Sisters

Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.3
Word count
520K words
Chapters
52

Tags

English Originals Women's Fiction SisterhoodFamily BondsFamily TiesLove EntanglementsUrban RomanceHuman NatureGrowing UpFemale Perspective

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.Sisters by Kathleen Thompson NorrisAuthor: Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Jan 1, 2004

Editor's review

The value of this novel lies in preserving a vivid sample of early twentieth-century American popular fiction on family ethics and women's growth. Kathleen Thompson Norris excelled at building relationships through everyday detail; the title Sisters naturally centers on the intimate yet delicate tension between sisters: differences in temperament, diverging life choices, and the pressure that courtship and social expectations place on family affection. The pacing is traditional and the psychological portraiture fine-grained, making it suitable for readers curious about women's circumstances and family narratives of that era. As reading material, it works well as supplementary reading within literary history, or as slow bedtime reading in sections, to savor the period voice and emotional logic in the characters' dialogue. Because it is a public-domain ebook without a modern introduction, readers must enter the context on their own, but this also preserves an authentic reading experience.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read the opening chapters first to grasp each sister's temperament and family position before entering the conflict.
  2. Read the sisters' dialogue alongside their choices, noting the era's implicit rules for women's roles.
  3. Pair the reading with background on early twentieth-century American society and women's lives to deepen contextual understanding.
  4. Read one or two chapters a day and jot down character relationships to avoid losing track of threads in the old-style narrative.

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.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no knowledge of American literature to read directly? It can be read, but it takes some patience. It is a public-domain ebook with no modern annotations or introduction, and the pacing is traditional. Learning a little about early twentieth-century American family life and women's lives before starting will make it easier to grasp the era logic behind the characters' choices.
Is the main appeal the plot or the characters? It leans more toward characters and relationships. The title points to sisters, and the core tension comes from differences in temperament, diverging life choices, and how family affection changes under courtship and social expectations. Readers expecting strong plot twists may find it quiet; those who enjoy fine psychological detail and everyday texture will find it a good fit.
What should I keep in mind when reading the ebook? This is a public-domain English text from Project Gutenberg with simple formatting and no extra analysis. Use a reader with adjustable font size, read in sections, and keep track of character relationships. Don't get stuck on every word of old-fashioned expressions; first grasp the intent of the dialogue and the direction of the plot.

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

Norris, Kathleen Thompson, 1880-1966 Author

Kathleen Thompson Norris (1880–1966) was an American writer of popular fiction, with twelve of her works held in this collection. Public information on her nationality, life, and education is limited, and no speculation is offered here. Judging from the works available, she excelled at writing about family, marriage, and women's growth, with a delicate and sympathetic touch, often depicting ordinary people struggling and persevering amid emotional turmoil and the pressures of life. Her representative works include Harriet and the Piper, Mother: A Story, Martie, the Unconquered, Saturday's Child, The Heart of Rachael, Undertow, Sisters, and Poor, Dear Margaret Kirby. Set mostly in everyday scenes, these works feature vivid characterization and plain yet moving plots, showing her sustained attention to women's circumstances and family ethics, and offering readable examples for understanding early twentieth-century American popular fiction.