What do you think?
Rate this book
A Son of the Middle Border & A Daughter of the Middle Border
• Two of Pulitzer-prize winning American writer Hamlin Garland’s best-selling books from the early 1900s are bound together in this Kindle book: A Son of the Middle Border (1917) and A Daughter of the Middle Border (1921)
A Son of the Middle Border
A classic American book and the coming-of-age of a prairie farm boy. This is Hamlin Garland’s autobiography, starting on the farm and following his path to Boston. This is a moving tale of homesteading and a stunning tribute to rural America.
A Daughter of the Middle Border
Hamlin Garland’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Daughter of the Middle Border is the sequel to his autobiography. Garland is now older and wiser when he heads to Chicago. Along the way he meets artists, writers and has an intriguing relationship with his future wife Zulime Taft.
About The Author
American novelist Hannibal Hamlin Garland (1860 –1940) was celebrated for his books involving hard-working Midwestern farmers. He too grew up on a Wisconsin farm and moved to the Midwestern before Boston, where he settled into his writing career. Main-Travelled Roads, a short story collection based on farm life, was his breakthrough novel. His adventures in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush inspired The Trail of the Gold Seekers (1899). In 1917, he published A Son of the Middle Border. The sequel, A Daughter of the Middle Border, won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
A Son of the Middle Border
A classic American book and the coming-of-age of a prairie farm boy. This is Hamlin Garland’s autobiography, starting on the farm and following his path to Boston. This is a moving tale of homesteading and a stunning tribute to rural America.
A Daughter of the Middle Border
Hamlin Garland’s Pulitzer Prize winning book, A Daughter of the Middle Border is the sequel to his autobiography. Garland is now older and wiser when he heads to Chicago. Along the way he meets artists, writers and has an intriguing relationship with his future wife Zulime Taft.
About The Author
American novelist Hannibal Hamlin Garland (1860 –1940) was celebrated for his books involving hard-working Midwestern farmers. He too grew up on a Wisconsin farm and moved to the Midwestern before Boston, where he settled into his writing career. Main-Travelled Roads, a short story collection based on farm life, was his breakthrough novel. His adventures in the Yukon during the Klondike Gold Rush inspired The Trail of the Gold Seekers (1899). In 1917, he published A Son of the Middle Border. The sequel, A Daughter of the Middle Border, won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography.
- GenresNonfictionHistory
686 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1921
About the author
Hamlin Garland
265 books26 followersStories and novels of American writer Hannibal Hamlin Garland include the autobiographical
A Son of the Middle Border
and depict the hardships that Midwestern farmers endured.
People best know this American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer for his fiction, involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.
Hannibal Hamlin Garland was born on a farm near West Salem, Wisconsin, on September 14, 1860, the second of four children of Richard Garlin of Maine and Charlotte Isabelle McClintock. The boy was named after Hannibal Hamlin, then candidate for vice-president under Abraham Lincoln. He lived on various Midwestern farms throughout his young life, but settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1884 to pursue a career in writing. He read diligently in the public library there. His first success came in 1891 with Main-Traveled Roads, a collection of short stories inspired by his days on the farm. He serialized a biography of Ulysses S. Grant in McClure's Magazine before publishing it as a book in 1898. The same year, Garland traveled to the Yukon to witness the Klondike Gold Rush, which inspired The Trail of the Gold Seekers (1899). He lived on a farm between Osage, and St. Ansgar, Iowa for quite some time. Many of his writings are based on this era of his life.
A prolific writer, Garland continued to publish novels, short fiction, and essays. In 1917, he published his autobiography, A Son of the Middle Border. The book's success prompted a sequel, A Daughter of the Middle Border, for which Garland won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. After two more volumes, Garland began a second series of memoirs based on his diary. Garland naturally became quite well known during his lifetime and had many friends in literary circles. He was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1918.
After moving to Hollywood, California, in 1929, he devoted his remaining years to investigating psychic phenomena, an enthusiasm he first undertook in 1891. In his final book, The Mystery of the Buried Crosses (1939), he tried to defend such phenomena and prove the legitimacy of psychic mediums.
A friend, Lee Shippey, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, recalled Garland's regular system of writing:
. . . he got up at half past five, brewed a pot of coffee and made toast on an electric gadget in his study and was at work by six. At nine o'clock he was through with work for the day. Then he breakfasted, read the morning paper and attended to his personal mail. . . . After luncheon he and Mrs. Garland would take a long drive . . . . Sometimes they would drop in on Will Rogers, Will Durant, Robert Benchley or even on me, for their range of friends was very wide. . . . After dinner they would go to a show if an exceptionally good one were in town, otherwise one of their daughters would read aloud.
