Heart of Gold

In Short

This is a turn-of-the-century novel about Peace Greenfield, a lively, athletic girl who is confined to a wheel-chair after falling from a roof. While her physical world shrinks to the dimensions of a room and a garden, her social world expands through a series of scrapbooks, letters, and community interventions. Written in 1915, the book serves as a sentimental portrait of early 20th-century girlhood and charity, emphasizing the power of optimism and service to overcome personal tragedy. It endures as a relic of a time when moral instruction was woven directly into domestic fiction.

The Story

The narrative begins with a burst of restless energy: Peace, a tomboy known for her agility, accepts a dare to climb onto the roof of her house to retrieve a ball. The resulting fall shatters her health, leaving her paralyzed and bedridden. The opening chapters center on the slow, agonizing adjustment to her new reality. Initially, Peace experiences the depths of despair, feeling as though her life has effectively ended. However, she refuses to remain passive. Encouraged by her sisters and her grandmother, she begins a project of creating scrapbooks, which eventually draws the attention of the entire town. These scrapbooks become her bridge to the outside world, connecting her with local children, neighbors, and the broader community.

As Peace navigates her recovery, she becomes an unlikely matchmaker and community organizer. She learns that she will likely never walk again, a discovery that temporarily crushes her. Yet, she channels this frustration into "The Scrap-book Brigade," a group of children who help her collect and organize materials. Through this work, she encounters Miss Wayne, a nurse, and Dr. Shumway, both of whom become central to her life. Peace’s influence even reaches the local parsonage and the town’s hospital. She becomes a fixture of her community, observing the lives of those around her—including the family of a local milkman—and offering blunt, often comical, moral advice.

The story progresses through a series of medical interventions and social developments. A pivotal moment occurs when she is admitted to the hospital for surgery on her spine. While there, she continues her habit of intense observation, prying into the romantic lives of the hospital staff and befriending the other patients. Her stay at the hospital eventually culminates in a grand, festive wedding between Miss Wayne and Dr. Race, a scene that highlights the book’s focus on happy, neat resolutions.

Ultimately, the medical procedures, combined with the love of her community, lead to an unexpected recovery. In a climactic scene that mirrors the energy of the book's opening, Peace realizes she can stand without assistance. She casts aside her crutches and runs out of the house, ignoring dinner and propriety, to share the news with her close friends. The story concludes on a note of total restoration, with Peace fully reclaimed by the world of motion and activity, having emerged from her ordeal with a "heart of gold"—a term she adopts as her own personal code for kindness and perseverance.

How It Unfolds

The fall from grace Peace’s reckless climb to retrieve a ball results in a catastrophic injury. Her active life abruptly ends, leaving her trapped in a bed while her friends continue their games outside.

Building a world in miniature Confined to her room, Peace begins assembling scrapbooks. This project draws in her family and neighbors, turning her sickroom into a hub of local social activity.

Facing the reality of the chair Peace overhears a conversation between her grandfather and sister that reveals her condition is likely permanent. She experiences a period of intense grief but continues to engage with the world through letters.

The hospital intervention Dr. Shumway and other medical professionals become involved in her life. Peace is eventually moved to a hospital for surgery, where she remains as observant and inquisitive as ever.

The wedding and the miracle While recovering, Peace orchestrates and attends a hospital wedding. Shortly thereafter, she discovers she has regained the ability to walk, leading to a jubilant, impulsive run through the streets to share her news.

The People

Peace Greenfield is the protagonist, a girl of relentless energy and blunt speech. Her transition from a physically capable tomboy to a wheel-chair-bound observer is the engine of the plot. She wants to be useful, and her struggle is against the enforced passivity of her condition.

Mrs. Campbell, Peace’s grandmother, provides the stable, tranquil foundation for the family. She is the source of the emotional support that allows Peace to eventually flourish.

Miss Wayne, a nurse, becomes a role model for Peace. She represents the "heart of gold" that Peace aspires to emulate, and her personal journey toward marriage provides a mirror for Peace’s own growth.

Dr. Shumway is the primary adult advocate for Peace. He is a man of action who works behind the scenes to secure medical care for both Peace and the needy infants he encounters.

Allee is Peace’s younger sister, often acting as her legs and eyes in the outside world. Her devotion to Peace helps ground the narrative in the domestic realities of family life.

In Its Own Voice

"The white rose and bud I send (Jud says there haint any in blossom, so I'll have to take daisies) I trust you will permit to rest upon your darling's pillow."

Peace demonstrates her earnest, if somewhat misguided, attempt to provide comfort to a grieving friend by using a template from a book of etiquette.

"Then I'll work and stumble and thrive, for I want a heart of gold like Miss Wayne's."

After listening to a brief, formal sermon, Peace crystallizes her internal motivation, resolving to adopt the kindness she perceives in her nurse as a personal philosophy.

What It's Really About

The book is deeply concerned with the power of the "useful life." It argues that even when the body is broken, the mind and spirit can remain active through social service and the cultivation of kindness. It explores the tension between the physical constraints of disability and the limitless potential of a compassionate character. At its core, it is a Victorian-influenced argument for the necessity of "earning" one's place in the community through benevolence. It suggests that suffering is not a dead end, but a catalyst for developing a more profound, outward-looking empathy.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy period pieces that capture the specific, earnest sentimentality of early 20th-century literature will find this book quite charming. It offers a clear, honest look at how society once conceptualized disability—often with a mix of pity and, in Peace’s case, a demand that she be "useful" despite her limitations. The prose is straightforward and occasionally quite funny, especially when Peace’s unfiltered observations clash with the stuffy manners of the adults around her.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the book's period-specific attitudes; the dialogue regarding the "dirty" children of the working-class McGee family, for instance, reflects the harsh class biases of the era. The book also relies on a very predictable structure where every conflict is resolved through marriage, health, or charity. It feels like a historical artifact of a time when "a heart of gold" was considered the highest virtue a girl could possess. If you are interested in the evolution of children’s fiction or simply want a gentle, nostalgic story that moves with the rapid, naive energy of its young protagonist, you will likely find this a rewarding, if dated, experience.