While Mary brushed my pistachio silk carriage dress, Mama tugged the laces of my corset as tight as they would go. She grunted and I groaned, and we sounded like the giant hogs I'd seen at the zoo-except that, rather than play in the mud and eat to my heart's content, I was forced to sit daintily in the parlor without lunch. For two hours. With my mother for company.

Author: Susan Dennard