Two I can think of that I've read with my daughter are What Katy Did and The Good Master.
I'm not sure I'd call such books feminist, exactly. If they are, it is in a very restrained way, for the problem with these girls is often that they do not possess sufficient feminine virtues to take their places in the world (as wives). The maturity they gain often has to do with curtailing their desires and learning to think of others, becoming connectors, caregivers, and peacemakers. I do think the (mostly) women who wrote these works are fantasizing about a world in which womanly virtues are given due credit, but I don't think they're yet able or willing to posit a world in which self-betterment leads to a shedding of social restrictions or even to a peace that comes from within and not from fitting in. Nor are they able to imagine a world in which the maturation of boys into men would include these same lessons. To me, many of these books seem feminist like contemporary romantic comedies are feminist: they encourage in order to channel.
And in many cases, such as in What Katy Did, the girl must suffer so!
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I'm not sure I'd call such books feminist, exactly. If they are, it is in a very restrained way, for the problem with these girls is often that they do not possess sufficient feminine virtues to take their places in the world (as wives). The maturity they gain often has to do with curtailing their desires and learning to think of others, becoming connectors, caregivers, and peacemakers. I do think the (mostly) women who wrote these works are fantasizing about a world in which womanly virtues are given due credit, but I don't think they're yet able or willing to posit a world in which self-betterment leads to a shedding of social restrictions or even to a peace that comes from within and not from fitting in. Nor are they able to imagine a world in which the maturation of boys into men would include these same lessons. To me, many of these books seem feminist like contemporary romantic comedies are feminist: they encourage in order to channel.
And in many cases, such as in What Katy Did, the girl must suffer so!