"The Amber Gods" and Other Stories by Harriet Prescott Spofford (American Women Writers) [Paperback]

Alfred Bendixen (Author)

Book Description

Series: American Women Writers | Publication Date: May 1, 1989

General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1881 Original Publisher: Holt Subjects: Fiction / General Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Fiction / Short Stories Literary Criticism / American / General Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A widely-held vision of nineteenth-century American women is of lives lived in naive, domestic peace - the girls of Little Women making do until father comes home from the war. Nothing could be less true of Harriet Prescott Spofford's stories - in fact, her editor at the Atlantic Monthly at first refused to believe that an unworldly woman from New England had written them. Her style, though ornate by our 20th century standards, adds to its atmosphere, like heavy, Baroque furniture in a large and creepy house. The title story presents a self-centered and captivating woman who ruthlessly steals her orphan cousin's lover. In "Circumstance," a pioneer woman returning home through the woods at night is caught by a panther; her husband, who has come to save her, can only watch from the ground as she sings for her life, pinned in a tree. A train engineer hallucinates again and again that he is running over his wife. And Mrs. Craven, who's a bit "weak" in the head, mindlessly repeats "Three men went down cellar and only two came up." These stories combine elements of the best ghost stories - timing, detail, and character - with just enough chill to make you think twice about turning out your lights at night. -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. -- From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (May 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813514010
• ISBN-13: 978-0813514017
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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