A House to Let

Adelaide Anne ProcterProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 186K words
Chapters: 19

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.A House to Let by Collins, Dickens, Gaskell, and ProcterAuthor: Procter, Adelaide Anne, 1825-1864,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 1, 2000

Editor's review

A House to Let is a curious product of nineteenth-century British literary collaboration, jointly written by Collins, Dickens, Gaskell, and Procter and unfolding in multiple voices around a vacant house to let. This relay method gives the text marked stylistic differences and shifts of perspective: readers can recognize each author's tone and see how Victorian writers collaborated within the framework of periodical serialization. The work combines suspense with social concern, using a single house to draw out the fates of various tenants and neighbors, and is especially appealing to readers familiar with Dickens or Gaskell. Read it as an observation of a literary scene in progress: notice how chapters connect and how suspense is handed over and resolved. The original is in English and of moderate length, suitable as research material on Victorian fiction and serial literature, and also suited to book-club discussions of multi-author writing.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Victorian literature readers who enjoy works by Dickens and Gaskell
Researchers interested in collaborative writing and periodical serialization
English literature students using it as supplementary reading in nineteenth-century fiction
Book clubs seeking a moderate-length English original for discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer a single author's unified style and a complete narrative structure
Beginners with limited English reading experience who are unwilling to consult background material
Genre-fiction readers expecting fast-paced suspense and high plot density

Reading tips

Before reading, learn about each of the four authors' styles, and note the shifts in tone and connections between chapters as you read.
Use the house as a thread for notes on characters and events, tracing how clues from different narrators fit together.
For book clubs, assign sections by author for lead reading, then discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the collaborative form together.

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

Was this book written by four authors together, and how was the work divided?

It is a typical collaborative novel of the Victorian era, written jointly by Collins, Dickens, Gaskell, and Procter, with each responsible for different parts, all centered on the same house to let. The attribution of specific chapters can be inferred from stylistic differences while reading or checked against relevant scholarship; part of the pleasure of reading lies in sensing this relay-style writing.

Can I read this directly without having read works by Dickens and the others?

Yes, you can read it directly. The story revolves around a house and related characters and does not depend on prior knowledge of other works. That said, knowing the authors' major works and styles in advance makes it easier to notice differences and echoes between chapters and enriches the reading experience; complete unfamiliarity does not hinder understanding of the story itself.

How difficult is the original text, and is it suitable for practicing English reading?

The text is in the language of nineteenth-century English fiction, with long sentences and the vocabulary and narrative conventions of the period, making it moderately to fairly difficult. As English reading material, it suits learners already able to read full-length novels; an annotated edition or translation is recommended alongside it. If you are new to English originals, start with shorter works in plainer language.

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About the author

Adelaide Anne Procter Author · English · 1825–1864

Adelaide Anne Procter (1825–1864) was an English poet and philanthropist. Born in London in 1825, she died of tuberculosis in 1864 at the age of thirty-nine. The eldest daughter of the poet Bryan Waller Procter, she published much of her poetry in Household Words, edited by Charles Dickens; in 1858 it was collected as Legends and Lyrics, which proved widely popular and was later followed by a second part. Her poems often draw on everyday life, feeling and faith, and are written in plain, lyrical language that found a wide readership in the Victorian era. Besides writing, she was active in causes promoting women's employment and in charitable work, her literary reputation and social concern reflecting one another. Three of her works are held here, including A House to Let and Parts 1 and 2 of Legends and Lyrics.