Lady William

Margaret Oliphant Wilson OliphantProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.7

Word count: 918K words
Chapters: 92

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.Lady William by Mrs. OliphantAuthor: Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret), 1828-1897,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2017

Editor's review

Lady William is a work by Margaret Oliphant, a prolific novelist of the Victorian era, made available as a free public-domain eBook through Project Gutenberg. Oliphant excelled at finely drawn depictions of everyday ethics, marriage, and the situation of women in English gentry and middle-class households; this book likewise centers on a woman known as "Lady William," and its dialogue and domestic scenes carry a distinct period flavor. Its value lies less in dramatic plotting than in its patient unfolding of nineteenth-century English social manners, class etiquette, and female psychology, making it a useful example of the "domestic novel" tradition in Victorian fiction. Read it as a window onto period customs and human relationships, and note the narrator's subtle attitude toward female independence and domestic duty. As a public-domain electronic text, the formatting is plain, so readers should supply their own notes and background knowledge. Suitable for advanced readers of English-language originals, lovers of Victorian literature, and readers studying nineteenth-century women's writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-language readers who enjoy Victorian domestic novels and slow-paced narratives
Literature students studying nineteenth-century British women writers and the situation of women
English learners who want low-cost access to classic originals through public-domain eBooks
General literary readers interested in gentry social life and the ethics of marriage

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plots, fast pacing, or suspenseful twists
Beginners with weak English reading skills who need extensive annotations
Advanced researchers seeking biographical scholarship or an academic introduction

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to get a feel for the narrative pace and character relationships, then decide whether to read closely or broadly.
Keep pen and paper handy to record forms of address and family relationships; Victorian novel names are easily confused.
Read alongside background material on nineteenth-century British women's education and marriage law.
Use the search function of the public-domain eBook to revisit characters' first appearances and clarify the threads.

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, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook; it is not a Chinese translation. Reading it requires some ability to read English originals, and a dictionary or bilingual materials can help.

What kind of writer was Oliphant?

Margaret Oliphant (1828–1897) was a prolific Victorian novelist whose works often depict domestic life, the situation of women, and social etiquette, and are closely related to the mainstream domestic novel tradition of her time. This book offers a view of her narrative style.

Can I read it without an introduction or notes?

Public-domain electronic texts usually contain only the main text, without scholarly introductions or notes. Readers can supplement their own knowledge of nineteenth-century British society or consult an edition with an introduction to lower the barrier to understanding.

Is it suitable for learning English?

It can serve as advanced English reading material; the sentences are long and the period language frequent, so it is not well suited to complete beginners. Try a few pages first, then make a reading plan once you have gauged the difficulty.

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About the author

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant Author · British (Scottish) · 1828–1897

Mrs. Oliphant (Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant, 1828–1897) was a prolific Scottish novelist, historical writer and biographer of the Victorian era. Born in Wallyford, she gained fame in 1849 with Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland. In 1852 she married her cousin Frank Oliphant; widowed in 1859, she supported her children by her pen and published more than a hundred works in her lifetime. The library holds 90 of her works, including the Carlingford Chronicles, Salem Chapel, Miss Marjoribanks, supernatural tales, Hester, Kirsteen and the autobiography The Days of My Life. She is known for her delicate, humorous portrayals of small-town life and for her historical and biographical writing, and stands as a representative professional woman writer of the Victorian period.