History Literature / TheCharlotteYears

* RegencyEngland: Charlotte lives in Boston during UsefulNotes/TheWarOf1812. The page image of her shows her wearing a dress with the fashionable waistline of this era.

* RegencyEngland: Charlotte lives in Boston 1814, which is towards the end of UsefulNotes/TheWarOf1812. The page image of her shows her wearing a dress with the fashionable waistline of this era.

* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: A heartbreaking example when baby George dies in the fourth book. Then Martha reveals she had three other babies who also passed away. TruthInTelevision, as child mortality below the age of 5 was close to 50% at the time, and records show Martha Morse did lose four of her children in infancy.]]

* ShipperOnDeck: A retroactive example. [[spoiler: When Duncan reunites with Martha - after years of losing touch with each other - he's delighted and amused to discover she married Lew, his best friend from the previous series.( His support stands out because - as confirmed by WordOfGod - the rest of Martha's family did ''not'' approve of her marrying Lew due to his lower status, and there were serious obstacles to the couple marrying. Of course, the fact that Duncan has spent the last twenty years wandering around America instead of settling in the more traditional Scotland probably influenced his attitude.)]]

* ShipperOnDeck: A retroactive example. [[spoiler: When Duncan reunites with Martha - after years of losing touch with each other - he's delighted and amused to discover she married Lew, his best friend from the previous series.]]

** [[spoiler: His support stands out because - as confirmed by WordOfGod - the rest of Martha's family did ''not'' approve of her marrying Lew due to his lower status, and there were serious obstacles to the couple marrying. Of coursem the fact that Duncan has spent the last twenty years wandering around America instead of settling in the more traditional Scotland probably influenced his attitude.]]

* MysteriousPast: Martha's past is a mystery to the Tucker children at least. Although Martha admits she was happy growing up, she rarely talks about her childhood and only Lew can coax any stories out of her. It takes Charlotte years to piece together the fact that she used to be a "very important person" and grew up as the daughter of a wealthy laird/lord but abandoned that life to marry Lew. She later becomes more open about her past, and it's implied she was hesitant because she didn't want to be self-important.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Mary as the youngest child who needs a lot of attention.

* BrainyBrunette: Brunette Charlotte does better at school than her fair and red-haired sisters, and her father mentions she'd particular benefit from more study.
** Dark-haired Tom is the school's best student and unusually keeps studying into his teens, compared to the older (red-haired) Lewis who is more practical.
* BrutalHonesty: Charlotte observes that you always know her mother's opinion on something.
* CallBack: Many to the previous series. Martha is now a wonderful cook, storyteller and herbalist/healer - all skills she learned from Cook, her mother and Auld Mary. There are also plenty of allusions to past events and characters including her parents, Grisie, Alistair, Duncan and Robbie, Miss Crow and even Miss Norrie.

* DeadpanSnarker: Lew and Martha (usually directed at teasing each other or the children). Lewis, the oldest boy, develops into one too.
* DeathOfAChild: [[spoiler: A heartbreaking example for a children's series, when beloved baby George dies in the fourth book. Then Martha reveals she had three other babies who also passed away. TruthInTelevision, as child mortality below the age of 5 was close to 50% at the time, and records show Martha Morse did lose four of her children in infancy.]]
* TheDitz: Lydia is always day dreaming and the family joke it's a miracle she ever gets her chores done.
* FieryRedHead: Martha is just as much of a spitfire as she was growing up. Her youngest daughter Mary takes after her.
* ForeShadowing: [[spoiler: When Martha comforts Charlotte over George's death she tells her that grief will always be part of her life but she can't let it break her. In ''The Caroline Years'' Charlotte loses her husband Henry but remains strong enough to hold together all her children and establish their own homestead.]]

* GenderEqualEnsemble: Discussed trope in the fourth book, when Charlotte hopes the new baby with be a boy so the Tucker children will be three girls and three boys. [[spoiler: The baby is a boy, but the trope is horribly averted when he dies in less than a year.]]
* GoodParents: Lew and Martha have a very happy home, manage to make time for Charlotte and all her many siblings individually, and teach solid values while still being understanding and sympathetic to the children's perspectives and struggles.
** Some standout examples are them defending the children against the school master, understanding that Tom doesn't want to be a blacksmith like his father and enabling him to pursue other options and [[spoiler: Martha helping Charlotte recover from losing George.]]

--> Papa only laughed; he was never cross with Mama.
* HealingHerb: Martha is known throughout the town as a skilled healer and grows all sorts of herbs and plants to cure various ailments. (Clearly all the learning she did with Auld Mary in the previous series paid off).

* AmazonChaser: Lew's comments make it clear Martha's gutsy nature is a big reason he fell for her, even mentioning their footraces from the previous series.

