A Reconstructed Marriage

Barr, Amelia E., 1831-1919Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 525K 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.A Reconstructed Marriage by Amelia E. BarrAuthor: Barr, Amelia E., 1831-1919,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jun 21, 2011

Editor's review

A Reconstructed Marriage is a novel by Amelia E. Barr, classified under American and Canadian literature. Judging from the title and the author's consistent writerly orientation, the book revolves around the breakdown and reconstruction of a marriage, carrying the family ethics and emotional conflict threads common to nineteenth-century popular fiction. Barr's works were mostly aimed at general readers, with clear narration and concrete character situations, and she was skilled at rendering the power, endurance, and choices within marriage as palpable scenes of life. The value of this book lies not in literary experimentation but in offering a popular text for observing nineteenth-century Anglo-American conceptions of marriage and the situation of women: readers can see what moral conditions and practical limits the era's imagination of "reconstruction" contained. Project Gutenberg's free electronic edition is easy to obtain and suitable as an introductory reading for Victorian popular fiction and gender issues. When reading, one should note the era-bound nature of its plot progression and moral judgments, and need not judge characters' choices harshly by contemporary standards; if used for research, it should be understood within the context of popular literature and family narrative.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy nineteenth-century Anglo-American popular fiction and family ethics stories
Literature enthusiasts interested in themes of marriage, gender, and the situation of women
Students who need a free English novel text for course reading or comparative study
Readers who wish to approach Victorian narrative style in a light way

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer modern fast-paced narrative or strong suspenseful twists
Readers unaccustomed to old-style English expression who need a Chinese translation
Readers expecting systematic gender theory analysis rather than novel narrative

Reading tips

First understand the meaning of "reconstructed" in the title, and enter the reading with the question of the conditions and costs of marital reconstruction
Pay attention to dialogue and silence among characters in domestic spaces; these details often reflect the era's conceptions better than plot
After reading, record your judgments of the characters' choices, then check them against nineteenth-century marriage and legal background to see whether they are influenced by contemporary standpoints
If used for a course, compare with family novels of the same period to compare narrative modes and moral conclusions

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

What is this book mainly about?

Judging from the title and the author's writing trajectory, the novel revolves around the breakdown and reconstruction of a marriage, involving family ethics, emotional conflict, and character choices. It belongs to the nineteenth-century popular fiction tradition, with emphasis not on social theory but on concrete characters' situations and moral dilemmas.

Can I read it without a Chinese translation?

The original is in English, with sentence patterns and wording characteristic of the nineteenth century, but the overall narrative is fairly clear. Readers with basic English reading ability can read it in sections with a dictionary; if the main goal is understanding the story, one may first read chapter summaries before entering the original text, and need not stop over individual unfamiliar words.

Is it suitable as material for gender studies?

It can serve as supplementary material. It presents the era's popular fiction imagination of marriage, women's endurance, and reconstruction, but it is not a theoretical work. When used for research, it should be combined with historical background and other literature, distinguishing the novel's moral presuppositions from verifiable social facts.

Do I need to know the author's biography when reading?

The author's biography is not a prerequisite for reading. Understanding the common themes and publishing environment of nineteenth-century Anglo-American popular fiction is enough to help comprehension; for further research, one may verify the author's other works and the reader market of the time, but should not directly treat the novel's plot as the author's personal experience.

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About the author

Barr, Amelia E., 1831-1919 Author

Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919) was an Anglo-American novelist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Because public information is limited, details of her early life, education and nationality cannot be confirmed and are not speculated upon here. The collection holds 26 of her works, chiefly historical romances and regional fiction, along with an autobiography. Remember the Alamo draws on the Texas War of Independence, The Bow of Orange Ribbon is set in New York, while A Daughter of Fife, Christine: A Fife Fisher Girl and An Orkney Maid focus on Scottish fishing villages and island life, as do A Knight of the Nets and Jan Vedder's Wife. Her autobiography, All the Days of My Life, can be read alongside her novels. Barr wrote in a plain style, often portraying ordinary people's fortunes and family loyalties; her books found a wide readership in the English-speaking world and are now mainly of interest to students of nineteenth-century popular and regional fiction.