Stepping Heavenward

Elizabeth Payson PrentissProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 499K words
Chapters: 50

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.Stepping Heavenward by E. PrentissAuthor: Prentiss, E. (Elizabeth), 1818-1878,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2001

Editor's review

Stepping Heavenward is an epistolary coming-of-age novel by Elizabeth Prentiss. Through the life of its heroine, Katie, from girlhood to wifehood and motherhood, it records her gradual maturation amid everyday trivialities, illness and loss. Its value lies not in dramatic plot but in its honest portrayal of inner struggle: willfulness, self-examination, repentance and small improvements interwoven, never remote to the reader. As a public-domain ebook, it serves as an accessible introduction to nineteenth-century American women's writing and domestic narrative, and is suited to slow chapter-by-chapter reading on quiet evenings, using the heroine's self-scrutiny to reflect on one's own pace of life. The English original is plain in language and uncomplicated in syntax, making it a fairly friendly read for those with some English reading ability. Note that the book carries a pronounced religious atmosphere of its era; readers should understand it in historical context rather than fully endorse its views.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy diary-form, coming-of-age and women's fiction
English learners wishing to practice reading with relatively easy original English
Readers interested in nineteenth-century American literature and domestic life
Readers seeking self-reflection and emotional resonance at a turning point in life

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Readers averse to texts with heavy religious didacticism
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or annotations

Reading tips

Read chapter by chapter in diary chronological order, noting subtle shifts in the heroine's mindset
Keep a pen handy to jot down sentences that move you and your thoughts at the time
After reading several chapters each week, look back and compare your own growth with the heroine's
If English reading is difficult, read a chapter in the original first, then retell the gist in your own words

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 a novel or a real diary?

It is a novel written by Prentiss in diary form, and the heroine Katie is a fictional character. The diary form makes the psychological portrayal feel vivid, but readers should not treat it as biographical material about the author herself.

How difficult is the English, and what level is it suitable for?

The original language is generally plain, sentences are not long, and unfamiliar words are limited; a high-school-level or above English reading foundation is enough to attempt it. For religious or period-specific vocabulary, infer from context rather than looking up every word.

Will the religious content in the book affect reading?

Religious content is part of the work's historical background and runs through the heroine's self-examination. Readers may treat it as a clue to understanding the characters' motives without endorsing its views; the focus remains on the authentic depiction of growth and emotion.

Comments

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About the author

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss Author · American · 1818–1878

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss (1818–1878) was an American author and hymn writer. Born in Portland, Maine, in 1818 and died in Vermont in 1878, she was the daughter of Edward Payson, a Congregational minister. Three of her works are held in this collection: Stepping Heavenward (1869), The Home at Greylock, and Little Susy's Little Servants. She is known chiefly for her religious children's literature and fiction, which are marked by a devotional spirit, and her hymn "More Love to Thee, O Christ" has been widely circulated. Public information about the details of her life is limited; existing accounts focus mainly on her family background, her religious outlook, and the representative works mentioned above.