Enchantment

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.9

Word count: 176K words
Chapters: 18

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.Enchantment by Harold MacGrathAuthor: MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jul 21, 2017

Editor's review

Enchantment is a novel by Harold MacGrath, a work in the tradition of American popular fiction, now released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. MacGrath excelled at brisk, plot-driven storytelling, and the title itself signals romance and adventure. It is best read as a period popular novel: watch how the characters move toward their conclusion through misunderstanding, coincidence, and emotional turns, and observe how early twentieth-century American popular narrative paces itself and builds suspense. The barrier to entry is low; the original is in English, and both length and language suit it as light reading in the original. A caveat: such works aim at entertainment and period flavor rather than intellectual depth or literary experimentation, so readers should not judge them by the standards of classic literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers seeking light English-language reading to build reading rhythm
Readers who enjoy early twentieth-century American popular fiction and romance
Collectors interested in public-domain literary ebooks and old popular literature
Learners who need short-paragraph English material for extensive reading practice

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking serious literary depth and experimental narrative
Readers hoping for contemporary settings and contemporary themes
Beginners with weak English who need annotations and translation support

Reading tips

Proceed chapter by chapter; don't look up every word—prioritize plot continuity and reading rhythm.
When you hit old-fashioned phrasing or unclear period background, mark it and check later so you don't break the flow.
After finishing, review the character relationships and key turning points to see how the author arranges coincidence and misunderstanding.
For extensive reading in English, read one or two chapters a day and copy out a few idiomatic expressions you like.

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 a romance or an adventure novel?

Judging by the title and the author's usual popular style, it is closer to popular fiction with romantic and adventurous coloring, with the plot unfolding around the characters' emotions and experiences. For specifics, rely on the original text; better not to assume a single genre—read it as a period popular story.

Is the English original hard to read?

Overall it is in a popular-fiction register, with sentences that are not especially difficult, though it carries early twentieth-century habits of expression and some old-fashioned usage. Readers with some English background can read it smoothly for pleasure; those with weaker foundations should use a dictionary and prioritize plot continuity rather than word-by-word parsing.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg offers free public-domain ebooks, and this is its released English original text, easy to obtain free and read on the go. It usually contains no modern editorial notes or introduction, so readers wanting background must look up information on the author and the period themselves.

Comments

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About the author

MacGrath, Harold, 1871-1932 Author

Harold MacGrath (1871–1932) was an American novelist known for tightly plotted, adventure-filled popular fiction. His stories often feature princesses, royal courts, and mistaken identities, moving at a brisk pace with strong dramatic and romantic flavor suited to a broad readership. The library holds twenty-two of his works, including The Goose Girl, The Princess Elopes, Arms and the Woman, Hearts and Masks, The Puppet Crown, The Adventures of Kathlyn, The Best Man, and The Drums of Jeopardy; even the titles suggest his taste for exotic settings, suspense, and adventure. Because public information is limited, details of his life cannot be given in depth, but his works were popular with readers in the early twentieth century, and some were adapted into early films, showing his influence in popular storytelling.