Apron-Strings

Eleanor GatesProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 311K words
Chapters: 32

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.Apron-Strings by Eleanor GatesAuthor: Gates, Eleanor, 1875-1951,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 29, 2007

Editor's review

Apron-Strings is an English-language work by the American author Eleanor Gates, classified under American and Canadian literature and circulated as an electronic text through Project Gutenberg. Gates was active in the early twentieth-century American literary scene, and her writing often centers on family, women's circumstances, and everyday ethics. The title, built around the domestic image of the apron string, signals the reader's attention to the place and ties of her characters within family relationships. As a public-domain e-book, it is easy to access, is written in English, and is short enough to finish in a few days, making it a suitable sample for understanding early twentieth-century American popular literature and women's writing. While reading, note how the narrative perspective presents power and emotion within the family, and how the apron image is given symbolic meaning in the book. Because the available information provides no plot details, readers are advised to approach the text with an open mind and treat it as a literary observation of everyday ethics and gender roles rather than a plot-driven reading experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in early twentieth-century American literature and women's writing
English learners who wish to read a public-domain novel in the original English
General readers interested in family ethics and gender roles
Organizers who need a short electronic text for book club discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers of genre fiction who prefer strong plots and fast-paced narratives
Learners below the intermediate level whose English reading is not yet fluent and who do not wish to look up words
Academic readers seeking detailed author biographies and critical studies of the work

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to get a feel for the narrative voice, then decide whether to take notes on character relationships.
Watch for the recurring apron-string image in the plot and record how its symbolism changes.
When you meet unfamiliar expressions in English, mark them first and look them up together after finishing the reading.
After reading, compare it with works by American women writers of the same period and discuss similarities and differences in domestic themes.

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

How difficult is the language of this book?

The original is in English and belongs to early twentieth-century American literature. Sentence structure and vocabulary are generally not very difficult, but they carry the language habits of the period. Readers with intermediate English reading ability can read it through with a dictionary. If you are reading to learn English, read one chapter first to assess the difficulty before setting a schedule.

What does the title Apron-Strings mean?

Apron-strings literally refers to the ties of an apron, often associated with home, housework, and caregiving roles. In literary works, such images often carry symbolic meaning and may point to family ties or women's circumstances. How it is used in this book must be judged from the text itself; pay attention to the contexts in which it appears.

Is this book suitable for book club reading?

Fairly suitable. It is a public-domain electronic text, easy to obtain, and not long, and its themes of family and gender roles readily prompt discussion. A book club can design questions around narrative perspective, the portrayal of family relationships, and the use of imagery, with a brief introduction to the background of American literature of the period.

Comments

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About the author

Eleanor Gates Author · American · 1875–1951

Eleanor Gates (1875–1951) was an American novelist and playwright. Born in Shakopee, Minnesota, she studied at the University of California, Berkeley, and later worked as a newspaper reporter in San Francisco. Her best-known work is the novel and play The Poor Little Rich Girl, which was adapted for film several times and helped make her one of the earliest writers to found a film company. Six of her works are held here, drawing largely on American rural life and everyday experience, such as The Plow-Woman, The Biography of a Prairie Girl, Apron-Strings, and the cowboy story Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher. Her writing is plain and lively, with a light touch in portraying her characters' circumstances and feelings, and some works reached wider audiences through screen adaptations.