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: Mary can be this as the youngest child in the house.
* BewareOfTheNiceOnes: Charlotte is generally sweet and kind, but she feels things very deeply and you do ''not'' want to be around when she breaks.
* TheBlacksmith: Lew is a very successful one, and the Tucker's oldest son (also named Lewis) trains with him and is ready to set up a forge of his own in the final book.
* BlondeBrunetteRedHead: The three Tucker girls, Lydia, Charlotte and Mary. (In age order no less). They even fit the stereotypes as Lydia is rather ditzy, Charlotte is a BrainyBrunette and Mary is a FieryRedHead.
* BookWorm: Martha, carrying over from the previous series; Charlotte and Tom take after her.
* BrainyBrunette: Brunette Charlotte does well at school (better than her fair-haired and red-headed sisters), is very perceptive and an accomplished seamstress.
* BrutalHonesty: Charlotte observes that you always know where her mother stands even if you disagree with her. Martha's also not afraid to call out anyone she thinks is being foolish, including random customers at Lew's forge.

* MeaningfulName: It's never commented on but Lydia is clearly named after Lydia Crow, Martha's governess from the previous series.

* ThePollyanna: Martha is a more nuanced version of this trope. Charlotte observes that she's always merry, cheerful and enjoys her life to the fullest, [[spoiler: even though she's lost many children in infancy and still carries the grief with her. In response Martha tells her she's still got a wonderful life to celebrate and can't let the tragedies break her.]]

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Averted in an heartbreaking example for a children's series, when beloved baby George dies in the fourth book. Then Martha reveals she had three other babies who also passed away. TruthInTelevision, as child mortality below the age of 5 was close to 50% at the time, and records show Martha Morse did lose four of her children in infancy.]]

* RichesToRags: Riches to Commoner in Martha's case, as between series she's gone from the daughter of a wealthy landowner to the wife of a common blacksmith. (Albeit a successful one, as the Tuckers are fairly comfortable and don't live through the poverty later Little House Girls do). But Martha still has to run a household, do chores and look after the family on her own, instead of having servants as she did growing up. However, Martha makes it abundantly clear she wanted this life and had no interest in living like as a gentlewoman.

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--> "I dinna doubt that." Papa said earnestly. His voice was so grave it made Charlotte laugh.

* BookWorm: Martha carrying over from the previous series, Charlotte and Tom take after her.

* GoodParents: Lew and Martha have a very happy home, manage to make time for Charlotte and all her many siblings individually, teach solid values while still being understanding and sympathetic to the children's perspectives and struggles.

* HappilyMarried: Martha and Lew big time. Charlotte notices that she's never seen them fight, her father only laughs at Martha's outspoken nature, they're constantly teasing each other like children and aren't shy about voicing how wonderful they think the other one is. (Of course it makes sense given the previous series and what they must have risked to be together).

* OutOfFocus: Lew's striker Will and his sweetheart/wife Lucy are prominent in earlier books, especially as they move in with the Tuckers but only appear in a few scenes in the final book as [[spoiler: they've set up a home of their own.]]

* RichesToRags: Well Riches to Commoner in Martha's case, as between series she's gone from the daughter of a wealthy landowner to the wife of a common blacksmith. (Albeit a successful one, as the Tuckers are fairly comfortable and don't live through the poverty later Little House Girls do). But Martha still has to run a household, do chores and look after the family on her own, instead of having servants as she did growing up. However Martha makes it abundantly clear she wanted this life and had no interest in living like as a gentlewoman.

* SchoolMarm: The local school has several, most of whom are very kind and capable. The schoolmaster is rather less popular however.

** [[spoiler: His support stands out because - as confirmed by WordOfGod - the rest of Martha's family did ''not'' approve of her marrying Lew due to his lower status, and there were serious obstacles to the couple marrying. Of course the fact that Duncan has spent the last twenty years wandering around America instead of settling in the more traditional Scotland probably influenced his attitude.]]

* SmartPeopleKnowLatin: Tom who is the most scholarly of the children is learning Latin and teases Charlotte with the new words he learns.

* SupremeChef: Martha is now an excellent cook and her food is a favourite at town events. In a reference to the previous series she credits her cooking to spending her childhood in the kitchen with the household cook.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Averted in an heartbreaking example for a children's series, when beloved baby George dies in the fourth book. Then Martha reveals she had three other babies who also passed away. TruthInTelevision, as child mortality below the age of 5 was only about 50% at the time, and records show Martha Morse did lose four of her children infancy.]]

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Averted in an heartbreaking example for a children's series, when beloved baby George dies in the fourth book. Then Martha reveals she had three other babies who also passed away. TruthInTelevision, as child mortality below the age of 5 was only about 50% at the time, and records show Martha Morse did lose four of her children.]]

* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Martha has grown up to be a lot like her cheerful, talkative mother and married a serious, quiet man like her father. (Although she and Lew are less conventional in how accepting he is of such a spirited wife, compared to Martha's parents more traditional husband-wife dynamic).

* LikeParentLikeSpouse: Martha has grown up to be a lot like her cheerful, talkative mother and married a serious, quiet man like her father. (Although she and Lew are less conventional in how accepting he is of such a spirited wife, while Martha's parents were fairly traditional).