Fiction · 1909
A Girl of the Limberlost
A Girl of the Limberlost follows Elnora Comstock, growing up poor at the edge of Indiana's Limberlost Swamp with a mother who has never forgiven her for being born the day her father drowned. Barred from the money for school clothes and books, Elnora starts selling the moths, butterflies and Native artifacts she collects in the swamp to pay her own way, and it's this same expert knowledge of the Limberlost's wildlife — along with the slow thaw in her mother Kate's coldness — that carries her from a friendless freshman year toward an unlikely fortune and a man worth having.
Gene Stratton-Porter published the novel in 1909 as a sequel to her earlier Freckles (1904), set in the same swamp; both books drew directly on her own years photographing and studying the Limberlost's moths before it was drained for farmland. It became one of the best-selling American novels of its decade.
Bibliomancer publishes the 1909 text exactly as Gene Stratton-Porter wrote it.
Contents
- Dedication
- Chapter I — Wherein Elnora Goes to High School and Learns Many Lessons Not Found in Her Books
- Chapter II — Wherein Wesley and Margaret Go Shopping, and Elnora’s Wardrobe Is Replenished
- Chapter III — Wherein Elnora Visits the Bird Woman, and Opens a Bank Account
- Chapter IV — Wherein the Sintons Are Disappointed, and Mrs. Comstock Learns That She Can Laugh
- Chapter V — Wherein Elnora Receives a Warning, and Billy Appears on the Scene
- Chapter VI — Wherein Mrs. Comstock Indulges in “Frills,” and Billy Reappears
- Chapter VII — Wherein Mrs. Comstock Manipulates Margaret and Billy Acquires a Residence
- Chapter VIII — Wherein the Limberlost Tempts Elnora, and Billy Buries His Father
- Chapter IX — Wherein Elnora Discovers a Violin, and Billy Disciplines Margaret
- Chapter X — Wherein Elnora Has More Financial Troubles, and Mrs. Comstock Again Hears the Song of the Limberlost
- Chapter XI — Wherein Elnora Graduates, and Freckles and the Angel Send Gifts
- Chapter XII
- Chapter XIII — Wherein Mother Love Is Bestowed on Elnora, and She Finds an Assistant in Moth Hunting
- Chapter XIV — Wherein a New Position Is Tendered Elnora, and Philip Ammon Is Shown Limberlost Violets
- Chapter XV — Wherein Mrs. Comstock Faces the Almighty, and Philip Ammon Writes a Letter
- Chapter XVI — Wherein the Limberlost Sings for Philip, and the Talking Trees Tell Great Secrets
- Chapter XVII — Wherein Mrs. Comstock Dances in the Moonlight, and Elnora Makes a Confession
- Chapter XVIII — Wherein Mrs. Comstock Experiments with Rejuvenation, and Elnora Teaches Natural History
- Chapter XIX — Wherein Philip Ammon Gives a Ball in Honour of Edith Carr, and Hart Henderson Appears on the Scene
- Chapter XX — Wherein the Elder Ammon Offers Advice, and Edith Carr Experiences Regrets
- Chapter XXI — Wherein Philip Ammon Returns to the Limberlost, and Elnora Studies the Situation
- Chapter XXII — Wherein Philip Ammon Kneels to Elnora, and Strangers Come to the Limberlost
- Chapter XXIII — Wherein Elnora Reaches a Decision, and Freckles and the Angel Appear
- Chapter XXIV — Wherein Edith Carr Wages a Battle, and Hart Henderson Stands Guard
- Chapter XXV — Wherein Philip Finds Elnora, and Edith Carr Offers a Yellow Emperor
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The text is free of copyright. This edition was prepared from an authoritative digitisation, processed by Bibliomancer under its own review protocol; every automated correction is recorded in its transformation log. Rights assessed for CA, EU, GB, US.
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