The Doomswoman: An Historical Romance of Old California

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn, 1857-1948Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.5

Word count: 280K words
Chapters: 28

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 Doomswoman: An Historical Romance of Old California by AthertonAuthor: Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn, 1857-1948,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Doomswoman: An Historical Romance of Old California is a historical romance by the American writer Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (1857–1948), offered as a free English e-book by Project Gutenberg. Atherton was known for writing about California's local history and its women, and this novel sets its story against old California, with a legendary flavour of family feuds and romantic entanglement. Its value lies not in rigorous historical scholarship but in the novelistic rendering of a period's local atmosphere: ranches, relations between peoples, and the clash of the old order with new forces all find expression in the narrative. As a public-domain book, it gives readers low-cost access to the craft of American regional historical fiction and serves as a sample of late-nineteenth-century American popular historical romance. The English original is of moderate length and traditional in pacing, suited to readers willing to read slowly and interested in California's historical background. Watch how the author uses characters' fates to carry historical change, and how she balances legendary colouring with fact.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy historical romance and want to read English originals
Readers interested in the local history of California
Students and enthusiasts studying late-nineteenth-century American popular fiction
Intermediate learners who want to keep up their reading habit with a full-length English work

Not a good fit for

Historians seeking strict factual scholarship and opposed to legendary treatment
Readers who prefer modern fast pacing and strong plot reversals
Beginners whose English is still a struggle and who need line-by-line notes

Reading tips

Learn a little about the general history of old California beforehand to lower the barrier to understanding.
Make a character list as you read, noting family ties and shifts in allegiance.
Separate the legendary plot from historical fact, and note which parts are literary invention.
After each section, write a three-sentence summary in English to reinforce your reading.

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

What are the language and edition of this book?

According to Project Gutenberg, the book is in English and is a free public-domain e-book, classified under American and Canadian literature. Readers can go straight to the English original; it is an electronic text, and its layout may differ from a printed book.

Is the story's background real history?

This is a historical romance set against old California, but its core is literary narrative rather than historical scholarship. The characters and plot are treated with legendary licence; readers can take it as an entry point to the atmosphere of the period, not as a source of historical fact.

What English level does it suit?

Written in the late nineteenth century, the work has traditional sentence patterns, slower pacing and vocabulary with some period colour. It suits readers with intermediate English or above who are willing to read slowly; beginners are advised to start with a simplified or bilingual edition before attempting the original.

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About the author

Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn, 1857-1948 Author

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (1857–1948) was an American novelist, with twenty-six of her works held in this collection. Public information about her life is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify. Judging from the works available, she excelled in both historical fiction and novels of social manners. The former includes The Conqueror: Being the True and Romantic Story of Alexander Hamilton, which reimagines a founding figure of the United States in a biographical mode. The latter, such as Patience Sparhawk and Her Times, The Californians, The Sisters-in-Law, Mrs. Balfame, and Black Oxen, draw on California life and contemporary urban society, with a sharp edge that often engages marriage, women's circumstances, and social class. The story collection The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories shows her command of Gothic and psychological suspense. Her narrative combines realism with romance and vivid characterization, making her a noteworthy figure in the study of American women's writing from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century.