An Alabaster Box

Kingsley, Florence Morse, 1859-1937Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 408K words
Chapters: 41

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today. An Alabaster Box by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman and Florence Morse Kingsley. Author: Kingsley, Florence Morse, 1859-1937. Language: English. Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature. Release Date: Apr 10, 2006

Editor's review

An Alabaster Box, co-written by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman and Florence Morse Kingsley, belongs to the public-domain corpus of American and Canadian literature. Its title draws on a religious image, and the story centres on its characters' moral, emotional and life choices, bearing the narrative manner of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century American popular fiction: a focus on family ties, community opinion and inner conflict, steady plot development, and dialogue that carries much of the momentum. As a Project Gutenberg eBook, it offers a readable sample of collaborative writing by women authors of the period and of popular literary taste. Readers may watch for how the two authors handle shifts of perspective and tone within the same story. The book suits readers with patience for classic English fiction who are willing to dwell on character relationships, rather than those seeking strong plotting or a fast pace.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century American fiction
Literature lovers interested in collaborative writing by American women authors
English-language readers willing to dwell on character relationships and moral conflict
Readers studying public-domain popular fiction and the serial publication tradition

Not a good fit for

Contemporary genre-fiction readers who prefer strong plotting and fast pacing
Beginners with limited English reading experience who need extensive annotation
Readers with little interest in religious imagery and classic moral themes

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to gauge the narrative pace and character relationships before deciding whether to read closely or casually.
Keep pen and paper to note forms of address and family relationships, avoiding confusion in scenes with many speakers.
Watch for tonal shifts that may arise from dual authorship, and revisit key chapters for comparison afterwards.
If the English proves difficult, read a synopsis first, then focus on the language and characters in the original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Was this book written by two authors?

Sources indicate the book was co-written by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman and Florence Morse Kingsley. Readers may notice differences in tone, descriptive density and character focus across chapters, a common pleasure of collaborative works.

What does the alabaster box in the title signify?

In Western culture the alabaster box is often associated with the ointment vessel of religious narrative, carrying connotations of devotion, preciousness and sacrifice. How it echoes the plot here should be understood through the characters' choices and key scenes, rather than presumed from the title alone.

Is the original English difficult to read?

As early twentieth-century American popular fiction, the book has long sentences and detailed narration; its vocabulary is generally not obscure, but it remains challenging for readers unused to classic English. Try one chapter first; if unfamiliar words are frequent, a synopsis or annotated edition can help.

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About the author

Kingsley, Florence Morse, 1859-1937 Author

Florence Morse Kingsley (1859–1937) was an American author whose life and career are documented only to a limited extent in public sources. Seven of her works are currently held in this collection, including An Alabaster Box, The Transfiguration of Miss Philura, To the Highest Bidder, And So They Were Married, Truthful Jane, Tor, a Street Boy of Jerusalem, and Those Brewster Children. Judging from these titles and themes, her writing often centers on family life, marriage, women's circumstances, and children's growth, using everyday settings and changes in character to move the plot forward, with gentle moral observation and popular narrative qualities. Stories featuring young girls or children as protagonists show her interest in themes of growth and emotional education. Her works occupy a modest place in early twentieth-century American popular fiction and may be of interest to readers of domestic fiction and women's writing of that period.