In 1889, most nine-year-old girls in England learned sewing and basic sums. Phoebe Miller, however, was already reading like a scholar. Her real journals, now published in Just a Plain Girl from High Wycombe by Chloe Weston McKenzie (edited with Allison Carroll), reveal the exact books that built one of the sharpest minds of her time.
Early Adventures That Sparked Her Imagination
Phoebe started young. At age six, she read A Christmas Carol aloud to her family over two weeks. She loved the story so much that she repeated it night after night. Next came Treasure Island. The pirate adventure hooked her instantly. She also enjoyed Heidi, King Solomon’s Mines, and The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood.
For example, she wrote that she wished she could fight beside Robin Hood. These exciting tales taught her courage and justice. In addition, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn showed her a boy from the “lower class” who still chose right over wrong. As a result, she saw herself in Huck and kept reading despite the strange American slang.
Mind-Expanding Classics and Science Fiction
Phoebe did not stop at stories. She tackled harder books, too. The Portrait of a Lady introduced her to grown-up questions about marriage. Flatland amazed her with its ideas about dimensions. She even wondered if the author was secretly a woman.
Moreover, she discovered Jules Verne early. Journey to the Center of the Earth, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and Around the World in Eighty Days filled her head with wonder. She loved how Verne mixed real science with bold imagination. At the same time, she read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and called it “a sermon” she took to heart.
Faith, Philosophy, and Ancient Wisdom
Theology shaped her deeply. She read Charles Spurgeon’s sermons in The Sword and Trowel and George N. H. Peters’ The Theocratic Kingdom. These works strengthened her Christian faith.
Furthermore, she studied Latin and Greek. Before age eleven, she began Livy’s History of Rome in the original Latin. Later, she read Plato’s Republic in Greek and John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government. These texts taught her logic, history, and the rights of people.
Why Phoebe’s List Still Matters
Phoebe was a “plain” girl from a horse farm, yet these books turned her into a brilliant woman. Her secret reading list proves that curiosity and the right books can change a life.
You can read every heartfelt entry in Just a Plain Girl from High Wycombe. Phoebe’s own words will surprise you, inspire you, and remind you that great minds can grow anywhere, even in a simple Victorian town.