Heroine of a
series of children's books which started with the book named after her in
1868. In this first book, Elsie's
mother is dead and her
father is never around; Elsie (age 8) is a devoted
Christian and her father thinks Christians are
hypocrites. When her father comes back to his
family who have been raising her, at first he uses any reason to be displeased with her and she will do anything to try and please him. Her skill on the
piano brings them a bit closer together, but when he asks her to play the piano one day and she refuses because it's
Sunday and it would be breaking the
Sabbath, he makes her stay sitting on the piano stool until she is willing to play. She eventually falls off, hits her
head and is injured grieviously; at this point he realizes how much she means to him and finds
God.
I haven't read any more in the series, but this one struck me as boring enough for plenty when I read it as a child.