Freckles & A Girl of the Limberlost: Classic 2-Book Collection

by Gene Stratton-Porter, Moncreiffe Press (Editor)

About Freckles & A Girl of the Limberlost

“Three years had changed Elnora from the girl of sixteen to the very verge of womanhood. It was a compound of self-reliance, hard knocks, heart hunger, unceasing work, and generosity.”

Freckles & A Girl of the Limberlost is a 2-book collection of novels by American author Gene Stratton-Porter. Considered classics of Indiana literature, both novels showcase the author’s vivid and poetic writing style, as well as her love of the natural world and the beauty of the wilderness.

A Girl of the Limberlost (1909) is a novel about a young girl named Elnora who lives near the Limberlost swamp in Indiana. Freckles (1904) follows the story of a young man hired to guard a section of Indiana timberland. In these works, Stratton-Porter explore themes such as the power of nature, the importance of perseverance, and the transformative power of love.

Genres: Fiction, Young Adult

450 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1909

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

[Sherri Clegg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stand alone book, but good to read before reading The Girl of the Limberlost by the same author. Goodreads gives insight into the way the author writes in its biography of her.
"She was an American author, amateur naturalist, wildlife photographer, and one of the earliest
women to form a movie studio and production company."
The Limberlost is a real place in Geneva, Indiana and this is the tale of people who inhabit these woods. The author makes it all come to life as we follow the life of a young, mamed boy named Freckles. He is most honorable and seeks only a family and love.

[Tosca Krider · Rating 5 out of 5]

These are actually two separate stories. I love both books. Both books are about a swamp/ ancient forest located in Michigan, that was lost due to over logging in the 1900's. Jean Stratton Porter wrote the books as a form of protest against the logging industry. All of Jean Stratton Porter books are well-written works about environmentally issues of the early 1900's interlaced with a bit of romance. My favorite of her books is Keeper of the Bees, about a young man recovering from WWI injuries in California as a bee keeper.

[Cindy Bravo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this book, as it came before "The Girl of Limberlost." I was able to read the backstory of Freckles and his origins. Gene Stratton-Porter wrote stories brimming with old-fashioned standards and morals that I wish were as apparent in our lives today.

[Ranette · Rating 5 out of 5]

A boy comes of age in the forest

[Dianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished, better than Michael O'Halloran. Best to read Freckles first as a prologue.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm conflicted on this one. I love the setting and sense of swamp wilderness in these books, which overlap in characters and themes. I find the economic and environmental conflicts of the locals very relevant, as swamp land became suddenly valuable due to the timber and oil industries. I remember enjoying the character of Elnora and her passions for education, nature, and the violin when I was a young girl. Now, the description of this young woman and some of the other characters, strikes me as flowery, melodramatic, and even smarmy. It seems highly unlikely that an extremely rare moth would find its way into a society ball, especially one in which the character was dressed as that same moth! Also, I wonder about the social stigma attached to wearing calico rather than gingham. Still, the plot is a good one. I wish they could have collected moths and other endangered creatures with a smartphone photo census rather than with cyanide jars and mounting cases, though.