The Windy Hill

Meigs, Cornelia, 1884-1973Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 277K words
Chapters: 28

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 Windy Hill by Cornelia MeigsAuthor: Meigs, Cornelia, 1884-1973,Language: English, Class: PS: Language and Literatures: American and Canadian literature, Release Date: Sep 5, 2008

Editor's review

The Windy Hill is a coming-of-age novel for young readers by Cornelia Meigs, set mainly at Windy Hill, a place steeped in nature, and telling of a boy's family relationships and self-growth in a rural setting. Meigs is known for delicately portraying the psychological changes of young people facing upheaval; the pacing is gentle, focusing on inner development rather than dramatic conflict. As a free Project Gutenberg e-book, it preserves the narrative style of early twentieth-century American children's literature, with plain language and clear chapters. It rewards slow reading in a quiet setting, for the flavor of old-style juvenile fiction. For those studying early American children's literature or wanting to know Meigs's work, it offers a valuable textual sample. As you read, notice how the Windy Hill setting mirrors the characters' states of mind.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who like classic coming-of-age stories and gentle pacing
Literature enthusiasts studying the history of American children's literature or Meigs's work
Readers who want to encounter early twentieth-century English originals through free e-books
Families seeking nonviolent, emotionally rich stories for shared reading

Not a good fit for

Readers who prefer fast pacing, strong conflict, or suspenseful adventure
Readers who need modern plain-language translations or struggle with the English original
Scholarly readers expecting detailed biography or background commentary

Reading tips

Read through once for the pacing, then revisit how the Windy Hill setting corresponds to shifts in the characters' moods.
Use the Project Gutenberg chapter structure for reading notes, recording each psychological turning point of the young protagonist.
For English study, read one or two chapters a day and copy out phrases describing nature to build literary expression.
Afterward, look up other juvenile novels by Meigs and compare her approaches to character.

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 really for complete beginners. The original is early twentieth-century English with period sentence patterns and wording; try it once you have intermediate or higher reading ability, or start with a bilingual or simplified edition.

What are the features of the Project Gutenberg edition?

It is a free public-domain e-book that preserves the original chapter structure and can be read directly on a computer or e-reader. It has no modern notes or introduction, so readers must supply their own context; it suits those who can read English originals independently.

What is the core appeal of the story?

The appeal lies in the boy's psychological growth in a rural setting and the interplay between setting and emotion. It succeeds not through intense conflict but through delicate everyday detail, suited to readers who enjoy slow-paced literary narrative.

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About the author

Meigs, Cornelia, 1884-1973 Author

Cornelia Meigs (1884–1973) was an American writer of children's literature. Public information about her life and education is limited, and six of her works are held in this collection. She wrote mainly children's novels, often set against real or imagined historical backgrounds and telling stories of young people growing up through adventure. Her representative works include Master Simon's Garden: A Story, The Windy Hill, The Island of Appledore, The Pool of Stars, The Hill of Adventure, and The Pirate of Jasper Peak. These books are usually built around concrete places such as islands, hills, and gardens, combining adventure with the warmth of everyday life in clear, readable prose that pays attention to character and moral choice. Meigs's writing continues the early twentieth-century tradition of English-language children's literature, which valued storytelling and an educational purpose. Although she is not widely translated in the Chinese-speaking world, several of her works remain useful references for understanding the children's fiction of that period.