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The Shelf2Life Literature and Fiction Collection is a unique set of short stories, poems and novels from the late 19th to early 20th centuries. From tales of love, life and heartbreaking loss to humorous stories of ghost encounters, these volumes captivate the imaginations of readers young and old. Included in this collection are a variety of dramatic and spirited poems that contemplate the mysteries of life and celebrate the wild beauty of nature. The Shelf2Life Literature and Fiction Collection provides readers with an opportunity to enjoy and study these iconic literary works, many of which were written during a period of remarkable creativity.
51 pages, Paperback
Published June 8, 2024
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About the author
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward
137 books23 followersElizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, born Mary Gray Phelps, was an American author.
She was born at Andover, Massachusetts. In most of her writings she used her mother's name "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps" as a pseudonym, both before and after her marriage in 1888 to Herbert Dickinson Ward, a journalist seventeen years younger. She also used the pseudonym Mary Adams. Her father Austin Phelps was pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church until 1848, when he accepted a position as the Chair of Rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary and moved the family to Boston.
Ward wrote three Spiritualist novels, The Gates Ajar, Between the Gates and Beyond the Gates, and a novella about animal rights, Loveliness. While writing other popular stories, she was also a great advocate, by lecturing and otherwise, for social reform, temperance, and the emancipation of women. She was also involved in clothing reform for women, urging them to burn their corsets in 1874.
Ward's mother, Elizabeth (Wooster) Stuart Phelps, (August 13, 1815—November 30, 1852) wrote the Kitty Brown books under the pen name H. Trusta.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and her husband co-authored two Biblical romances in 1890 and 1891. Her autobiography, Chapters from a Life was published in 1896 after being serialized in McClure's. She also wrote a large number of essays for Harper's
Phelps continued to write short stories and novels into the twentieth century. One work, Trixy (1904), dealt with another cause she supported, anti-vivisection (a topic on which she also addressed the Massachusetts State Legislature). Her last work, Comrades (1911), was published posthumously. Phelps died January 28, 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts.
She was born at Andover, Massachusetts. In most of her writings she used her mother's name "Elizabeth Stuart Phelps" as a pseudonym, both before and after her marriage in 1888 to Herbert Dickinson Ward, a journalist seventeen years younger. She also used the pseudonym Mary Adams. Her father Austin Phelps was pastor of the Pine Street Congregational Church until 1848, when he accepted a position as the Chair of Rhetoric at Andover Theological Seminary and moved the family to Boston.
Ward wrote three Spiritualist novels, The Gates Ajar, Between the Gates and Beyond the Gates, and a novella about animal rights, Loveliness. While writing other popular stories, she was also a great advocate, by lecturing and otherwise, for social reform, temperance, and the emancipation of women. She was also involved in clothing reform for women, urging them to burn their corsets in 1874.
Ward's mother, Elizabeth (Wooster) Stuart Phelps, (August 13, 1815—November 30, 1852) wrote the Kitty Brown books under the pen name H. Trusta.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and her husband co-authored two Biblical romances in 1890 and 1891. Her autobiography, Chapters from a Life was published in 1896 after being serialized in McClure's. She also wrote a large number of essays for Harper's
Phelps continued to write short stories and novels into the twentieth century. One work, Trixy (1904), dealt with another cause she supported, anti-vivisection (a topic on which she also addressed the Massachusetts State Legislature). Her last work, Comrades (1911), was published posthumously. Phelps died January 28, 1911, in Newton Center, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 15, 2019
Oh, dear.
If sentimental schlock is your thing, you'll enjoy this...I guess.
The author is touted as a "Victorian feminist writer" and yet the main character in this book is a woman with heart trouble who lives for her husband's smiles and affection, and the narrator tells us that he would behave much better by her if she weren't so compliant! Because it's all her fault that he's insensitive and heartless and selfish, don'tcha know. She's making do on very little money while he makes his way in his profession, she eats leftovers with the servants but "orders a grouse" for Hubby, and she's in the wrong. He's one of those "manly men" who can't stand ill people around him, but turn into a whiny little boy who demands attention 24/7 if he has so much as a headache. Unfortunately, they still make 'em--in both sexes. His wife is dying of what sounds like congestive heart failure, and the doctor tells him that all he has to do to cure her is be around and make nice, but that's too much for him to manage.
I don't know about feminism, but Phelps was certainly obsessed with "parting the veil" into the spirit world. In this particular novelette, which started life as a magazine serial, the author is all over the place with spirit voices and events. When she rounded it all off in the weakest way possible, I would have thrown it across the room except it was on my ebook reader.
Usually I thank Gutenberg for giving me access to classic freebies. Not this time.
If sentimental schlock is your thing, you'll enjoy this...I guess.
The author is touted as a "Victorian feminist writer" and yet the main character in this book is a woman with heart trouble who lives for her husband's smiles and affection, and the narrator tells us that he would behave much better by her if she weren't so compliant! Because it's all her fault that he's insensitive and heartless and selfish, don'tcha know. She's making do on very little money while he makes his way in his profession, she eats leftovers with the servants but "orders a grouse" for Hubby, and she's in the wrong. He's one of those "manly men" who can't stand ill people around him, but turn into a whiny little boy who demands attention 24/7 if he has so much as a headache. Unfortunately, they still make 'em--in both sexes. His wife is dying of what sounds like congestive heart failure, and the doctor tells him that all he has to do to cure her is be around and make nice, but that's too much for him to manage.
I don't know about feminism, but Phelps was certainly obsessed with "parting the veil" into the spirit world. In this particular novelette, which started life as a magazine serial, the author is all over the place with spirit voices and events. When she rounded it all off in the weakest way possible, I would have thrown it across the room except it was on my ebook reader.
Usually I thank Gutenberg for giving me access to classic freebies. Not this time.
Displaying 1 of 1 review