Fenton's Quest cover

Fenton's Quest

Rating 3.3
Word count
954K words
Chapters
96

Tags

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.Fenton's Quest by M. E. BraddonAuthor: Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Mar 1, 2004

Editor's review

Fenton's Quest comes from the prolific Victorian novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon and belongs to the kind of plot-driven fiction she excelled at: the narrative is propelled by a character's quest and turns of fate, holding readers with suspense and emotional tension. The book's value lies in letting readers see Braddon's craft in the sensation novel tradition—her laying of clues, entanglement of characters' relationships and control of pace are all skilled. The e-book is from Project Gutenberg, in the original English without a modern introduction, and is suitable for readers already accustomed to the syntax of nineteenth-century English fiction. There is no need to hurry; move chapter by chapter and notice how the author uses gaps in information to create suspense. If you are interested in Victorian popular fiction, this book offers a readable sample.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who enjoy Victorian plot-driven novels
  • Readers interested in suspenseful narrative and turns of fate
  • Readers used to reading English originals who can accept a long novel's pace
  • Students and enthusiasts studying nineteenth-century British popular fiction

Not a good fit for

  • First-time readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed notes
  • Readers who prefer contemporary fast-paced narrative and lack patience
  • Readers who find nineteenth-century English syntax and length daunting

Reading tips

  1. Read the first few chapters to see whether the pace suits you before deciding to read the whole book.
  2. Move chapter by chapter, pausing at each chapter's end to sort out characters and unresolved clues.
  3. With long sentences, grasp the main clause first and don't look up every word, so as to keep reading smoothly.
  4. For research, note where suspense is set up and revealed, and compare with similar works.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
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  31. 31
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  34. 34
  35. 35
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  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
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  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75
  76. 76
  77. 77
  78. 78
  79. 79
  80. 80
  81. 81
  82. 82
  83. 83
  84. 84
  85. 85
  86. 86
  87. 87
  88. 88
  89. 89
  90. 90
  91. 91
  92. 92
  93. 93
  94. 94
  95. 95
  96. 96

FAQ

Is this book in Chinese or English?
Sources indicate this is the English e-book released by Project Gutenberg, with the main text in the original English and no Chinese translation. Before reading, make sure your English reading ability suits it.
Can I understand it without an introduction or notes?
You can, but it takes some patience. Nineteenth-century English novels use long sentences; try one or two chapters first. Look up unfamiliar expressions in a dictionary as needed, but don't get bogged down word by word—follow the plot first.
Whose taste does Braddon's writing style suit?
She is known for popular novels with twisting plots and strong suspense. Readers who enjoy turns of fate, tangled relationships and gradually revealed secrets will adapt more easily; readers who prefer a modern, concise style may need time to adjust.

Comments

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About the author

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (1835–1915) was an English novelist of the Victorian era, known for her intricate, suspenseful popular fiction. Her representative work, Lady Audley's Secret, revolves around concealed identity and hidden secrets and is regarded as part of the "sensation novel" tradition, enjoying wide popularity in its day. The collection holds 35 of her works, including, besides the above, the three-volume Aurora Floyd, Wyllard's Weird, the three-volume John Marchmont's Legacy, All along the River and Run to Earth. She excelled at weaving crime, deception and emotional entanglements into domestic settings, with brisk pacing and dramatic turns of fortune; her work has had a lasting influence on later popular and suspense fiction. Public information on the details of her life is limited, so they are not elaborated here.

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