The Prodigal Girl

By Grace Livingston Hill

Book Overview

"The Prodigal Girl" is a compelling story of rebellion, family devotion, and spiritual awakening set against the backdrop of the Roaring Twenties. The narrative follows Betty Thornton, a high-spirited young woman who feels stifled by her father's strict rules and longs to experience the excitement of the modern world. Lured by the promise of freedom and the thrill of the Jazz Age, Betty finds herself entangled with a fast-paced crowd, leading her toward a path of danger and moral uncertainty.

Concerned for his daughter's future, Mr. Thornton takes a radical step by moving the family to a secluded farm in Vermont, hoping to distance Betty from the temptations of her social circle. In the quiet of the countryside, Betty is forced to confront the consequences of her choices and the emptiness of her pursuit of pleasure. Through trials and unexpected romance, she begins to see the depth of her parents' love and the strength found in her heritage. Grace Livingston Hill delivers a timeless tale of a young woman's journey back to her roots and her discovery of a faith that can transform a life. This work remains a classic example of inspirational fiction, highlighting the enduring struggle between worldly allure and traditional values.

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• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1025930134
• ISBN13: 9781025930138
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Length: 318 Pages
• Weight: 0.98 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

A personal favorite...

This is one of my all time favorite novels! I am reminded of my struggles when I was a young girl, whenever I read it. Sometimes we are too young, stupid, and spoiled to see the many blessings that we have and how to use them. We are meant to live for God and this book shows this using the story of a believing man, a loving husband and father who fights tooth and nail to save his family from self-destruction. It is all too easy to get caught up in this world and the shiny baubles and moments of recognition it offers. Though the tale was woven decades ago, its message and even the events contained on its pages are applicable today.

Very old story of very current problems

Grace Livingston Hill was no doubt the forerunner to the exploding Christian Fiction market before there even was one!I was given this book as a prize in a Sunday School contest as a young adolescent and thus began my love for fiction and for GLH.A young girl is "feeling her oats" and decides to go against the training and instructions of her father, but manages to keep him from finding out for some time. When he does, he cannot believe what he overhears two boys saying about his little girl whom he trusts. At this point, he makes some decisions which result in the girl making her own. The story is based on the Prodigal Son in the Bible, and even though Hill wrote it around 1938 or 1940 at first, the problems are the same, just the approaches have changed. I am happy there have been continuous reprintings and new covers to attract the current generation of young girls. It is still fun to read.I would, to this day, buy and give this book as a gift or as a prize. I kept my very first copy and it is among my most treasured books.

Prodigal Girl

One of the most compelling of GLH's books. Betty is the out-of-control teenage daughter of every parent's nightmare: argumentative, disrespectful, uninterested in family or religion, and in with dangerous friends. All seems dim and hopeless to her father and to the reader. This book is about how God sometimes lets us get to the end of our rope so that we're willing to surrender our lives to him, and also about the power of his transforming presence when we do. Christian teens should read this one! It's entertaining and surprisingly relevant today.

Excellent!!!

This was the first of Grace Livingston Hill's books that I read, and I must confess that it's my favorite!! It's about a teenage girl who has gotten in with the *wrong crowd*; her father overhears two of her classmates discussing her on a train ride home, and this opens his eyes to much that was going on with her and his other children. So, he takes his family away to his old family home in Vermont to stay indefinitely. There are quite a few experiences, including the oldest daughter running away to elope with her *boyfriend*, and both of them nearly dying in a car accident. Even though it was written in the mid 1920's, it is still pertinent today!

Excellent reading for mothers and teen aged daughters

This book is riveting from the start! It is the story of a family in sudden crisis and how God works in their lives. I have read this book numerous times and highly recommend it to any mother and her teen-aged daugher. Try it yourself and see!