At Last: A Novel

Harland, Marion, 1830-1922Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 463K words
Chapters: 47

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.At Last: A Novel by Marion HarlandAuthor: Harland, Marion, 1830-1922,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

This is a novel by the nineteenth-century American woman writer Marion Harland, falling under American and Canadian literature, now offered as a free eBook by Project Gutenberg. Harland was long concerned with domestic life and women's circumstances; her narratives are typically delicate and dense, skilled at unfolding character relationships and emotional turns within everyday scenes, and this novel likewise continues her attention to marriage, family, and personal destiny. For readers wishing to understand the landscape of nineteenth-century American popular fiction, the book offers a sample for observing the social ideas and narrative tastes of the time; for those studying early women's writing, it also has some documentary value. Yet the work bears clear marks of its era, moves slowly, and advances its plot through dialogue and psychological description, requiring corresponding patience from the reader. It is best read as an object within its historical context rather than as a modern novel driven by strong plot. Suitable for reading in segments during quiet hours; combined with some knowledge of nineteenth-century American social background, it yields a fuller experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in nineteenth-century American literature and women's writing
Literature enthusiasts studying Project Gutenberg's public-domain resources
Readers who enjoy slow-paced domestic and ethical narratives
Those needing English-language public-domain texts for language study

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced modern fiction
Readers impatient with nineteenth-century narrative style and period attitudes
Those seeking a complete Chinese translation or annotated edition

Reading tips

Read the opening chapters first to gauge the narrative pace and character relationships before deciding how much to invest
Jot down characters' forms of address and family relationships while reading to avoid confusion from names or old-fashioned expressions
Use background material on nineteenth-century American society and women's circumstances to aid understanding
Proceed in a fixed daily portion; do not chase speed—focus on absorbing the period's feel for language

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 there a Chinese translation of this book?

According to the given information, this is an English-language public-domain eBook released by Project Gutenberg, with no mention of a Chinese translation. If you need to read in Chinese, you must separately check whether an authorized or public-domain translation exists, and rely on actual publication information.

What is Project Gutenberg?

Project Gutenberg is the earliest project providing free electronic books, launched by Michael Hart in 1971, dedicated to digitizing public-domain books for free public reading. This book is one of the electronic texts released by the project; when reading, note its English original text and public-domain status.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

Some understanding of nineteenth-century American social structure, family ideas, and women's roles will help. The narrative is slow, and character relationships advance through dialogue; familiarity with the social etiquette and family ethics of the time can reduce obstacles to understanding.

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About the author

Harland, Marion, 1830-1922 Author

Marion Harland (1830–1922) was an American author, born Mary Virginia Hawes Terrell. Her writing spanned domestic guides, cookbooks, fiction, and memoirs, and thirteen of her works are held in this collection. Her best-known book, Common Sense in the Household: A Manual of Practical Housewifery, offers systematic instruction in household management and established her standing as a writer on domestic economy; Breakfast, Luncheon and Tea and The Dinner Year-Book focus on meal planning and table etiquette. Beyond domestic subjects, she wrote the novel At Last and such autobiographical works as Marion Harland's Autobiography: The Story of a Long Life and When Grandmamma Was New: The Story of a Virginia Childhood. Public information on her life is limited, so biographical details remain sparse, yet her practical and warmly personal writing exerted a broad and lasting influence on American family life and domestic education in the late nineteenth century.