The Corner House

White, Fred M. (Fred Merrick), 1859-1935Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 386K words
Chapters: 39

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.The Corner House by Fred M. WhiteAuthor: White, Fred M. (Fred Merrick), 1859-1935,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Apr 28, 2018

Editor's review

The Corner House is an English novel by the prolific British popular fiction writer Fred M. White, released free by Project Gutenberg. White was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century and was known for suspense, adventure, and domestic melodrama; his works often revolve around property, inheritance, and secrets of identity, with a brisk pace and short chapters that bear a clear serial-fiction character. Judging by the title, the "corner house" is likely to serve as the central space carrying the characters' relationships and secrets, but the specific plot must be judged from the original text. The book's value lies in its being a light sample of the English popular fiction tradition: manageable in length and not difficult in language, it suits English reading practice and also offers diversion for readers who enjoy old-fashioned suspense. As a public-domain ebook, the edition has no modern annotations; readers who encounter period usage or cultural background obstacles can rely on dictionaries and background materials. Overall, this is a casual read suited to being dipped into in spare moments, without the need for solemn preparation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Learners who want to practise reading with an English original and prefer light suspense
Casual readers who enjoy old-fashioned British popular fiction and serial-style narrative
Readers interested in English popular literature of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Readers who need short chapters and an ebook they can pick up and put down at any time

Not a good fit for

Serious literary readers seeking depth and complex narrative structure
Readers expecting the intricate deduction and twist design of modern suspense
Readers impatient with old-fashioned usage and slow build-up

Reading tips

Proceed chapter by chapter, pausing briefly at the end of each to sort out the characters and clues and avoid confusing them.
When you meet period usage, first guess from context, then check a dictionary to confirm, balancing reading flow with vocabulary building.
Treat the book as fragmented reading for bedtime or the commute, reading one or two chapters at a time to keep a relaxed pace.
After finishing, briefly note how the central suspense is laid out, to appreciate how serial fiction holds readers' interest.

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

How difficult is the English in this book?

The language is generally that of popular fiction, with not overly complex sentences, but it includes early twentieth-century usage and habits of expression. Readers with intermediate English can get through it with a dictionary; beginners are advised to use an annotated edition or start with simpler materials.

Does the Gutenberg edition have annotations or an introduction?

Project Gutenberg provides public-domain electronic texts, which usually contain no modern editorial annotations or introduction. Readers who need background can look up the life of the author, White, and the background of his era, or choose a commercial edition with an introduction for comparison.

Is it suitable for English reading practice?

Yes. The chapters are short and the plot has momentum, which makes it easy to stay motivated. It is best to retell the gist of each chapter in two or three sentences after reading and to organize new vocabulary, combining leisure reading with language learning for better results.

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About the author

White, Fred M. (Fred Merrick), 1859-1935 Author

Fred M. White (1859–1935) was a British writer of popular fiction known for mystery, detective and disaster themes. Public information about him is limited, and details of his life remain little known to Chinese readers, yet the library holds 11 of his works, suggesting that his writing circulated to some extent in the popular English-language fiction market of his time. His representative works include The Doom of London, which is notable for its disaster imagination, while The Crimson Blind, The Slave of Silence, The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, The Mystery of the Four Fingers and The Mystery of the Ravenspurs centre on crime, conspiracy and puzzles of identity. Their tight plots and sustained suspense reflect the typical taste of late Victorian and Edwardian popular fiction. His works have attracted renewed attention in recent years through the study of early science fiction and detective literature.