The Bishop's Shadow

Thurston, I. T. (Ida Treadwell), 1848-1918Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 367K words
Chapters: 37

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.The Bishop's Shadow by I. T. ThurstonAuthor: Thurston, I. T. (Ida Treadwell), 1848-1918,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: Jul 1, 2005

Editor's review

The Bishop's Shadow is a work of juvenile literature by Ida Treadwell Thurston (1848–1918), available in the Gutenberg Project and classified as general literature for young readers. Thurston was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century, and her works often observe youthful growth from a gentle moral perspective; The Bishop's Shadow continues this approach, building its narrative around the lives of those close to a bishop and using everyday encounters to present themes of duty, conscience, and family ethics. For today's readers, the book's value lies more in the documentary and cultural dimension: it offers a direct view of the narrative rhythm, language habits, and value expressions of English children's reading a century ago, making it a suitable sample for studying the history of children's literature, social fiction with a church background, or extensive reading in English. The book is short and its language plain, making it a concrete example of the public-domain resources of the Gutenberg Project. Because of its age, the plot moves slowly and the ideas bear clear marks of their time; readers should approach it with a historical eye rather than demand contemporary novel standards.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers studying English children's literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Secondary-school and above readers who wish to improve their English through extensive reading in the original
Readers interested in social fiction with a church background and moral growth themes
Teachers and scholars who need public-domain English e-texts as teaching or research materials

Not a good fit for

Readers of contemporary genre fiction who prefer fast pacing and strong conflict
Readers expecting complex psychological portrayal and modern narrative techniques
Readers sensitive to texts with period religious and ethical coloring

Reading tips

Read through the whole book first to grasp the storyline, then read it a second time to note the period features of language and values.
Read it alongside other juvenile fiction of the same period to compare narrative modes and moral themes.
For extensive reading in English, note new words and short sentences chapter by chapter to build a store of nineteenth-century English expressions.

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?

The language is generally plain, but the book was written a century ago and its vocabulary and sentence patterns carry period features, so complete beginners may find it difficult. Readers with high-school-level English or above are advised to try it, with a dictionary or an annotated edition.

What are the features of the Gutenberg Project edition?

The book is provided free by the Gutenberg Project and is a public-domain e-book. The text is the original English, usually without modern editorial notes or introductions, making it suitable for studying the original text, but readers need to judge the edition and background information for themselves.

Does reading this book require knowledge of religious background?

The book involves church figures such as a bishop and related ethical contexts. A basic knowledge of Christian culture helps in understanding characters' motives and plot logic, but specialized theological knowledge is not necessary.

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About the author

Thurston, I. T. (Ida Treadwell), 1848-1918 Author · American · 1848–1918

Ida Treadwell Thurston (1848–1918) was an American author who published under the name I. T. Thurston. Public information about her early life and education is limited, and the surviving records mainly concern her writing. Two of her works are held in this collection: The Bishop's Shadow and The Torch Bearer: A Camp Fire Girls' Story. She wrote a number of novels for young readers, often centering on character formation and family life. Her plots typically use everyday situations and personal choices to explore values such as responsibility, honesty, and care for others, in plain language suited to younger readers. Though her output was modest, her books found a place among the juvenile literature of her time.