The Confession

Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 157K words
Chapters: 16

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 Confession by Mary Roberts RinehartAuthor: Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 1999

Editor's review

The Confession is a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, a work of popular American fiction that combines plot-driven storytelling with suspense. Rinehart excelled at using the domestic sphere as a stage, advancing the narrative through secrets and misunderstandings between characters. This book likewise revolves around a hidden matter that can only be brought to light by a "confession," sustaining tension in a restrained atmosphere. As a public-domain eBook, it is easily accessible and serves as a useful sample for understanding the narrative techniques of early twentieth-century American popular fiction. Readers may note how the narrator's perspective gradually releases information and how the author uses everyday details to create unease. In terms of reading setting, it suits segmented reading during commutes or before bed, following the suspense; it is also suitable as transitional material for reading English originals, as its length and language difficulty are relatively friendly. Note that this is an English original, and given its early date of composition, some social attitudes and expressions differ from those of contemporary readers and are best viewed from a literary-historical perspective.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers of English novels who enjoy classic suspense and family-secret themes
Readers who want to understand the narrative characteristics of early twentieth-century American popular literature
Learners who need English originals of moderate language difficulty for extensive reading
Casual readers who prefer plot-driven, segmented reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who want a Chinese translation and do not wish to read the English original
Readers expecting a modern, fast-paced suspense style with strong twists
Readers sensitive to period-specific attitudes expressed in early fiction

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to establish character relationships, then proceed chapter by chapter, noting the pace at which the narrator reveals information.
Keep a brief character chart recording what each person knows and does not know, to help clarify the suspense.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first and look them up after finishing a chapter, to avoid interrupting the reading rhythm.
After finishing, revisit the key turning points and compare the clues the author planted with the answers revealed.

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? How difficult is it to read?

This is the English original, a public-domain eBook. The style is early twentieth-century popular fiction; sentence structures are not complex, though some period-specific vocabulary appears. Readers with intermediate English proficiency can finish it with a dictionary and use it for extensive reading in the original.

I haven't read other works by Rinehart. Can I start with this one?

Yes. This is a standalone story that does not depend on prior works. If you want to learn more about the author's narrative style, you can afterward compare it with her other suspense novels to observe how she sets up suspense and misunderstandings in domestic settings.

Is this book suitable for book club discussion?

Yes. It centers on secrets, confession, and character motives. You can discuss whether the narrator is reliable, how the pace of information release affects readers' judgments, and gender and family attitudes in early popular fiction—ample topics for discussion.

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

Rinehart, Mary Roberts, 1876-1958 Author

Mary Roberts Rinehart (1876–1958) was an American author known for her detective fiction and humorous sketches. The library holds 29 of her works, including The Circular Staircase, The Man in Lower Ten, A Poor Wise Man, The After House, Tish: The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions, Kings, Queens and Pawns: An American Woman at the Front, Tenting To-night, and The Confession. Her detective novels often unfold through female narrators and build suspense from everyday details, creating tension without losing a sense of humor; they have influenced later mystery and detective writing. Public information is limited, so no biographical details are conjectured here, and readers may come to know her narrative style and themes through the works listed above.