Winding Paths

Gertrude PageProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 676K words
Chapters: 68

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. Winding Paths by Gertrude Page. Author: Page, Gertrude, 1872–1922. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

Winding Paths is a novel by the British writer Gertrude Page (1872–1922), made available as a free electronic edition by Project Gutenberg. Page was active in the popular fiction of the early twentieth century, and her works often trace emotional relationships and life choices, with plain narration and attention to characters' inner lives. The title suggests the twists and turns of life's path, and the story centers on the choices characters make in love and circumstance; it serves as a sample of early twentieth-century English popular fiction. The Gutenberg edition is convenient to obtain and textually complete, suitable for reading through on an e-reader. As a public-domain e-book, it has no modern notes or introduction, so readers need a reasonable command of English and some tolerance for the pacing of early English fiction. Overall, it is a book for literary enthusiasts looking to broaden their reading and for readers tracing the contours of popular fiction—better dipped into than sought out for strong plotting or modern narrative technique.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-speaking readers who enjoy early twentieth-century British popular fiction
Those who want free public-domain English novels to read on electronic devices
Learners studying Project Gutenberg texts or early English fiction as a corpus
Readers seeking a light way to expand their reading of English novels

Not a good fit for

Beginners whose English is not yet strong and who need notes and introductions
Readers who prefer strong plots, fast pacing, or modern narrative techniques
Researchers who need scholarly editions with detailed background and annotation

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to see whether the pacing and vocabulary suit you, then decide whether to read through or sample.
Jot down character relationships and key choices as you read to follow the winding-path thread the title points to.
Use public background material on early twentieth-century British society and popular fiction to help understand the context.

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? What language level do I need?

This is the original English edition, released by Project Gutenberg. There is no Chinese translation or annotation, so intermediate English reading ability or above is recommended. If you are new to English novels, try a few pages first to gauge the difficulty before deciding whether to continue.

How is the Gutenberg edition different from an ordinary published book?

The Gutenberg edition is a free electronic text focused on presenting the complete original public-domain work; it usually has no modern introduction, notes, or designed layout. Its advantages are easy access and zero cost; its drawback is the lack of supporting material, so readers must fill in background knowledge themselves.

Is this book suitable for learning English?

It can serve as extended reading, but not as an introductory textbook. The work dates from the early twentieth century, so its sentence patterns and vocabulary carry period features, and there are no vocabulary notes. If you already have some reading ability, it is workable for increasing your volume of English novel reading; beginners are better off starting with annotated readers.

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About the author

Gertrude Page Author · British · 1872–1922

Gertrude Page (1872–1922) was a British novelist born in Warwickshire, England. In 1902 she moved with her husband to Southern Rhodesia, where she lived for many years thereafter, and most of her fiction is set against the backdrop of colonial life in Rhodesia. Three of her works are held in this collection: Paddy—The Next Best Thing, The Rhodesian, and Winding Paths. Her subjects centre on the everyday lives, relationships and circumstances of settlers and immigrants in southern Africa. Her writing is accessible and fluent, with an emphasis on plot and on the readability of her characters' situations; Paddy—The Next Best Thing and other representative works circulated widely among English-language readers and were adapted for the stage and screen, helping to spread awareness of Rhodesian colonial society in the English-speaking world. Public information about her life and work is limited, and no systematic study of her is yet available.