Missing

Ward, Humphry, Mrs., 1851-1920Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 523K 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.Missing by Mrs. Humphry WardAuthor: Ward, Humphry, Mrs., 1851-1920,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jul 14, 2004

Editor's review

Missing is a novel by the prolific British novelist Mrs. Humphry Ward (1851–1920), released here by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain ebook. Ward was a widely read popular novelist of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, and her work often centers on family ethics, social class, and emotional entanglements; Missing follows in this vein, building suspense and turning points in her characters' fates around a disappearance and the search for the missing person. For Chinese readers, the book's value lies mainly at the documentary and linguistic level: it is an authentic sample of late nineteenth-century English popular fiction, useful for observing the narrative pacing, dialogue style, and social attitudes of the period. It suits casual reading by enthusiasts of English literature, or consultation as a textual case by readers studying late Victorian popular fiction. One caveat: this is an English-language original and a public-domain text of considerable age, so its plotting and values bear clear marks of their time; readers should approach it with a literary-historical eye rather than expecting modern suspense.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English-literature enthusiasts who want to sample late nineteenth-century British popular fiction in the original
Students and readers studying late Victorian and Edwardian fiction
English learners who want to practice long-form reading with a public-domain original
Readers interested in Mrs. Humphry Ward and the writing of her era

Not a good fit for

Readers who only want a Chinese translation and would rather not face the English original
Readers expecting a tightly paced modern suspense novel
Researchers who need an authoritative annotated edition with a scholarly introduction

Reading tips

Read the first few chapters to grasp the characters and the disappearance thread before deciding to read through or selectively.
Keep a notebook of names and family relationships to reduce confusion over English names.
Read alongside background material on late Victorian British society to understand the characters' logic of behavior.
If reading only for language practice, fix a pace of ten to fifteen pages a day, prioritizing accumulation over speed.

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 in Chinese or the English original?

This is the English-language original released by Project Gutenberg; the text is in English, and the materials provide no information on a Chinese translation. Chinese readers will need some English reading ability, or can consult a translation alongside for support.

What kind of story is Missing?

Judging from the title and the author's characteristic approach, it is a British novel built around a disappearance and the search for the missing person, with elements of suspense and family ethics. The materials give only bibliographic information; the actual plot must be judged from the text itself, and details should not be inferred from the summary.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg was the earliest project to offer free ebooks, founded by Michael Hart in 1971. This edition is a public-domain electronic text, free to obtain and easy to search, but it generally lacks modern editorial notes, an introduction, or a proofreading statement.

What level of English is needed to read this book?

The original dates from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, with long sentences and period-flavored vocabulary; intermediate or higher English reading ability is recommended. If it proves difficult, start with shorter English works from the same period before moving on to a full-length novel.

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About the author

Ward, Humphry, Mrs., 1851-1920 Author

Mrs. Humphry Ward (1851–1920) was a British novelist of the late Victorian era, born Mary Augusta Arnold and known after marriage by her husband's surname. Her fiction often centres on conflicts between religious belief and moral conviction, while also touching on social reform, women's circumstances and family ethics. Her style is realistic, with finely drawn psychological portraits, and her work reached a wide readership in the English-speaking world of her day. The novel Robert Elsmere, her best-known work, stirred public debate by addressing a crisis of faith, while Marcella, The History of David Grieve and The Marriage of William Ashe likewise explore personal conviction and social responsibility. Thirty-three of her works are held in this collection. Public information is limited, so details of her life and career are not elaborated here.