A Perilous Secret

Reade, Charles, 1814-1884Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 545K words
Chapters: 55

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 Perilous Secret by Charles Reade. Author: Reade, Charles, 1814-1884. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

A Perilous Secret is a novel by the English writer Charles Reade (1814–1884) and a public-domain work of English literature. Reade was known for tightly plotted fiction and a concern with social issues, and this book continues in that vein: it unfolds around hidden pasts and the fates of its characters, advancing through suspense while touching on questions of law, class, and human nature. For Chinese readers, its main value lies in observing the narrative craft of Victorian popular fiction—how secrets, misunderstandings, and coincidence sustain tension, and how the author embeds social commentary within entertainment. This is the original English electronic text, without modern annotations. The language shows nineteenth-century English features, so it suits readers with some grounding in English who are interested in Victorian fiction. Read primarily by following the plot; there is no need to weigh every word. When long sentences slow you down, grasp the character relationships first and return for close reading later.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers who enjoy Victorian English fiction
Scholars studying Charles Reade and nineteenth-century popular narrative
Students with some English proficiency who want to practice reading a full-length original novel
Readers drawn to suspense-driven plots and family-secret themes

Not a good fit for

Readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed annotations to read comfortably
Readers who prefer fast-paced contemporary narrative and have little patience for nineteenth-century prose
Readers seeking detailed research on the author's life and works

Reading tips

Map the main character relationships before getting into the plot, so nineteenth-century long sentences do not slow your pace.
Take reading notes tracing how the secret is revealed, following the buildup of suspense.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first, then look them up together after finishing the chapter.
Read alongside other works by Reade to observe continuities and changes in his narrative technique.

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 a Chinese version or the original English?

This is the public-domain English electronic text released by Project Gutenberg, not a Chinese translation, and it has no modern editorial annotations. Reading it requires some ability to read long English fiction; Chinese readers may use a dictionary or a parallel translation.

Can I read this without having read other works by Reade?

Yes. It is a standalone novel and does not depend on earlier works. Still, some familiarity with the Victorian novel tradition Reade worked in and with his tendency to address social issues will make the commentary in the book easier to grasp.

What does the “perilous secret” in the title refer to?

From the available information, the title points to the hidden event at the novel's core, but the existing information does not detail the specific plot. Read the “secret” as a suspense device that drives the narrative; its content is revealed gradually in the text, and the title should not be used to fill in details on your own.

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

Reade, Charles, 1814-1884 Author

Charles Reade (1814–1884) was an English novelist and playwright of the Victorian era. Fifteen of his works are included in the collection, among them The Cloister and the Hearth: A Tale of the Middle Ages, Hard Cash, It Is Never Too Late to Mend, Peg Woffington, Put Yourself in His Place, A Perilous Secret, and Griffith Gaunt, or, Jealousy. Public information about his life is limited, and biographical details are difficult to verify, yet his works show a gift for blending history with modern social concerns. The Cloister and the Hearth is a meticulously researched medieval tale, while his other novels draw on Victorian social reality, addressing such themes as the law, prisons, money, and marriage with intricate plots and vivid characters. Reade also wrote for the stage, and his works are tightly structured with lively dialogue, combining a sense of theatre with readability and forming a distinctive style between the Victorian novel and drama.