Customer Reviews

A Daughter of the Land

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Gene Stratton Porter books were written in the early 1900's. The three that I've read (Daughter of the Land, A Girl of the Limberlost, and Laddie) all feature poor Indiana farm families with a young daughter struggling to grow up and understand the world around her. 'A Daughter of the Land' is the saddest book of all, but it is my favorite without question. This book was passed on to me by my grandmother who related strongly to the main character, Kate. Kate, like my grandmother, persevered among a family who mistreated her and had little money or time to afford her for her future. Kate shows kindness and understanding and makes her own future for herself with her intelligence and hard work. Her love of nature brings her small happinesses. I struggle to understand how a young girl today could relate to the old-fashioned tone to the book. I would recommend this to any young woman ~age 14 if not this fact. A mature young reader will find much inspiration in the text. The resonating message is that a young woman must be strong and sometimes look to herself for survival.

"A Daughter of the Land" is a book I read because my mother, down from my grandmother, passed this book on to me. I received it way back in my teenage years and I read it then. I found it harsh and depressing...the story of the 12th child, a daughter, who was expected to slave at home for her family while the other children received many comforts and wealth from their austere, but abundant farming family. Yuk.
I picked it up again when I was about thirty and re-read it, thinking maybe I had misjudged it. No, it was Yuk.
At a conference in 2006 the author of this book (Gene Stratton-Porter) was highly recommended for other works, which I then read... and ...LOVED. Her books now inspire my high recommendations and comments. Soo...I gave "A Daughter of the Land" another chance. It was humbling to realize that the book wasn't at fault before, it was me who hadn't yet grown up enough. Suffering was indeed still a theme, but so was hope and humbleness and loving in spite of disappointment. It was about forethought and wisdom and about the consequences of following foolishness, but it was not preachy. "Daughter" is not like her other works. It has a humanity which is more pronounced, and yet the nobility seems the richer for it.

I loved this book almost as much as Laddie, and place it right next to A Girl of the Limberlost. The story touched me, and every girl that reads Stratton-Porter books must read this masterpiece. Touching!!!

This story is definitely edgier than a lot of Gene Stratton-Porter's other work. I hated it the first time I read it, but I went back and read it again as a grown up and was surprised. The story seems to have more depth, and if anything, the mistakes and problems of all of the characters are more realistic than many of the stories she wrote. You believe people would act this way...even though it is a bit of a soap opera. Things work out, but not without the heroine really growing from experience.

In many ways I preferred this book to A Girl of the Limberlost. It was less gaudily emotional but interestingly, the heroine's parents are also less than satisfactory, and the story honestly portray's the heroine's own difficulty loving her daughter as much as her son. Still, I was left with no real understanding of why she discarded the wealthy suitor for the boor! But it seemed a fairly accurate portrayal of society of the time.

I loved this book almost as much as Laddie, and place it right next to A Girl of the Limberlost. The story touched me, and every girl that reads Stratton-Porter books must read this masterpiece. Touching!!!

I did especially enjoy this book the way that I have enjoyed Stratton-Porter's other books. The main character was not very likeable. She did not seem to grow through her experiences. This book struck me as one that was written by someone who had grown cynical and hardened by disappointment when compared to the author's earlier work. I was charmed by the previous books of Stratton-Porter and, although, it was a different type of work...it was not a refreshing change.

The Book was actually pretty Good Quality, however, you could tell that it was Mass Produced due to the 20 or more mispelled words and typo's that we found.