The Late Mrs. Null

Stockton, Frank Richard, 1834-1902Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.3

Word count: 603K words
Chapters: 61

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 Late Mrs. Null by Frank Richard StocktonAuthor: Stockton, Frank Richard, 1834-1902,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 1, 2004

Editor's review

Frank R. Stockton was known for his wit and mildly absurd plots, and The Late Mrs. Null carries his trademark light irony and comedy of misplacement: a narrative built around identity, marriage, and misunderstanding that reads easily while teasing human folly. As a free English ebook from Project Gutenberg, its chief value lies in accessibility and textual authenticity—readers can encounter the language texture and narrative pacing of late nineteenth-century American popular fiction at no cost, making it suitable for extensive reading in English and for readers interested in the humorous tradition within American literature. Note that this is not Stockton's best-known work, and the public-domain electronic edition has no modern introduction; readers should enter expecting an amusing old story rather than rigorous social critique. The chapters move slowly, suiting segmented reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

English learners using public-domain English novels for extensive reading and language intuition
Readers who enjoy late nineteenth-century American humorous fiction and light comic narrative
Those interested in Stockton who want to expand beyond his best-known works
Teachers needing free English texts for supplementary classroom reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast-paced, plot-driven, or modern suspense fiction
Readers needing detailed annotations, introductions, and scholarly editions
Beginners still struggling with English who would rather start with simplified versions

Reading tips

Read a chapter or two first to feel the language rhythm and humor, then decide between intensive and extensive reading.
Jot down character relationships and misunderstanding threads; much of the comedy comes from misaligned information.
Read alongside Stockton's other short stories to see the continuity of his ironic technique.
For English study, analyze three to five long sentences per chapter rather than reading everything intensively.

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 Stockton's representative work?

It is not his best-known work, but it reflects his consistent humor and comedy of misplacement. To understand Stockton systematically, start with his famous short stories and use this as an extension; it stands on its own, but lacks the recognition of a signature work.

How difficult is the English?

It is the standard written prose of late nineteenth-century American fiction: sentences tend long and period vocabulary appears occasionally, but the domestic plot keeps it from being very hard. Intermediate and above readers can read extensively with a dictionary; beginners should start with a simplified or bilingual edition before returning to the original.

Is the Project Gutenberg edition suitable for classroom use?

It works as free supplementary text: easy to download, no copyright concerns, and teachers can excerpt chapters. But the edition has no notes or introduction, so classroom use requires teachers to supply background materials and vocabulary lists, or students may stumble on period language and humor.

Comments

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About the author

Stockton, Frank Richard, 1834-1902 Author

Frank Richard Stockton (1834–1902) was an American writer known for humorous and fanciful short stories and novels. This collection holds 33 of his works, spanning a variety of genres: the short story “The Lady, or the Tiger?”, famous for its dilemma ending; the whimsical tales of “The Bee-Man of Orn and Other Fanciful Tales”; light, comic travel and domestic stories such as “The Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine”, “The Associate Hermits” and “The Squirrel Inn”; and adventure and exotic settings in “Kate Bonnet: The Romance of a Pirate‘s Daughter” and “A Bicycle of Cathay”. His writing is marked by witty dialogue, absurd premises and gentle satire, with brisk plots and surprising turns, making him a distinctive figure in late nineteenth-century American popular literature. Public information is limited, so details of his life beyond his dates are omitted.