I get on charmingly with the English nobility and sufficiently well with the gentry, but the upper servants strike terror to my soul. There is something awe-inspiring to me about an English butler.-from Chapter IIPenelope Hamilton is a young American lady, genteelly poor, abroad in England with her friends Francesca, who is young and flighty, and Salemina, a sophisticated gentlewoman. Together they explore the British way of life, from the bustling Saturday-night street markets and the polite fiction of privacy courting couples enjoy on park strolls to elegant balls at which young ladies make their social debuts to the cheery innkeepers who take the travelers under their wing.First published in 1900, this is a long-forgotten classic from one of the most beloved authors of young adult fiction... the kind that adults enjoy even more than children do. Brew a pot of tea and settle in for a delightful read.American author and educator KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN (1856-1923) was born in Philadelphia. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 but is perhaps best known as the author of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "Penelope's English Experiences" (Being Extracts from the Commonplace Book of Penelope Hamilton) by Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.

Penelope Hamilton is a young American lady, who travels abroad to Europe with two of her friends, Francesca and Salemina. Salemina is a classy woman, sophisticated and open to world, while Francesca is inflexibly, almost aggressively American. Together these ladies discover the British Isles, experiencing differences of England, Scotland and Ireland, and going through few adventures of their own, including romances, affairs and a marriage. For the final adventure, they cross to the main land and find their selves in the hills of Switzerland and in the sunny Venice. Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856-1923) was an American educator and author of children's stories, most notably the classic children's novel Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. She started the first free kindergarten in San Francisco in 1878 (the Silver Street Free Kindergarten). With her sister during the 1880s, she also established a training school for kindergarten teachers. Kate Wiggin devoted her adult life to the welfare of children in an era when children were commonly thought of as cheap labor. Table of Contents: Penelope's English Experiences Penelope's Experiences in Scotland Penelope's Irish Experiences Penelope's Postscripts