Melbourne House

Warner, Susan, 1819-1885Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 960K words
Chapters: 96

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.Melbourne House by Susan WarnerAuthor: Warner, Susan, 1819-1885,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jun 26, 2006

Editor's review

Melbourne House is a work of juvenile literature by Susan Warner, released as an eBook by Project Gutenberg. Warner was known for her family and coming-of-age themes; this book is classed as juvenile literature and centres on family life, children's education and character formation, carrying the moral concern and everyday detail common to nineteenth-century British and American children's literature. The pace is gentle, with attention to the upbringing and emotional shifts revealed in characters' words and deeds, making it a useful sample of early juvenile fiction. It has some value as source material for readers studying the history of children's literature, family narrative or traditions of moral education; general readers can also enjoy the warm tone of an old-fashioned family story. Read with an eye to character relationships and the distance between period attitudes and our own, rather than judging by contemporary standards alone. As a public-domain eBook, it is convenient for classroom excerpts and comparative reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Researchers interested in nineteenth-century children's literature and family narrative
Teachers needing public-domain juvenile literature for classroom excerpts
Adult readers who enjoy slow-paced family coming-of-age stories
Readers interested in children's character education and old-fashioned notions of upbringing

Not a good fit for

Young readers seeking fast-paced modern plots with strong conflict
Readers averse to didacticism and old-fashioned moral views
Researchers hoping for a full author biography and bibliography

Reading tips

Familiarise yourself with common conventions of nineteenth-century family fiction before turning to textual detail.
Note differences between the period's methods of upbringing and today's ideas as you read, to aid discussion.
For classroom use, choose passages of family conflict or tests of character for close reading.
Don't rush; proceed chapter by chapter and watch for emotional cues within everyday description.

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

What age group is this book suitable for?

The metadata classes it as juvenile literature but gives no specific age range, so no assumption should be made. In subject and style it suits readers with some patience for old-fashioned family stories; younger children would benefit from reading alongside an adult who can explain the period background.

Is the story overtly didactic?

Warner's family coming-of-age works often carry character formation and moral concern, and this book is classed as juvenile literature, so the didactic element may be fairly pronounced. Readers can treat it as a period text, noting how ideas of upbringing emerge through everyday episodes, without fully endorsing its positions.

Is the English difficult, and is it suitable for language learning?

The metadata provides no language-level grading. Nineteenth-century English often features long sentences and old-fashioned expressions, posing some challenge for intermediate learners. For language study, read dialogue and scene-description passages, with an annotated edition or teacher guidance.

Can the eBook be used for classroom excerpts?

This is a public-domain eBook, easy to obtain and suitable for classroom excerpts. Teachers should design questions around family relationships, child-rearing and period attitudes, and supply historical background so students understand the context, avoiding ahistorical judgements.

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About the author

Warner, Susan, 1819-1885 Author

Susan Warner (1819-1885) was a nineteenth-century American author known for inspirational coming-of-age fiction; her name and dates of birth and death appear in library catalog records. Public information about her is limited, and details of her life and education are difficult to establish with certainty, yet the library holds thirty-one of her works, which indicates a prolific and steady writing career. The Wide, Wide World is her best-known work, alongside Queechy, Diana, Nobody, Daisy, The End of a Coil, and Hills of the Shatemuc. Her fiction generally centers on young people's growth, family life, and moral trials, with a gentle and detailed style that emphasizes inner change and the formation of character. She found readers in the popular fiction market of her time and contributed to the later tradition of the coming-of-age novel.