Emily Fox-Seton

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.8

Word count: 460K words
Chapters: 46

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.Emily Fox-Seton by Frances Hodgson BurnettAuthor: Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 5, 2005

Editor's review

Emily Fox-Seton is a novel by Burnett, beyond The Secret Garden, that deserves rediscovery; it centres on a kind but impoverished young woman and her choices amid the ways of the world and turns of fate. The work continues the author's warm tone, with delicate characterization; its observation of class difference and women's circumstances bears the marks of its time while retaining the readability of popular narrative. The Project Gutenberg edition is an electronic text in the original English, convenient for searching and comparing. It suits reading in sections on a quiet afternoon, and also serves as an introductory text for understanding late nineteenth-century Anglo-American popular fiction; readers can relax with the plot while noting the narrative's subtle attitudes toward kindness, marriage and social standing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like Burnett and want to finish her non-children's novels
Literature lovers interested in late nineteenth-century Anglo-American popular fiction
Learners who need an electronic text in original English for leisure reading or textual comparison
Readers concerned with women's circumstances and class issues who prefer warm-hearted narrative

Not a good fit for

Impatient readers who want only fast-paced, high-conflict plots
Readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed notes and are unused to original English
Those intolerant of Victorian social customs and slow narrative

Reading tips

Read the main storyline through first, then go back to the passages describing the heroine's circumstances at each choice
Note unfamiliar period background or social titles as you go, and look them up together afterwards
Read alongside other novels by Burnett to observe continuities in characterization and theme
Read a chapter or two a day and write a couple of lines of response, so the original language does not make you stop

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

Is this book in Chinese or English?

The material shows that this Project Gutenberg edition is in English; it is an electronic text in the original English, not a Chinese translation. Chinese readers need some English reading ability, or a dictionary and a translation to read alongside.

Is its style similar to The Secret Garden?

Both are by Burnett and share a warmth and a grounding in personal growth, but this book is aimed at adults and deals with marriage, class and social circumstances; its tone is less light than the children's book, so it should not be read entirely with the expectations of children's literature.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It can serve as extensive reading material; the sentences are generally readable, but the book was written early, so there are period expressions and social titles. Aim mainly at understanding the story rather than checking every word; record and accumulate key words that recur.

Comments

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About the author

Burnett, Frances Hodgson, 1849-1924 Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924) was an author of English-language children's literature whose works are often categorized in Chinese contexts as inspirational coming-of-age stories. This library holds 49 of her works, including her best-known titles A Little Princess, The Secret Garden, and Little Lord Fauntleroy, as well as versions and school editions centering on Sara Crewe. Her writing usually places children at the center, telling stories of how they keep their dignity, draw on imagination, and grow through hardship or sudden change, in a warm and sympathetic tone. Public information is limited, so her biographical details are not elaborated here; yet the repeated publication and adaptation of these works show that her portraits of girls and boys have circulated widely and left a lasting influence on later children's coming-of-age narratives.