The Mother

Norman DuncanProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.6

Word count: 140K words
Chapters: 15

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 Mother by Norman DuncanAuthor: Duncan, Norman, 1871-1916,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Dec 17, 2008

Editor's review

Norman Duncan's The Mother is a novella from the early twentieth-century North American literary tradition, made freely available through Project Gutenberg's digitization. Duncan wrote often of ordinary people's daily lives and emotional worlds, and this work continues his plain, restrained style, centering on family relationships and maternal experience. It relies not on dramatic plot twists but on the accumulation of detail and atmosphere to let feeling emerge naturally. For today's readers its value lies mainly in literary history and reading experience: it offers both the spare, colloquial narrative rhythm of early English-language fiction and a window into how family, kinship, and women's roles were written about in that era. The English original is short, suited to light reading finished on a commute, before bed, or over a weekend, and also works as extensive reading for English learners who want to absorb natural expression through a complete story. Note that this is a public-domain ebook without modern annotations or an introduction; read slowly and attend to the emotion carried in dialogue and description.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who enjoy early English-language literature and want to broaden their reading
Learners who want to improve English extensive reading through a complete short work
Literature lovers interested in narratives of family and maternity
Readers who prefer a slower pace and works that shine through detail

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting strong plotting, suspenseful twists, or fast pacing
Beginners who need detailed annotations, introductions, and background analysis
Readers who prefer contemporary styles and have little patience for older narrative modes

Reading tips

Read through once to grasp the story's direction, then reread closely for emotional cues in dialogue and description.
Guess unfamiliar words from context first and look them up after finishing a passage, so the reading rhythm isn't broken.
Read alongside short fiction by North American writers of the same period to compare narrative tone and subject matter.
After finishing, write two or three sentences on the mother-son relationship to check whether you caught the details.

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?

It is the English original, released as a free ebook by Project Gutenberg, with no Chinese translation included; readers need some English reading ability.

I haven't read other works by Duncan. Can I start with this one?

Yes. It is a standalone, complete narrative that doesn't depend on prior works, so reading it directly won't hinder understanding; you'll simply lack background on the author's career.

Does the ebook include annotations or an introduction?

Project Gutenberg provides public-domain original texts, generally without modern annotations or introductions; readers must look up period background or unfamiliar expressions themselves.

How long does it take to read?

The work is short; readers comfortable with English can usually finish it in one or two evenings, or read it in several sittings on a commute or before bed.

Comments

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About the author

Norman Duncan Author · Canadian · 1871–1916

Norman Duncan (1871–1916) was a Canadian writer, journalist and teacher, born in Brantford, Ontario. He worked for the New York Evening Post and made several trips to Newfoundland and Labrador, where he observed the lives of local fishermen and the work of medical missions at sea, experiences that became an important source for his writing. He produced more than twenty books, including Doctor Luke of the Labrador, Harbor Tales Down North and Billy Topsail & Company: A Story for Boys; eleven of his works are held in this collection. His writing draws mainly on northern harbors and the daily life of fishermen, blending adventure with themes of personal growth and moral development, and is marked by plain language and a focus on character forged in harsh conditions. Public information is limited, and further details of his life remain to be verified.