Gene Stratton-Porter: A Girl of the Limberlost

Front Cover
CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2010 - Fiction - 252 pages
Of all the books written by Hoosier writers, Gene Stratton-Porter's "A Girl of the Limberlost" is unquestionably the most cherished: the timeless story of an impoverished young girl, Elnora Comstock, growing up on the edge of the Limberlost swamp. Elnora attends school against her mother's wishes, fighting every inch of the way for her dream of an education, and collects and sells moths and other rare biological specimens from the swamp to pay for her schooling, books, and bare necessities. At first a laughingstock of her fellow students, Elnora persists against unfair odds, and asserts her true self. Gene Stratton-Porter's "A Girl of the Limberlost" provides a wonderful discovery of identity, wonders of nature, friendship, family trust, love, and the process of growing up in the magical shadow of the Limberlost. Elnora's struggles can be related to by any girl today, and her triumph is purely her own. A lovely theme in the book allows each character to come to life as a caterpillar, spend a time in a cocoon, then emerge finally as a beautiful moth. Elnora's mother's transformation is particularly splendid. The ecological concerns of the novel convince the reader that our "modern" problems are mere variations on a theme. The fresh foray into a simpler, if not nobler, time-and the reverence for hard work, creativity, and strict moral standards--are refreshing. In the words of one reviewer, "Shelve Titanic, and read Gene Stratton-Porter's book instead."

About the author (2010)

Geneva Grace Stratton was born on a farm in Wabash County, Indiana in 1863. Stratton attended public schools. At an early age she roamed the countryside and developed a lively interest in nature and wildlife. In 1874 the family moved to the city of Wabash. She stayed in school until she was almost twenty, but did not receive a high school diploma. After an accident Stratton met during her recovery Charles Darwin Porter, a pharmacist from Geneva. He was 13 years her senior, but they were married in 1886. After oil was discovered on some farmland Mr. Porter owned, the Porters built a large house on the edge of the Limberlost swamp, a natural preserve for wild plants, moths, and birds. Stratton-Porter began to photograph birds and animals of the Swamp. Her early photographs appeared in the magazines Recreation and Outing. In 1901 she published her first piece of fiction in Metropolitan magazine. Stratton-Porter made her debut with The Song of the Cardinal. The next story, Freckles, about an orphan who gets a job as a timber guard in Limberlost, became a success. The book was made into a film in 1935 and 1960. During World War I Stratton-Porter moved to California. She wrote editorials for McCall's magazine and founded in 1922 Gene Stratton Porter film company to produce movies of her books. Stratton-Porter died on December 6, 1924, in Los Angeles, from injuries following a traffic accident when her limousine was hit by a trolley car. She was buried in Hollywood Cemetery in California. Her book, The Keeper of the Bees was posthumously published. The book was filmed in 1935.

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