The Fortunes of the Colville Family or, A Cloud with its Silver Lining

Smedley, Frank E. (Frank Edward), 1818-1864Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.9

Word count: 265K words
Chapters: 27

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 Fortunes of the Colville Family; or, A Cloud with its Silver Lining by SmedleyAuthor: Smedley, Frank E. (Frank Edward), 1818-1864,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Feb 18, 2018

Editor's review

This novel comes from the prolific Victorian writer Frank E. Smedley. The title's "cloud with its silver lining" already signals its central concern: finding turning points and solace amid the ups and downs of a family's fortunes. The work continues the family-narrative tradition common in nineteenth-century English fiction, centering on the circumstances of the Colville family. Its plot relies on tests of chance, character, and kinship, and its language bears clear marks of its era. For Chinese readers today, its value is both documentary and stylistic: it shows how Victorian popular fiction handled family ethics and the theme of fate, and it can also serve as light practice material for reading English originals. Freely distributed by Project Gutenberg, it is easily accessible and suitable as an introductory sample of nineteenth-century English popular narrative—not a book for those seeking intense dramatic conflict or a modern narrative pace.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary history enthusiasts interested in Victorian English fiction
Intermediate and advanced English learners who want to practice reading with public-domain originals
Readers studying nineteenth-century family narrative and popular style
Readers who prefer leisurely classical stories with moral overtones

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a modern narrative pace and strong plot twists
Beginners still at an elementary English reading level who need annotated assistance
Readers sensitive to religious or moralizing tones

Reading tips

Read the chapter titles first to trace the family's fortunes, then revisit the characters' choices at key turning points.
Keep a vocabulary notebook for expressions common in the Victorian era but rare today.
Read alongside other family-themed novels of the same period to observe similarities and differences in narrative conventions.
If the pace feels slow, read one or two chapters at a fixed time each day, maintaining continuity without rushing.

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 level of English difficulty does this book have?

It is a nineteenth-century English novel with long sentences and somewhat archaic wording, generally more difficult than contemporary popular fiction. Readers with intermediate-to-advanced English reading skills and a habit of handling long sentences will find it easier to enter; beginners are advised to use annotations or a translation alongside.

What does "a cloud with its silver lining" in the title mean?

It is a variation on the English proverb "every cloud has a silver lining," meaning that even in hardship there is a hopeful side. The title signals that the book revolves around family adversity and turning points, with a clear moral consolation.

What are the features of the Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts that are easy to download and search, suitable for reading on electronic devices or for textual analysis. This edition is the English original without Chinese annotations, so readers must handle unfamiliar words and period background themselves.

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

Smedley, Frank E. (Frank Edward), 1818-1864 Author

Frank E. Smedley (1818–1864) was a nineteenth-century British novelist whose life and education are poorly documented in publicly available sources; what can be reliably examined is chiefly his literary work. He is known for fiction in the inspirational coming-of-age vein, often centering on young men's experiences in schooling, social life and making a living, with a light comic touch and gentle satire of manners. His representative works include Frank Fairlegh: Scenes from the Life of a Private Pupil, Lewis Arundel; or, The Railroad of Life, Harry Coverdale's Courtship, and All That Came of It, and The Fortunes of the Colville Family; or, A Cloud with Its Silver Lining. The titles themselves reveal a sustained interest in growing up, opportunity and family fortune. These works, mostly serialized or popular novels aimed at a broad readership, emphasize plot momentum and lively dialogue, and hold a modest place among Victorian readers while offering material for understanding the lives and values of middle-class youth of the period.