The White Lie

Le Queux, William, 1864-1927Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.7

Word count: 411K words
Chapters: 42

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 White Lie by William Le Queux. Author: Le Queux, William, 1864-1927. Language: English. Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature. Release Date: Jun 20, 2009

Editor's review

The White Lie is an English novel by William Le Queux (1864–1927), released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain eBook. Le Queux was known for suspense, espionage, and intricately plotted popular fiction, and this book likewise offers strong narrative tension and dramatic twists, making it a useful sample of early twentieth-century English popular fiction. The electronic edition is easy to search and compare, and convenient for researchers examining the narrative conventions, social attitudes, and language use of the period. It is not an academic classic requiring systematic annotation, but rather a light window: readers can enter a world of misunderstanding, secrets, and moral choices during a commute, a trip, or a short reading session. For readers seeking a low-barrier entry into English originals, the book's length and language difficulty are relatively friendly; for those studying popular literature or publishing history, it can also serve as a practical case of using Project Gutenberg resources.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers seeking a low-barrier entry into English-language novels
Readers interested in suspense, espionage, and twist-driven popular fiction
Readers studying early twentieth-century English popular fiction and publishing history
Those wishing to use public-domain eBooks for language learning and text searching

Not a good fit for

Researchers expecting authoritative academic annotation and detailed contextual scholarship
Readers who prefer contemporary fast-paced narrative and have limited patience for older prose styles
Beginners who need a Chinese translation or bilingual reading edition

Reading tips

First read chapter titles and opening paragraphs to grasp character relationships before going into detail.
Mark unfamiliar words without looking them up immediately, then deal with them after finishing a section to maintain reading rhythm.
Use the eBook's search function to revisit key plot points and foreshadowing in dialogue.
After finishing, summarize the main plot and twists in a few sentences to check whether you have grasped the narrative focus.

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? How difficult is it to read?

This is the original English edition, released by Project Gutenberg. Le Queux's popular fiction is generally straightforward in language, with plot driven by dialogue and events; readers with intermediate English can finish it with a dictionary. If you rarely read full-length English novels, start with shorter chapters.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

Project Gutenberg provides free electronic texts that are easy to download, search, and cite. This edition is a public-domain eBook suitable for reading on a computer, e-reader, or phone; it usually does not include modern academic annotation, so readers needing background information should consult relevant literary histories or author studies separately.

What kind of novels did Le Queux mainly write?

William Le Queux was a British popular novelist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His works often involve suspense, espionage, conspiracy, and adventure, with plots emphasizing drama and twists. This book continues that event-driven narrative style and serves as an introductory text for understanding his popular fiction.

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About the author

Le Queux, William, 1864-1927 Author

William Le Queux (1864–1927) was a British writer of popular fiction, with 74 of his works held in this collection. He is best known for invasion-scare and spy-adventure stories; The Invasion of 1910, which depicts a German invasion of Britain and the siege of London, drew considerable attention in its day, and The Great War in England in 1897 belongs to the same vein. His other works centre on mystery, intrigue and international espionage, such as The Zeppelin Destroyer, The Secrets of Potsdam, The Closed Book: Concerning the Secret of the Borgias and The Golden Face: A Great ‘Crook’ Romance, all marked by tight plotting and dense suspense. Le Queux often set fictional crises against real places to create a sense of urgency, and his work had some influence on the development of early spy fiction and thrillers. Public information is limited, so biographical details are not elaborated here.