The Secret City

Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.4

Word count: 691K words
Chapters: 70

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 Secret City by Hugh WalpoleAuthor: Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: May 1, 2004

Editor's review

The Secret City is a novel by the English writer Hugh Walpole, set in Russia around the time of the First World War and centering on a group of English people in Petrograd, interweaving friendship, suspicion, and individual fates amid sweeping historical change. Walpole excels at atmosphere; his city is at once exotic and tinged with the unease of a world on the brink of upheaval. The psychological portraiture is finely drawn, and the plot advances through subtle shifts in personal relationships rather than strong conflict, reading more like a group portrait of an era. As a public-domain English ebook from Project Gutenberg, it suits readers interested in early twentieth-century Europe and Russian history, as well as literary readers studying Walpole's style. Note that the book's depiction of Russia reflects a British perspective of its time, and today's reader should keep a historicized, critical eye.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Russian and European history around the First World War
Readers of English fiction who enjoy group portraits and atmosphere-driven narrative
Readers studying early twentieth-century British fiction and Walpole's work
History enthusiasts who wish to sense an era's atmosphere through fiction

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a strong plot and a fast-paced suspense story
General readers who need a Chinese translation
Readers sensitive to colonial perspectives in exotic settings

Reading tips

A brief look at the Russian situation in the 1910s before reading helps in understanding the characters' circumstances.
Note how the English characters observe local society; this can serve as material for cross-cultural analysis.
With many characters, it helps to map the main relationships first, then proceed chapter by chapter.
After reading, compare with other works by Walpole to observe continuities and changes in his narrative style.

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

When is the book set?

The novel is set in Russia around the First World War, with the main scenes in Petrograd. Most of the characters are English people living there, and through their interactions and observations the story reflects individual fates and collective moods amid the upheavals of the age.

Is the book's depiction of Russia objective?

The novel adopts the perspective of English characters of the time, and its observations of Russia carry the exotic imaginings and prejudices of that era. Today it is best read as a historical text, using background knowledge to discern the limits of its perspective rather than taking it as an objective record of Russian society.

How difficult is the English, and is it suitable for non-native readers?

Walpole's English is generally plain, but there is a good deal of dialogue and period vocabulary, so non-native readers may need a dictionary. It is advisable to read a chapter or two to get used to the feel of the language before reading continuously, and to take brief notes on names and places.

Comments

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About the author

Walpole, Hugh, 1884-1941 Author

Hugh Walpole (1884–1941) was a British novelist, with 14 of his works held in this collection. His interests as a writer were wide-ranging; representative works include Fortitude, The Cathedral: A Novel, The Golden Scarecrow, The Duchess of Wrexe, Her Decline and Death: A Romantic Commentary, Joseph Conrad, Jeremy, The Gods and Mr. Perrin: A Tragi-Comedy, and The Captives. Besides full-length novels, he wrote Jeremy, a story centred on a boy's growth, and a study of Conrad as a writer. His fiction often follows characters' inner struggles and moral choices in difficult circumstances, combining romantic colour with realistic detail, with carefully developed plots and fairly full psychological portrayal of his characters. Public information about his life, education and honours is limited, and no inferences are made here.