Red Rowans

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 686K words
Chapters: 69

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.Red Rowans by Flora Annie Webster SteelAuthor: Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 4, 2012

Editor's review

This work is by Flora Annie Webster Steel, a British novelist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries whose works often take India and the English countryside as their settings. This is a public-domain reprint that preserves the full original text, suitable as a sample for understanding the narrative style of late Victorian English fiction. Its value lies not in sensational plotting but in the texture of the language and the atmosphere of its era: the elaborate sentences, landscape descriptions, and dialogue all bear distinct period marks, making it especially useful to readers studying rural and family themes in English literature. The e-book is easy to search and compare with the original, and is suitable as supplementary course material or extensive English reading. Note that this is the original English edition with no modern annotations, so first-time readers may need a dictionary or a guide. Overall, this is a work best read slowly, comparatively, and as corroborating evidence for literary history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English literature students who need to study late Victorian fiction texts
Extensive English readers who want to engage with public-domain original English works
Literary readers interested in English rural and family fiction
Researchers needing public-domain English texts for corpus analysis

Not a good fit for

General casual readers who read only Chinese translations; the original is demanding
Readers who prefer fast-paced, plot-driven fiction; the narrative here is slow
English beginners who need modern annotations and introductions

Reading tips

Read a chapter as a trial, mark unfamiliar words and long sentences, then decide your reading pace.
Read alongside biographical and period background material to understand the rural ideas in the text.
Use the e-book's search function to trace character relationships and scene shifts, keeping brief notes.
For course use, select descriptive landscape passages for stylistic analysis.

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?

This is the original English edition, a public-domain electronic text released by Project Gutenberg; the main text is in English with no Chinese translation, so a certain level of English reading ability is required.

Is it suitable for English beginners?

Not very. The book dates from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with long sentences and period vocabulary and no modern annotations. Beginners will likely find it difficult; starting with simplified short and medium-length readers is recommended.

What kind of story does this book tell?

According to the information, this is a work of English literature, and Steel often wrote on rural and family themes. For specific plot details, consult the main text; this page does not invent content, and readers are advised to sample the opening chapters to see whether it suits their taste.

What should I watch for when reading the e-book?

Public-domain electronic texts reproduce the original and may differ from print editions in layout or punctuation. Use reading software that supports word lookup and annotation, break down long sentences structurally before interpreting them, and avoid misreading due to layout issues.

Comments

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About the author

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929 Author

Flora Annie Webster Steel (1847–1929) was a British writer best known for her works on India and for her retellings of folk tales. Her output ranged widely: she produced story collections for children such as Tales of the Punjab: Folklore of India and English Fairy Tales, as well as novels set against Indian society and history, including On the Face of the Waters: A Tale of the Mutiny, The Flower of Forgiveness, The Potter's Thumb, The Hosts of the Lord, In the Guardianship of God and In the Permanent Way. Her writing often draws on Indian folklore and on the realities of colonial life, with plain narration and a strong sense of place. Public information about her life is limited, but the twenty works held here show a lasting engagement with folk literature and with exotic settings, contributing to both children's literature and fiction about India.