The Little Red Wagon
Author: Mildred Winborne Malone
Genre: Fiction, novella
ISBN: 978-1-7344910-1-2
Dimensions: 6” wide x 9” tall
Binding: Paper, perfect bound
Pages: 94
Publication: 2020
Illustrations: Cover drawing; 10 photographs
Description: A lovely story, told in a simple, straightforward style, The Little Red
Wagon traces the fortunes of a poor mountain girl who encounters a fairy godmother-
type figure, Miss Rose, a reclusive former concert pianist who has moved to her
small North Carolina hill town. Beginning in the late 1920s, events are narrated in
the first person by the protagonist, Sarah James, in her mountain dialect, as if she
were writing them in her journal. She lives a quiet, impoverished life with her mother,
grandmother, and younger brother Butch in a small, unpainted cottage on the edge of
the village. One rainy day, the brother and sister encounter Miss Rose struggling home
with bags of groceries and offer the use of Butch’s little red wagon to ferry them to
her home, whose size and furnishings astound them. This chance encounter will
change their lives forever, as Miss Rose takes the children under her wing and opens
the door for them to a wider world. Sarah achieves success as a musician, finds
romance, and at the end solves the mystery of her benefactor’s identity. The book
contains an introduction by the editor and a biographical sketch of the author,
Mildred Winborne Malone (1912-2001).
Price: $12.00 (includes tax
and shipping)