Garland died at age 79, at his home in Hollywood on March 4, 1940. A memorial service was held three days later near his home in Glendale, California. His ashes were buried in Neshonoc Cemetery in West Salem, Wisconsin on March 14; his poem "The Cry of the Age" was read by Reverend John B. Fritz.
The Hamlin Garland House in West Salem is a historical site.
People best know this American novelist, poet, essayist, and short story writer for his fiction, involving hard-working Midwestern farmers.
Hannibal Hamlin Garland was born on a farm near West Salem, Wisconsin, on September 14, 1860, the second of four children of Richard Garlin of Maine and Charlotte Isabelle McClintock. The boy was named after Hannibal Hamlin, then candidate for vice-president under Abraham Lincoln. He lived on various Midwestern farms throughout his young life, but settled in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1884 to pursue a career in writing. He read diligently in the public library there. His first success came in 1891 with Main-Traveled Roads, a collection of short stories inspired by his days on the farm. He serialized a biography of Ulysses S. Grant in McClure's Magazine before publishing it as a book in 1898. The same year, Garland traveled to the Yukon to witness the Klondike Gold Rush, which inspired The Trail of the Gold Seekers (1899). He lived on a farm between Osage, and St. Ansgar, Iowa for quite some time. Many of his writings are based on this era of his life.
A prolific writer, Garland continued to publish novels, short fiction, and essays. In 1917, he published his autobiography, A Son of the Middle Border. The book's success prompted a sequel, A Daughter of the Middle Border, for which Garland won the 1922 Pulitzer Prize for Biography. After two more volumes, Garland began a second series of memoirs based on his diary. Garland naturally became quite well known during his lifetime and had many friends in literary circles. He was made a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1918.
After moving to Hollywood, California, in 1929, he devoted his remaining years to investigating psychic phenomena, an enthusiasm he first undertook in 1891. In his final book, The Mystery of the Buried Crosses (1939), he tried to defend such phenomena and prove the legitimacy of psychic mediums.
A friend, Lee Shippey, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, recalled Garland's regular system of writing:
. . . he got up at half past five, brewed a pot of coffee and made toast on an electric gadget in his study and was at work by six. At nine o'clock he was through with work for the day. Then he breakfasted, read the morning paper and attended to his personal mail. . . . After luncheon he and Mrs. Garland would take a long drive . . . . Sometimes they would drop in on Will Rogers, Will Durant, Robert Benchley or even on me, for their range of friends was very wide. . . . After dinner they would go to a show if an exceptionally good one were in town, otherwise one of their daughters would read aloud.
Garland died at age 79, at his home in Hollywood on March 4, 1940. A memorial service was held three days later near his home in Glendale, California. His ashes were buried in Neshonoc Cemetery in West Salem, Wisconsin on March 14; his poem "The Cry of the Age" was read by Reverend John B. Fritz.
The Hamlin Garland House in West Salem is a historical site.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 15, 2015
While head-bangingly verbose in many sections, the historical perspectives and recollections of this man are well worth the read. I much preferred The Son of the Middle Border to the second. If I hadn't had the two within the same book I would have been satisfied with the first and not felt that I had missed anything worth reading The Daughter...in its entirety. Having read them both, I do plan to read at least one of his fictional works.
July 6, 2015
Amazingly Great
I've never enjoyed poetry, and thought I should,and I'm thinking Hamlin is holding the door for me. I'm pretty excited to try more of his writing,but thinking I might start reading them(son and daughter) again with a New awareness of his prose. I feel a real turning of my literary life. Thank you Mr. H Garland ! ! !
I've never enjoyed poetry, and thought I should,and I'm thinking Hamlin is holding the door for me. I'm pretty excited to try more of his writing,but thinking I might start reading them(son and daughter) again with a New awareness of his prose. I feel a real turning of my literary life. Thank you Mr. H Garland ! ! !
September 29, 2015
Long yet worthwhile
This very long book is the story of a pioneer family. It starts in the east and migrates westward. It speaks of wars, hardships, love, and much more. It spoke to my heart as if I were one of the characters. It was a difficult yet worthwhile read!
This very long book is the story of a pioneer family. It starts in the east and migrates westward. It speaks of wars, hardships, love, and much more. It spoke to my heart as if I were one of the characters. It was a difficult yet worthwhile read!
April 1, 2015
finally just gave up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews