The Little Red Wagon

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).