Mildred Keith is a children's novel series written by Martha Finley (1828-1909) between 1876 and 1894. The story ties in with Finley's popular Elsie Dinsmore series, Mildred being a second-cousin of Elsie. Of these two girls' fiction series, the Mildred books were more realistic and autobiographical in nature, compared to the more idealistic Elsie Dinsmore series.[1] The series was reissued 2001-2003 as Millie Keith: A Life of Faith, an adaption for modern readers by Kersten Hamilton.
The story is set in the United States of America between the 1830s and 1860s. Mildred is the eldest child of Stuart and Marcia Keith (née Stanhope), and has several younger siblings: Rupert, Zillah, Ada, Eva (who died at age five, before the first book begins), Cyril, Don, Fan and Annis. She is in her teens when the series opens, and by the end her own children are in their teens and twenties. It was one of a series of late 19th century books including Little Women, Elsie Dinsmore, and the Chautauqua Girls that promoted more traditional behavior for young women, focusing on how to be "Christian citizens and mothers, contributing to their communities through philanthropy and social reform."[2]