The Postmaster's Daughter

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

3.0

Word count: 376K words
Chapters: 38

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 Postmaster's Daughter by Louis TracyAuthor: Tracy, Louis, 1863-1928,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Nov 1, 2003

Editor's review

This work by the prolific author Louis Tracy is a typical English popular novel; the title "The Postmaster's Daughter" already suggests its plot-driven narrative orientation. As a free eBook from Project Gutenberg, its main value lies in presenting, at zero cost, a sample of English popular literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century, suitable for researchers or enthusiasts seeking to understand the reading tastes of the time. The text is in English and of moderate length, allowing readers to observe how novels of that era handled family, identity, and emotional entanglements. Readers should not expect experimental style or profound social critique; it is more like a window into the atmosphere of old-fashioned melodrama. For readers using English for language learning, the strong storytelling and relatively accessible language make it suitable as extensive reading material. Note that the publication information indicates this is a Project Gutenberg electronic edition without a modern introduction or annotations, so readers must grasp the background on their own. Overall, this is a lightweight text suitable for casual reading and for understanding the tradition of genre fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy English popular fiction and prefer plot-driven stories
Learners who wish to expand vocabulary and practice extensive reading with English materials
Enthusiasts studying late nineteenth-century English popular literature or genre fiction
Readers accustomed to public-domain eBooks who do not rely on modern annotations

Not a good fit for

Serious readers expecting profound social critique or experimental literary techniques
Beginner readers who need a Chinese translation or detailed background annotations
Readers impatient with old-fashioned melodrama and slow-paced narrative

Reading tips

Read the first two chapters to gauge the narrative pace and language difficulty before deciding whether to read the whole book.
Keep pen and paper to record character relationships and key events to help follow plot twists.
If using it for English learning, summarize each chapter in English after reading to check comprehension.
If unfamiliar with the historical background, look up the author's biography and an overview of late nineteenth-century British society first.

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 the language difficulty of this book suitable for English beginners?

This is an original English popular novel; the language is generally plain but contains old-fashioned expressions and longer sentences, so it is not entirely suitable for absolute beginners. Readers with intermediate reading ability who are used to long sentences will find it easier to get into; beginners are advised to start with a simplified version or read chapter by chapter with a dictionary, focusing on understanding the plot rather than word-by-word intensive reading.

What are the characteristics of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts, mainly public-domain works, usually without the introductions, annotations, or typographic refinements of modern publishers. This book is such an edition; readers get relatively pure original content, suitable for those who can verify background information themselves. If detailed annotations are needed, one should find an annotated edition for comparison.

Do I need to know the author's background to read this book?

Not strictly necessary, but knowing that Louis Tracy was a prolific popular novelist of the late nineteenth to early twentieth century helps understand the book's genre positioning. If you just want the story, you can go straight into the text; if you care about literary history, looking up his biography and an overview of contemporary English popular fiction before reading will be more rewarding.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.