In the Permanent Way

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 506K words
Chapters: 51

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. In the Permanent Way by Flora Annie Webster Steel. Author: Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: May 28, 2012.

Editor's review

In the Permanent Way is a work of fiction by Flora Annie Webster Steel, classified as English literature. Steel wrote extensively on British India, and this book continues her attention to social life in colonial India; the title's "permanent way" itself evokes railways and colonial infrastructure. Its value lies in presenting, through fiction, the everyday details and human situations of cross-cultural contact, showing how a British writer of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries imagined and narrated India. It serves as supplementary reading for the study of English and colonial literature, and for readers interested in the historical background of British India. Read with attention to the narrator's standpoint and the era's limitations, understanding character relations within the colonial context rather than as neutral exotic colour. As a public-domain ebook, it is easily available and suited to comparative reading alongside works by other writers on similar themes.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in fiction set in British India
Students of English literature and colonial literature
Readers who enjoy late nineteenth-century English fictional style
Readers needing public-domain English texts as research material

Not a good fit for

Those who read only contemporary fiction and dislike classical narrative pacing
Readers expecting an Indian native perspective
Beginners needing a Chinese translation or introductory guide

Reading tips

Learn a little about British India and railway construction first, then enter the characters' stories.
Note how the narrator describes Indian characters and keep critical notes.
Compare with other colonial-themed fiction of the same period to see differences in perspective.

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 a novel or a collection of short stories?

Available information only confirms it is a work of fiction by Steel, classified as English literature, with no details on its structure. Check the table of contents in the ebook to see whether it is a novel or a collection, then decide whether to read it through or selectively.

What does "Permanent Way" in the title mean?

In railway terminology, "permanent way" means the finished, laid track, as opposed to temporary construction lines. Given Steel's Indian subject matter, the title readily suggests colonial-era railways and infrastructure, but its specific meaning in the book must be judged from the text.

What historical background is helpful before reading?

Some knowledge of colonial rule, railway construction, and social hierarchies in British India in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries helps. This background clarifies the institutional environment behind characters' actions and makes it easier to recognise colonial perspectives and biases in the narration.

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

Steel, Flora Annie Webster, 1847-1929 Author

Flora Annie Webster Steel (1847–1929) was a British writer best known for her works on India and for her retellings of folk tales. Her output ranged widely: she produced story collections for children such as Tales of the Punjab: Folklore of India and English Fairy Tales, as well as novels set against Indian society and history, including On the Face of the Waters: A Tale of the Mutiny, The Flower of Forgiveness, The Potter's Thumb, The Hosts of the Lord, In the Guardianship of God and In the Permanent Way. Her writing often draws on Indian folklore and on the realities of colonial life, with plain narration and a strong sense of place. Public information about her life is limited, but the twenty works held here show a lasting engagement with folk literature and with exotic settings, contributing to both children's literature and fiction about India.