The de Bercy Affair

Tracy, Louis, 1863-1928Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.2

Word count: 420K words
Chapters: 42

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 de Bercy Affair by Louis TracyAuthor: Tracy, Louis, 1863-1928,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Dec 17, 2015

Editor's review

The de Bercy Affair is an English-language novel by the British author Louis Tracy, part of the free eBook collection of Project Gutenberg. Tracy was active from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century and was known for tightly plotted popular narratives. This book revolves around an affair involving the de Bercy family and contains the familiar elements of detective fiction and adventure stories: suspense, personal relationships, and a truth gradually brought to light. As a public-domain eBook, its value lies first in accessibility—readers can read a complete English original at no cost, making it suitable as English reading material or as a supplementary source for genre fiction. Readers should not expect heavyweight literary experimentation but should treat it as a highly entertaining old-fashioned novel: pay attention to narrative pacing, the way dialogue advances the plot, and how popular fiction of that era represented crime, identity, and morality. Because it is an early English text, some wording and sentence patterns differ from modern English, so reading with a dictionary or annotations is recommended. Overall, it is better suited to readers interested in old English novels, detective and adventure fiction, or public-domain eBook resources than to those seeking in-depth literary analysis or discussion of contemporary issues.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners looking for free original English novels to practice reading
Readers interested in popular detective and adventure stories from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
People who need public-domain English texts for genre fiction or translation practice
Readers accustomed to e-reading who are willing to look up words to overcome old-fashioned English

Not a good fit for

Readers hoping for a contemporary Chinese translation or a bilingual edition
People who prefer in-depth literary analysis, experimental writing, or contemporary issues
Beginners with weak English who are unwilling to look up words and sentences frequently

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to test the waters; if old-fashioned wording is dense, use the dictionary lookup function to aid comprehension.
Jot down character relationships and plot clues on paper to help follow the narrative pace of an old-fashioned novel.
You do not need to read every sentence closely; grasp the main plot first, then go back to examine the dialogue and suspense-building passages in detail.
If using it for English study, choose a passage of dialogue for retelling or translation practice to check your comprehension.

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not very suitable for complete beginners or elementary readers. The original is an early English novel whose sentence patterns and wording differ from modern English, and the plot relies heavily on narration. Readers with intermediate English or above who are willing to look up words and persevere to the end can try it; beginners are better advised to start with adapted versions or bilingual readers as a bridge.

Is this a Chinese book or an English book?

This is an original English novel by Louis Tracy, released by Project Gutenberg as a free eBook. The main text is in English and there is no Chinese translation. Readers need some English reading ability or should use translation tools to assist them.

Do I need to know the author or the historical background to read this book?

You do not need to do a lot of preparation in advance. The story itself is driven by plot and suspense, and you can follow it by reading directly. To understand it more smoothly, you can briefly learn about common conventions of late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century British popular fiction, such as detective, adventure, and hidden-identity motifs, which will help you grasp the narrative habits.

Can it be used as material for translation practice?

Yes, but note that it is a public-domain old novel with an older language style, and some expressions are not common in modern English. When doing translation practice, consult reliable dictionaries to confirm word meanings and distinguish the different tones of narrative language and character dialogue, so as not to mistake old-fashioned expressions for contemporary colloquial speech.

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About the author

Tracy, Louis, 1863-1928 Author

Louis Tracy (1863–1928) was an English writer of popular fiction in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, best known for tightly plotted mystery and adventure stories. His works often revolve around mysterious inheritances, disappearances, mistaken identities, and criminal puzzles, with representative titles including The Wheel O' Fortune, Number Seventeen, The King of Diamonds, The Great Mogul, and The Stowmarket Mystery. He excelled at blending detective reasoning with exotic settings and suspenseful chases, producing fast-paced, incident-filled narratives that were both entertaining and highly readable. The library holds 30 of his works, commonly classified under inspirational growth, though their core remains popular mystery and adventure fiction. Public information is limited, and details of his life remain to be further verified.