuff, though the NATURE of the shit situation is a little different
And I know there were more of them, but those are the ones I can see clearly in my head.
A Little Princess. The Secret Garden. Anne of Green Gables. Emily of New Moon. Jane Eyre. 🙂
I think I like Mansfield Park for a similar reason, but I only read that as an adult.
From your tags, I don’t think “rags to riches” is QUITE the term I want here. Some of them fit that, yes. But the concept I’m thinking of is … creating a safe space to just BE and to be comfortable and to be yourself, a place that will shelter you from all the bullshit you’re dealing with in your life.
It’s more … okay, there’s a quote I like from Captain Awkward where they’re talking to a person who is being abused, hold on.
“
Listen: In the future, there is a small, quiet room that is just yours,
where you are safe and you are free. In that room your shoulders will
finally start to come down from around your ears. Nobody can come into
that room unless you let them. In that clean quiet place, you will work
and you will study. You will love and you will heal. I know this is
true because I am there with you. We are there together because you
saved us. You saved us because you were brave and because you never
stopped believing in that room.“
And that’s a little closer to what I mean.
In some of the stories I’m thinking of, the protagonist goes “Okay, I need X thing. How do I make X thing?” and the story goes on to detail how she makes the thing. (Which, considering all the crafting I’ve done, is appealing.)
… See, if there was a story like this in a SF/F setting, I’d have read it until the book fell apart.
Oh crap. Apparently I have a writing idea. WTF.
Yeah, I didn’t mean rags to riches in that the riches were material wealth, more that they gained security, love, etc. Going from an emotional and spiritual wasteland and abusive void to a place where they were strong and healthy and happy. I just was trying to think of tags, and put that one on even though it wasn’t 100% what I meant, because I couldn’t think of better.
knitting in the dark 