Milly Darrell

Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 195K words
Chapters: 20

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.Milly Darrell by M. E. BraddonAuthor: Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 19, 2006

Editor's review

Milly Darrell comes from the pen of the prolific Victorian novelist Mrs. Braddon and belongs to the domestic suspense and emotional entanglement genre she excelled in. The original was released free by Project Gutenberg, in English, classified under English literature. For contemporary readers its value lies more in the reading experience as a historical document: one can see how nineteenth-century popular fiction handled women's fates, family secrets, and emotional choices, and feel the narrative rhythm of serialized fiction. Its length is moderate, and the plot advances through dialogue and psychological description, making it a suitable introductory sample for understanding Victorian popular fiction. When reading, do not demand the tightness of a modern thriller; instead treat it as a window onto the emotional sensibilities and narrative tastes of an older era.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy Victorian English novels
Literature lovers who want to understand nineteenth-century popular fiction narrative style
Advanced learners who need English public-domain originals for reading practice
Readers interested in Mrs. Braddon's works

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern fast-paced suspense or thrills
Readers still at a beginner level in English who need extensive annotations
Readers impatient with nineteenth-century domestic emotional themes

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to confirm the relationships between characters, then proceed chapter by chapter; there is no need to finish in one sitting.
Keep pen and paper to note forms of address and family relationships; this significantly reduces the reading burden.
If the English is difficult, read a Chinese summary first and then return to the original, focusing on dialogue and psychological description.
Experience the pacing as a characteristic of the era rather than judging it by contemporary standards.

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not really. The original is nineteenth-century English, with period features in sentence structure and vocabulary, and the forms of address between characters are fairly complex. Lower-intermediate English readers may find the pace slowed by long sentences and old-fashioned expressions. If you want to try, read a Chinese summary first, then choose chapters with more dialogue, and use a dictionary and annotated edition.

Is its style close to the author's Lady Audley's Secret?

Both works follow the domestic suspense and emotional entanglement path Mrs. Braddon excelled in, and both concern secrets, marriage, and women's circumstances. But the specific plot and character setup of Milly Darrell should be based on the original book and cannot be simply equated. If you like the author's way of handling suspense and emotion, this book can serve as extended reading.

Is it convenient to read this book on an e-reader?

Very convenient. Released by Project Gutenberg, it is usually available in multiple electronic formats, and font size and line spacing can be adjusted on common readers. It is advisable to use reading software with a dictionary function so that old-fashioned expressions can be looked up instantly, and to use bookmarks to mark chapters where characters appear.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Braddon, M. E. (Mary Elizabeth), 1835-1915 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.