The Tory Maid

Stimpson, Herbert Baird, 1869-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 185K words
Chapters: 19

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 Tory Maid by Herbert Baird StimpsonAuthor: Stimpson, Herbert Baird, 1869-,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Feb 26, 2007

Editor's review

The Tory Maid is a novel by Herbert Baird Stimpson (born 1869), classified under American and Canadian literature and released as a public-domain ebook by Project Gutenberg. Judging from the title and the author's literary tradition, the work is set against the social background of the North American colonies or the era around the War of Independence: "Tory" refers to Loyalists loyal to the British Crown, while "Maid" signals a female character at the center of the narrative, suggesting historical romance or local-color fiction. Such works have received little attention in the Chinese-speaking world, but they offer sample value for readers studying American historical fiction, Loyalist-perspective narrative, and the tastes of American popular literature from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century. It is best read within the lineage of American historical fiction, with attention to narrative stance and period limitations; it should not be treated as rigorous historical fact. As a public-domain ebook it is easily accessible and suitable for thematic reading and textual analysis, though casual readers may find the pace and register dated.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Scholars of English and American literature studying American historical fiction and colonial-era literature
Enthusiasts of American history interested in Loyalist perspectives and narratives of the War of Independence
Researchers seeking samples of American popular fiction from the late nineteenth to early twentieth century
Readers accustomed to English-language public-domain novels who have patience for older narrative styles

Not a good fit for

Casual fiction readers expecting fast-paced plots or modern romance conventions
Readers with weak English who need annotations and a Chinese translation
History beginners who read the novel as an authoritative account of the War of Independence

Reading tips

Learn first about the situation of Loyalists around the American War of Independence; the characters' motives become easier to understand.
Note the narrator's attitude toward Loyalists and Patriots, and analyze stance and rhetoric in the text.
Read the work alongside other American historical fiction of the same period to observe similarities and differences in subject and technique.
Jot down old-fashioned expressions and historical terms as you go, and look up the background in a focused way after finishing.

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

What does "Tory" in the title mean?

In the context of the American War of Independence, "Tory" refers to Loyalists who were loyal to the British Crown and opposed independence, as opposed to the Patriots who supported independence. The title takes a Loyalist woman as its focal figure, suggesting the novel may narrate from this less frequently written perspective; readers can adjust their expectations about the characters' stances accordingly.

Is this novel suitable to cite as historical material?

No. It is a work of literature; although it may draw on the colonial historical background, its plot and characters are largely artistically shaped and cannot serve as a basis for historical fact. For research, it is better used as a sample of the historical imagination and popular literary tastes of its time, kept separate from works of historiography and identified as literary in nature.

What background is available on the author, Stimpson?

The available information shows only that Herbert Baird Stimpson was born in 1869 and that his work is classified by Project Gutenberg under American and Canadian literature. Further biographical information lies outside the given materials; readers who wish to learn more should consult reliable literary biographies or bibliographic reference works rather than fill in the gaps by speculation.

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About the author

Stimpson, Herbert Baird, 1869- Author · American · 1869

Herbert Baird Stimpson (1869– ), an American novelist born in 1869, has only limited publicly available information about his life and education. Judging from his surviving works, he was active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, writing popular fiction for general readers, often dealing with historical themes and emotional entanglements. His representative work, The Tory Maid, is notable for its fluent narrative and clearly drawn relationships, reflecting the typical tastes of popular reading matter of its time. Though not counted among the classics, it offers a glimpse of the American mass reading market of the period. Only one of his works is currently held in this collection, and a fuller picture of his output, literary standing, and later influence awaits further research.