White Turrets

Mary Louisa MolesworthProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 251K words
Chapters: 26

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.White Turrets by Mrs. MolesworthAuthor: Molesworth, Mrs., 1839-1921,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 6, 2013

Editor's review

White Turrets is an English novel by Mrs. Molesworth, of the kind of family and coming-of-age fiction common in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. Her writing usually unfolds from the perspective of children and young people, focusing on moral tests in daily life, family relations and emotional change, in plain language with gently paced plots. It works as light reading for understanding English children's literature and family fiction of the period, and as graded reading material for language learners. Note that it is not a sensational popular novel: the pace is slow, with much character and scene description, so readers expecting strong dramatic conflict may find it flat; but those willing to slow down can feel the particular warmth and didactic restraint of family narrative in that era.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy late Victorian family and coming-of-age fiction
Learners who wish to improve reading through light English-language novels
General readers interested in early children's literature and family narrative

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction who prefer fast pacing and strong conflict
Readers impatient with didacticism and slow narrative
Beginner English learners needing a Chinese translation or annotations

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to get to know the characters and narrative tone, then decide whether to read through or selectively.
English learners can use the book for extensive reading, with a fixed number of chapters daily, guessing new words before looking them up.
Note family scenes and dialogue to sense the educational intent and emotional expression of children's literature of the time.

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 children's literature or an adult novel?

Judging by Mrs. Molesworth's tendencies, it is closer to a family coming-of-age novel for children and young people, centered on family relations, daily tests and character formation. Such works were often read by adults too; the narration is not complex, and adult readers can equally treat it as light reading for understanding family narrative of the era.

Is the original English difficult to read?

The language is generally plain and sentence structure not complex, but it carries late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century word usage and narrative rhythm. Intermediate learners with some English can read extensively with a dictionary; beginners may be slowed by period vocabulary and long descriptions. Try one or two chapters first, then decide whether to use it as graded reading material.

Is the plot tight?

The book does not rely on strong plot; the pace is slow, driven more by family scenes, dialogue and daily events. Readers who like fast pacing and strong conflict may find it flat; but those willing to slow down can appreciate the gentle narrative and moral care characteristic of family fiction of that era.

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

Mary Louisa Molesworth Author · British · 1839–1921

Mrs. Molesworth (1839–1921), born Mary Louisa Molesworth, was an English writer of children's literature in the Victorian era. She was born in Rotterdam in 1839 and died in London in 1921, and was a prolific author; this site holds 57 of her works. Her representative books include The Cuckoo Clock, The Tapestry Room: A Child's Romance, Four Ghost Stories, The Carved Lions, Grandmother Dear: A Book for Boys and Girls, Christmas-Tree Land, and The Palace in the Garden. Her works are often classed as inspirational coming-of-age stories, usually centering on children and unfolding in settings where domestic life and fantasy intertwine. Her warm, delicate style combines imagination with a sense of everyday reality, and she has been called "the Jane Austen of the nursery." Public information is limited, but the sheer number of her works shows her lasting influence on child readers of her time.