Gene Stratton-Porter

A Girl of the Limberlost, a novel by American writer and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter, was published in August 1909. It is considered a classic of Indiana literature. It is the sequel to her earlier novel Freckles. The story takes place in Indiana, in and around the Limberlost Swamp. Even at the time, this impressive wetland region was being reduced by heavy logging, natural oil extraction and drainage for agriculture. (The swamp and forestland eventually ceased to exist, though projects since the 1990s have begun to restore a small part of it.)Patricia Raub (Senior Lecturer of American Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston) notes that Stratton-Porter was "one of the most popular woman novelists of the era, who was known for her nature books and her editorials on McCall's 'Gene Stratton-Porter Page' as well as for her novels." Raub writes, "At the time of her death in 1924, more than ten million copies of her books had been sold - and four more books were published after her death. Plot summary: The novel is set in northeastern Indiana. Most of the action takes place either in or around the Limberlost, or in the nearby, fictional town of Onabasha. The novel's main character, Elnora Comstock, is an impoverished young woman who lives with her widowed mother, Katharine Comstock, on the edge of the Limberlost. Elnora faces cold neglect by her mother, a woman who feels ruined by the death of her husband, Robert Comstock, who drowned in quicksand in the swamp. Katharine blames Elnora for his death, because her husband died while she gave birth to their daughter and could not come to his rescue. The Comstocks make money by selling eggs and other farm products, but Mrs. Comstock refuses to cut down a single tree in the forest, or to delve for oil, as the neighbors around them are doing, even though the added income would make their lives easier.

Set in the Limberlost Swamp area of Indiana, "Freckles" is American writer and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter's 1904 novel about the titular character, a one-handed adult orphan who takes a job guarding timber in the swamp. Freckles has lived all his life in a Chicago orphanage and has been missing his right hand as long as he can remember. Now an adult, he is hired on by the Grand Rapids lumber company to guard their valuable timber in the Limberlost Swamp. Freckles has lived his whole life in the city and is at first frightened and intimidated by this strange and wild place. Yet, he is eager to learn about his new home and he soon becomes enchanted by the beauty of the wildlife and plants in the swamp. Freckles also falls in love with a nameless young woman that he meets in the Limberlost and whom the reader knows only as "The Swamp Angel". Freckles is challenged by the mystery of his past and parentage and feels he is not worthy of love, but he proves himself to be an honorable and kind man. In this heart-warming and charming novel, Freckles finds his true home and learns the priceless value of courage and kindness. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

First published in 1909, "A Girl of the Limberlost" is American author and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter's sequel to her 1904 novel "Freckles" and continues the stories of many of the same characters. Also set in Indiana near the Limberlost Swamp at the beginning of the 20th century, it tells the tale of Elnora Comstock, a young girl who is just entering high school at the outset of the novel. The story is one of Elnora's emerging adulthood and her struggles: to overcome her poverty; to win the love of her mother, who blames Elnora for her husband's death; to afford an education and a more secure future; and to find a romantic love of her own. Elnora is an admirable heroine, hard-working and diligent, respectful and resourceful. She collects moths and artifacts from the Limberlost to sell and uses the money to better herself and save for college. Like the rare moths she finds, Elnora too undergoes a transformation from a shy and reticent young girl into an intelligent and charming young lady, who earns the admiration of all she meets and eventually the love and acceptance she so desires. A classic and romantic coming of age story, "A Girl of the Limberlost" will delight readers of all ages. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

A Daughter of the Land is set in Gene Stratton Porter's Limberlost series. Kate Bates lives in a man's world. It her dream to own and run her own farm. To fulfill her dreams she must give up everything and start anew.

A Daughter of the Land is set in Gene Stratton Porter's Limberlost series. Kate Bates lives in a man's world. It her dream to own and run her own farm. To fulfill her dreams she must give up everything and start anew.

Loosely based on Stratton-Porter's own childhood, Laddie is a double tale―the classic poor-boy/rich-girl romance and the story of a child of nature and her idyllic childhood. The youngest of eleven, she is unwanted in the beginning. The brother who loved her most, and whom she loved most in the world, is Laddie. She is almost lonely, and it's hard for her to study, so her comfort is nature. In an unforgettable way, which is funny and sad, little sister tells us her story.

Loosely based on Stratton-Porter's own childhood, Laddie is a double tale―the classic poor-boy/rich-girl romance and the story of a child of nature and her idyllic childhood. The youngest of eleven, she is unwanted in the beginning. The brother who loved her most, and whom she loved most in the world, is Laddie. She is almost lonely, and it's hard for her to study, so her comfort is nature. In an unforgettable way, which is funny and sad, little sister tells us her story.

"The Song of the Cardinal" is a fascinating story of the life of a redbird, or Kentucky cardinal, as it is popularly called, who is born in the valley of the Wabash. The author possesses the soul of an artist and a poet, which enables her to invest the story with the charm of a rich and vivid imagination; while her knowledge of the habits and peculiarities of the redbird and the love she feels for the cardinal family impart a living interest to her work that makes the reader enter into the joys and tribulations, the triumphs, failures, and final victory of the hero, with much the same personal interest one feels in the leading figures of a well-told romance of life. Into the web and woof of the story the author has also woven a beautiful picture of an old man and woman who through the song and the presence of the cardinal are brought again into the loving, sympathetic nearness to each other that marked the golden days of their early married life.

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Gene Stratton-Porter (August 17, 1863 - December 6, 1924), born Geneva Grace Stratton, was a Wabash County, Indiana, native who became a self-trained American author, nature photographer, and naturalist. In 1917 Stratton-Porter used her position and influence as a popular, well-known author to urge legislative support for the conservation of Limberlost Swamp and other wetlands in the state of Indiana. She was also a silent film-era producer who founded her own production company, Gene Stratton Porter Productions, in 1924. Stratton-Porter wrote twenty-six books that included twelve novels, eight nature studies, two books of poetry, and four collections of stories and children's books. Of the fifty-five books selling one million or more copies between 1895 and 1945, five of them were novels written by Stratton-Porter. Among Stratton-Porter's best-selling novels were Freckles (1904), A Girl of the Limberlost (1909), The Harvester (1911), Laddie (1913), and Michael O'Halloran (1915). Stratton-Porter incorporated every day occurrences and acquaintances into her works of fiction. Many of her works delve into difficult subject matter such as themes of abuse, prostitution, and abandonment. In the case of Her Father's Daughter (1921), the anti-Asian sentiment that her writing reflected prevalent in the United States during that era. Her other writing also introduced the concept of land and wildlife conservation to her readers. Although Stratton-Porter preferred to focus on nature books, it was her romantic novels that gained her fame and wealth. These generated the income that allowed her to pursue her nature studies. Her novels have been translated into twenty-three languages, as well as Braille. At its peak in the early 1910s, her readership was estimated at 50 million, with earnings from her literary works estimated at $2 million. (wikipedia.org)

Her Father's Daughter (1921), one of Stratton-Porter's last novels, was set in southern California, outside Los Angeles, where she had moved around 1920. The novel is especially biased against immigrants of Asian descent. Judith Reick Long, one of Stratton-Porter's biographers, stated that World War I-era racial prejudice and nativism were prevalent in the United States and it was not unusual to be anti-Asian in southern California at that time. Barbara Olenyik Morrow, another of her biographers, explained that the book was intentionally playing to the era's ethnic prejudices. The Literary Review, ignoring its anti-Asian content, noted its "wholesome charm."