Thorpe Regis

Frances Mary PeardProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.1

Word count: 529K words
Chapters: 53

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. Thorpe Regis by Frances Mary Peard. Author: Peard, Frances Mary, 1835-1923. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Jul 8, 2013.

Editor's review

Thorpe Regis is another novel by Frances Mary Peard; the title is the name of the place where the story unfolds, continuing the author's approach of anchoring social-life narrative in a specific locale. The work revolves around the daily lives and mutual relationships of townspeople, with character portrayal attentive to detail and psychological depth; the narrative is unhurried, carrying the moral observation and social custom depiction common in nineteenth-century English fiction. Its value lies not in dramatic conflict but in the patient presentation of the texture of local life, reading like a slowly unfolding genre painting of town life. As a Project Gutenberg English public-domain eBook, it is suitable as advanced material for reading original English and for readers interested in Victorian regional fiction. While reading, pay attention to the correspondence between place names and characters, and consider why the author named the whole book after a place.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who love nineteenth-century English regional fiction
Learners who want to practice long-form reading with public-domain English novels
Literature enthusiasts interested in depictions of town customs and group portraits of characters
Readers studying Peard's works or regional narrative in Victorian fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking tight plotting and strong dramatic conflict
Beginner readers with limited English vocabulary who need sentence-by-sentence annotation
Readers who only want a Chinese translation and are not used to the English original

Reading tips

Before starting, skim the table of contents and chapter titles to build a basic impression of the town's space.
Take simple notes along character lines to clarify kinship and social relations among residents.
Read one or two chapters at a fixed time each day to maintain patience with the slow-paced narrative.
After reading, think about the connection between the title and the story's themes, and appreciate the purpose of regional writing.

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 similar in style to another work by the author?

Based on available information, both works are social-life novels by the author set against regional backgrounds, both emphasizing everyday detail and character relationships. The specific plots and characters are unrelated, so they can be read independently and need not be read in order.

Can I read this book with only average English proficiency?

This is a nineteenth-century English novel with long sentences and period vocabulary, placing certain demands on reading stamina. It is advisable to attempt it after reaching at least intermediate English reading ability, or to read with a dictionary and辅助 tools.

Is there a Chinese translation of this book?

Available information shows only the English public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg and does not mention any Chinese translation. For reading in Chinese, it is advisable to look separately for information on formally published Chinese translations.

Why is the book called Thorpe Regis?

Thorpe Regis is the name of the town where the story takes place; using a place name as a title was common in nineteenth-century regional fiction, intended to make the place itself the core background of the narrative. While reading, note how the town influences the characters' fates.

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About the author

Frances Mary Peard Author · English · 1835–1923

Frances Mary Peard (1835–1923) was a British writer and traveler, born in Exminster, Devon, into a family of naval officers. Between 1867 and 1909 she wrote more than forty novels for children and adults, many drawing on her travels abroad and often set in France and India. Her representative works include Cartouche, Unawares: A Story of an Old French Town, Donna Teresa, The Swing of the Pendulum, The Career of Claudia, Thorpe Regis, An Interloper, and Two Studios; the library holds nine of her works. She never married and spent her later years in Torquay. Public information about her life and writing is limited, and existing accounts focus mainly on the subjects and period of her works, making a more detailed assessment of her literary style and influence difficult.