Silver Cross

Johnston, Mary, 1870-1936Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 314K words
Chapters: 32

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.Silver Cross by Mary JohnstonAuthor: Johnston, Mary, 1870-1936,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 26, 2015

Editor's review

Silver Cross is a novel by the American writer Mary Johnston (1870–1936), released free in English by Project Gutenberg. In the history of American literature Johnston is known for historical fiction and socially engaged writing, and her works often focus on individual choices under the pressures of era and morality. The book is best understood within the context of American popular and historical fiction, and also serves as a sample public-domain e-text for observing the language style and plot structure of early twentieth-century American narrative literature. Note that the Gutenberg edition offers the English original, and the materials do not cover a detailed plot summary, length, or edition differences; readers should treat it as a public-domain novel to be explored rather than a modern annotated edition with a detailed introduction. When reading, one may compare it with Johnston's other works and contemporary American novels, attending to narrative pace, characterization, and the projection of social issues of the time. The e-edition is convenient for searching and excerpting, suitable for close reading and classroom discussion.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in American fiction of the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
Students and teachers studying American literary history or public-domain e-texts
Readers who wish to do close reading and excerpting from the English original
General readers who enjoy narratives interweaving historical subjects and social issues

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a modern Chinese translation or detailed annotated introduction
Readers expecting fast-paced plots and strong suspense in popular fiction
Readers unaccustomed to reading English originals or the layout of public-domain e-books

Reading tips

Read through the first few chapters to grasp the narrative perspective and historical background before deciding on close or extensive reading.
Prepare notes on character relationships and a timeline of events to help track complex plots.
Compare with Johnston's other works or contemporary American novels to observe similarities and differences in subject and technique.
Use the e-edition's search function to mark keywords, and revisit relevant passages after finishing.

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?

According to the materials, the book is released by Project Gutenberg in English as a public-domain e-book, not a Chinese translation. Readers need English reading ability or tool-assisted reading.

Does the Gutenberg edition include notes or an introduction?

The materials show that the book is a free Project Gutenberg e-book and do not mention modern notes or an introduction. Readers who need background knowledge may consult American literary history materials or the author's biography on their own.

Is it suitable for classroom use?

It can serve as classroom material for American literature or public-domain e-texts, especially for close reading and edition discussion. However, teachers need to supplement the author's background, historical context, and plot guidance themselves, because the e-edition itself provides no teaching aids.

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About the author

Johnston, Mary, 1870-1936 Author

Mary Johnston (Johnston, Mary, 1870-1936) was an American novelist, with 18 of her works held in this collection. Public information about her is limited, and many details of her life are difficult to verify, yet her fiction is fairly consistent in subject matter: she was skilled at narrative set against historical backgrounds, especially the society and fates of characters in colonial Virginia. Prisoners of Hope: A Tale of Colonial Virginia, By Order of the Company, and 1492 all draw on the early colonial and maritime era, while The Long Roll and Cease Firing concern the American Civil War. Her writing often uses love, loyalty, and conflict as threads, placing individual lives within large historical change; her plots move briskly and the atmosphere of the period is distinct. Representative works such as To Have and to Hold and Lewis Rand had some influence among readers of popular historical fiction at the time, making her one of the notable writers of early twentieth-century American historical romance.