The White Virgin

Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 462K words
Chapters: 47

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 Virgin by George Manville FennAuthor: Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Sep 5, 2012

Editor's review

The White Virgin is an English novel by George Manville Fenn, belonging to the Victorian tradition of popular narrative. Fenn's works often build on adventure, suspense, and moral testing, and this book is likewise suited to readers who wish to encounter nineteenth-century English popular literature through a public-domain electronic text. Its value lies not in experimental technique but in the pacing of its story and the dramatic situations of its characters, which convey the narrative appeal of that era's writing for a broad readership. As a free Project Gutenberg eBook, it is easy to obtain and suitable as an entry point for reading a full-length English novel, as well as a supplementary sample of genre fiction for literary researchers. There is no need to parse every sentence closely while reading; finish the plot first, then return to observe how narrative perspective and character dialogue serve suspense, and the gain will be more substantial. Note that the language bears the marks of its period and some expressions differ from contemporary English usage; read with historical context in mind.

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers who want low-cost access to nineteenth-century English novels
English majors using it as supplementary reading in Victorian popular literature
Readers who enjoy stories of adventure, suspense, and characters' moral testing
Those who need public-domain English texts for ebook formatting or reading tests

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting modern fast-paced suspense or strong plot twists
Readers with weak English foundations who hope to start from contemporary easy readers
Those interested only in canonical literary classics and with limited interest in popular genre fiction

Reading tips

Read through the plot first; mark unfamiliar period expressions without interrupting the reading rhythm.
After each chapter, summarize the characters' situation and the advancement of suspense in two or three sentences to grasp the structure.
After finishing, choose a passage of dialogue for close reading and observe how tone hints at personality and conflict.
If using it for English study, break long sentences into short ones and retell them, then check your understanding against the original.

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 suitable for English beginners to read directly?

Not very suitable for absolute beginners or elementary readers. It is a nineteenth-century English novel with period features in syntax and vocabulary, and it is fairly long. If you already have some English reading experience and are willing to look up words and accept slow reading, it can serve as challenging material; otherwise, start with contemporary graded readers or short stories before moving on to public-domain texts like this.

Do I need to know the author or historical background before reading?

Systematic research is not necessary beforehand, but knowing that this is a Victorian popular novel helps. While reading, understand the characters' choices within the moral and adventure narrative traditions of the time rather than judging it by the standards of contemporary genre fiction. Read the story first and fill in background later; the burden is lighter.

How can I take effective notes when reading the electronic edition?

Use the ebook annotation function to record only three kinds of content: characters' first appearances, the locations of key suspense points, and period expressions that confuse you. At the end of each chapter, write one sentence summarizing the plot's advancement. This avoids disrupting the reading rhythm and allows you to review the structure quickly after finishing, keeping notes from turning into copying.

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About the author

Fenn, George Manville, 1831-1909 Author

George Manville Fenn (1831–1909) was a British author whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources. The library holds 127 of his works, including The Little Skipper: A Son of a Sailor, The Silver Canyon: A Tale of the Western Plains, and Sappers and Miners: The Flood beneath the Sea. Most center on youthful growth and adventure, often set at sea, in mining districts, or on the western plains. He also wrote such biographical work as George Alfred Henty: The Story of an Active Life. His writing emphasizes plot momentum and the shaping of character in young readers, and is commonly classified as inspirational coming-of-age fiction, holding a place in the tradition of juvenile adventure novels.