Emmeline

Singmaster, Elsie, 1879-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 105K words
Chapters: 11

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.Emmeline by Elsie SingmasterAuthor: Singmaster, Elsie, 1879-1958,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 25, 2017

Editor's review

Emmeline is a novel by Elsie Singmaster (1879–1958), reissued by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Singmaster wrote about American regional life and the fate of individuals, and this work continues her attention to personal circumstances and the emotional world, in plain narrative with the marks of its time. For readers studying early twentieth-century American literature, it offers a sample of how popular fiction carried social issues; for general readers, it is a low-threshold way into scenes of an older way of life. The electronic edition is free and suited to reading in fragments on a phone or e-reader during commutes and travel. Note that the original is in English and belongs to an earlier period, so its language habits differ from contemporary fiction; the Project Gutenberg text was prepared by volunteers, is plainly formatted, and has no modern introduction or notes, so readers had best supplement it with background on the author and era for a fuller understanding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in early twentieth-century American fiction
Readers studying Singmaster's work or American regional literature
Readers seeking free public-domain English originals
Readers accustomed to reading in fragments on electronic devices

Not a good fit for

Readers wanting modern, fast-paced plotting
Chinese readers with limited English who do not want to look up words
Scholarly researchers needing detailed annotation and introductions

Reading tips

Learn about Singmaster's life and background before starting the text, to grasp more quickly what the characters' circumstances mean.
The original is in English; read with a dictionary or bilingual aids, and for long sentences read the whole paragraph before returning to details.
Read chapter by chapter, and after each one note in a sentence or two the main events and relationships so the threads don't scatter.
After finishing, compare it with American fiction of the same period to see similarities and differences in subject and narrative method.

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 original is in English. This is a public-domain ebook released by Project Gutenberg, preserving the English text; there is no official Chinese translation, so Chinese readers need some English reading ability.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

The Project Gutenberg edition was prepared and proofread by volunteers and is free; the text is mainly plain text with simple formatting, usually without a modern introduction, notes, or illustrations, and the reading experience depends on the software you use.

Will the lack of notes affect understanding?

To some extent. The work was written long ago, and some language habits and background are distant from contemporary readers. Before reading, look up the author's life and the period's background, use a dictionary for unfamiliar expressions, and don't obsess over every word.

Comments

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About the author

Singmaster, Elsie, 1879-1958 Author

Elsie Singmaster (1879–1958) was an American writer known for historical fiction and domestic life themes. Public information about her is limited and many biographical details remain unclear, but the library holds 11 of her works, which show a considerable range of subjects. Her representative work, Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath, centers on civilian experiences before and after the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, with attention to ordinary people's circumstances and emotions amid war. Novels such as Emmeline, Ellen Levis, and John Baring's House depict small-town and family life in a plain, delicate style, revealing character through everyday detail. Under Many Flags, When Sarah Went to School, When Sarah Saved the Day, and The Long Journey likewise explore growth, responsibility, and historical memory in unadorned language with steady plotting. Her writing avoids dramatic sensationalism, focusing instead on ordinary people's endurance and moral choices amid historical change, and offers some value for understanding American local society and Civil War memory in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.