Wings

by Gene Stratton-Porter

Wings is a novel written by Gene Stratton-Porter, an American author and naturalist. The book is set in the early 1900s in the rural Midwest and follows the story of a young girl named Nello who lives with her grandfather on a farm. Nello is an orphan who has never known her parents and has always felt like an outcast in her small community. However, she finds solace in nature and spends her days exploring the woods and fields around her home.One day, Nello discovers a wounded Canada goose and takes it in, nursing it back to health. She names the goose ""Wings"" and forms a deep bond with it. As Wings grows stronger, Nello begins to teach it how to fly, hoping that one day it will be able to migrate south with the other geese.However, Nello's idyllic life is threatened when a wealthy landowner decides to drain the nearby wetlands to create more farmland. This would destroy the natural habitat of the geese and other wildlife, and Nello is determined to stop it. With the help of her grandfather and a group of like-minded individuals, Nello fights to protect the wetlands and save Wings and the other geese.Wings is a heartwarming and inspiring novel about the power of nature and the importance of standing up for what you believe in. It is a timeless classic that has touched the hearts of readers for generations.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

122 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1924

About the author

She was an American author, amateur naturalist, wildlife photographer, and one of the earliest women to form a movie studio and production company. She wrote some of the best selling novels and well-received columns in magazines of the day.

Born Geneva Grace Stratton in Wabash County, Indiana, she married Charles D. Porter in 1886, and they had one daughter, Jeannette.

She became a wildlife photographer, specializing in the birds and moths in one of the last of the vanishing wetlands of the lower Great Lakes Basin. The Limberlost and Wildflower Woods of northeastern Indiana were the laboratory and inspiration for her stories, novels, essays, photography, and movies. Although there is evidence that her first book was "Strike at Shane's", which was published anonymously, her first attributed novel, The Song of the Cardinal met with great commercial success. Her novels Freckles and A Girl of the Limberlost are set in the wooded wetlands and swamps of the disappearing central Indiana ecosystems she loved and documented. She eventually wrote over 20 books.

Reviews

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short non fiction book about the birds in the Limberlost and around Gene Stratton Porter’s home. It is filled with experiences and anecdotes. She tells of the real life Billy from The Girl of the Limberlost. And other real life characters who appear in her books.
I don’t think my mom, who was a HUGE Stratton Porter fan, knew of this book. I think she would have given me a copy if she had. I’ve always loved birds. This copy from my library says only 500 copies were made. I’d like to read more of her nonfiction books.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published in 1924, the year of Gene Stratton-Porter's death, this book reminded me of my mother's books I read as a child. It was nostalgic for me. These are short, autobiographical essays about Stratton-Porter's life as a naturalist and a nature photographer (in the days when nature photography meant carrying heavy glass plates out into the wild--and going by horse and buggy, no less). People who liked A Girl of the Limberlost will enjoy this. It seems like a pure argument for ecology and feminism to me. By that, I guess I mean that she wasn't carrying any banners when she wrote it, but her husband just naturally figured as her assistant in her very important work of nature photography. It's delightfully unsentimental; she gets a little curmudgeonly about cats--she hates them--and a few species of birds encroaching on the natural habitat of her Limberlost birds--English sparrows and cowbirds--describing in detail how they ravage the nests and eggs and young of other species. It's a quick read, and made me want to learn more about her, and especially her photography. Let me know if you like it.

[Julie Mabus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was delightful. I loved hearing her stories about her birds. I would love to see some of the photographs she took during her lifetime but not sure if they are to be found.