A Girl of the Limberlost

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 Comstock has served as a role model for successive generations of independent young readers.

A Girl of the Limberlost (Library of Indiana Classics)

Literature & Fiction

Stratton, Porter Gene

United States

Indiana University Press

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 Comstock has served as a role model for successive generations of independent young readers.

In Freckles a homeless waif finds his deliverance in the primeval Limberlost swamp. Maimed and abandoned as an infant, Freckles seeks a chance to prove his worth. He is given that opportunity as the guard of the precious timber of the Limberlost.

Freckles (Library of Indiana Classics)

Gene Stratton-Porter returns us to her beloved Midwestern woodlands with a hero modeled after Henry David Thoreau. He and his "wonderful, alluring" Ruth ultimately find idyllic bliss in the pure, unspoiled woods, but not before her mysterious past is revealed and resolved.

The Harvester (Library of Indiana Classics)

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.

Laddie: A True Blue Story (Library of Indiana Classics)

Children's Books

The Keeper of the Bees (Library of Indiana Classics)

Set in the author's adopted home of California in the 1920s, this is Gene Stratton-Porter's last novel, a story filled with wisdom, a love of nature, and her own abiding optimism. In it a Master Bee Keeper, his bees, and the natural beauty of California restore a wounded World War I veteran to health.

This early 20th-century classic chronicles the adventures of an orphaned newspaper boy in his "hand-to-hand scuffle" with life in a midwestern metropolis. Gene Stratton-Porter’s faith in the healing power of nature is also apparent, in a lovingly depicted tamarack swamp set near the city.

Michael O'Halloran (Library of Indiana Classics)

Kate Bates is another Gene Stratton-Porter unsung hero in the tradition of Elnora Comstock, of A Girl of the Limberlost, and Freckles and Laddie, of books of the same name. As the youngest child, and female, in a large prosperous farm family, she has been designated as her mother’s helper in old age. Kate finds this unfair since all of the brothers have been given land and the older sisters sent to teacher training. With the help of a nephew and sister-in-law, she defies her parents, becomes a teacher, leaves home. Her real ambition, however, is to own and cultivate a large farm. After rejecting the easy path to her dream, she suffers through a bad marriage but ultimately acquires her land and achieves happiness.

A Daughter of the Land (Library of Indiana Classics)

Another early 20th-century classic from the remarkable pen of Gene Stratton-Porter. Set in Rainbow Bottom along the Wabash River, At the Foot of the Rainbow tells of the lives of a dissipated Irishman, Jimmy Malone, his long-suffering wife Mary, and Jimmy’s boyhood friend and lifelong companion, Dannie Macnoun.

At the Foot of the Rainbow (Library of Indiana Classics)

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stratton, Porter Gene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Stratton, Porter Gene

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Stratton, Porter Gene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

A Girl of the Limberlost (Library of Indiana Classics)

A Girl of the Limberlost (Library of Indiana Classics)

A Girl of the Limberlost (Library of Indiana Classics)

Freckles (Library of Indiana Classics)

The Harvester (Library of Indiana Classics)

Laddie: A True Blue Story (Library of Indiana Classics)

The Keeper of the Bees (Library of Indiana Classics)

Michael O'Halloran (Library of Indiana Classics)

A Daughter of the Land (Library of Indiana Classics)

At the Foot of the Rainbow (Library of Indiana Classics)