Sons and Daughters

Margaret Oliphant Wilson OliphantProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.5

Word count: 151K words
Chapters: 16

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.Sons and Daughters by Mrs. OliphantAuthor: Oliphant, Mrs. (Margaret), 1828-1897,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 9, 2018

Editor's review

Sons and Daughters is a novel by Margaret Oliphant, a prolific Victorian author, available as a free e-book from Project Gutenberg. Oliphant excelled at depicting emotional tensions and generational divides within families, and the title itself signals the centrality of parent-child relationships. Readers will see nineteenth-century English families pulled between expectations, duty, and personal inclination. As a public-domain e-book, its main barrier is language and period context rather than plot complexity. It suits as supplementary reading for the Victorian novel strand of an English literature course, and for readers interested in family narratives dipping in during commutes or other fragmented time. There is no need to rush; note the social norms and gender roles revealed in dialogue, details that often convey the era's value more than plot does.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary readers interested in Victorian English fiction who want to broaden their reading
Literature students studying family relations and generational conflict
Intermediate to advanced English learners seeking free public-domain English texts for extensive reading practice
Readers who enjoy character-driven family narratives and do not require strong plot

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking fast-paced suspense or plot-heavy stories
Learners with weak English who cannot yet read nineteenth-century English fiction smoothly
Readers entirely unfamiliar with Victorian social context and unwilling to consult reference materials

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to get a feel for the language and relationships, then decide between close and extensive reading
Prepare a simple character chart and note shifts in parent-child positions as you go
Read alongside background on Victorian family values to understand the context of characters' choices
Use the e-book's search function to locate key dialogues for more efficient rereading

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 English? How difficult is it?

The original is in English, and Project Gutenberg provides the public-domain English e-text. The language is nineteenth-century English fiction, with long sentences and formal diction, posing a challenge for readers used to modern English; intermediate to advanced reading proficiency is recommended.

Can I understand it without a background in Victorian literature?

You can follow the main plot and relationships, but some descriptions of social norms, family ethics, and gender roles may require background knowledge for full understanding. Consult relevant period background as you read, or pair it with a history of English literature.

Is this book suitable as English-learning material?

It suits extensive reading but not as a beginner textbook. Its value lies in exposing learners to authentic nineteenth-century written English and narrative style. Focus on grasping the gist rather than checking every word; note recurring key words as you go.

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About the author

Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant Author · British (Scottish) · 1828–1897

Mrs. Oliphant (Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant, 1828–1897) was a prolific Scottish novelist, historical writer and biographer of the Victorian era. Born in Wallyford, she gained fame in 1849 with Passages in the Life of Mrs. Margaret Maitland. In 1852 she married her cousin Frank Oliphant; widowed in 1859, she supported her children by her pen and published more than a hundred works in her lifetime. The library holds 90 of her works, including the Carlingford Chronicles, Salem Chapel, Miss Marjoribanks, supernatural tales, Hester, Kirsteen and the autobiography The Days of My Life. She is known for her delicate, humorous portrayals of small-town life and for her historical and biographical writing, and stands as a representative professional woman writer of the Victorian period.