Tess of the Storm Country

Storm Country #1

by Grace Miller White

Published in 1909, this classic romance is set in Ithaca, New York. Living in a squatters shanty, shunned by the upstanding folk of Ithaca, Tessibel is nonetheless shocked when her father, a fisherman, is accused of murder. Barefoot, beautiful, and innocent, Tess sets out to clear his name. Along the way, she meet a Cornell man.

Tess lives in a rotting shanty surrounded by fish bones. Her education is minimal. Her best friend is a toad. How can she compare with the brainy beauties he squires around?

There is a sequel, The Secrets of the Storm Country.

The book has been made into a movie starring Mary Pickford.

Original version illustrated by Howard Chandler Christy.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction

293 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

Grace Miller White (1868–1957) was an American authoress. Born Mary Esther Miller, she lived her whole life in Ithaca, New York. She adopted the name Grace around 1897, in memory of a younger sister who had died before reaching her first birthday. She married twice, first to Homer White, and then to Friend H. Miller.

She began her writing career novelizing plays, before turning her hand to novels in 1909. Several of her books were adapted for the big screen, most notably Tess of the Storm Country, which has been filmed on four separate occasions between 1914 and 1960.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what this kind of writing is called. Written in 1909, it may be called Victorian romance or something, but I have to say I found it very compelling. I read this book because it takes place in Ithaca, in a part of Ithaca called Silent City, which is what we named our coffee business. This is the story of very poor people living on the margins of society, living in shacks, eking out a living by fishing (poaching, actually). The main character is ravishingly beautiful by society's standards, so lots of guys fall for her. This story is also about class, and there's one chapter that's stuck in there kinda out of left field about women's rights. Tess meets a Cornell guy and the book is basically about if or how they're going to get together. But there's lots of drama. I definitely recommend it.

[Clarissa Unruh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story. I am so happy to finally have my very own copy - thanks kari. I love the simple life and outlook of Tess. Love how the poorest people could mingle with the wealthy. How the ministers status could not cover his real thoughts and feelings. Love and loyalty and growing up… will def read again!

[Tammi Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want a book that will make you laugh and cry and suck you into another time and place, then this is the book for you. It was an emotional roller coaster that I've never forgotten. Tess is full of love and life.

Tess lives in a squatter's village on the edge of a lake. Her house is covered in fish bones and her pet is a frog. She is beautiful and can sing like an angel, but her hair is dirty and tangled and her feet are bare. There is drama and romance and it is epic. If you have guts, read this book. I like my uncomplicated stories and fluff stories as much as the next girl, but this is a book of hard choices and hard lives.

This is a hard book to find, so I suggest getting it on your kindle or e reader as it is usually free.

[Kathleen]

FREE e-book: http://www.feedbooks.com/book/3841/te...

This century-old American romance might be like one of the Tammy movies starring Debbie Reynolds, but I have a hunch it will be darker. Tessibel (not Tammy) is in love. With a Cornell man. Only problem? Tess is a slum child, a wild, red-haired ragamuffin. Motherless, she helps her dad, a fisherman. Tess keeps a beloved pet toad and lives in a shanty surrounded by fish bones. When her father is accused of murder, she sets off to rescue him. A squatter he may be, but never a killer!

Along the way, she falls in love, but how could this backwoods barefoot tomboy ever compare to the brainy beauties of upscale Ithaca? I suppose love will find a way, else this would be shelved under general fiction. Or fantasy.

This is the first book of a small series. It's been immortalized in Hollywood by Mary Pickford.

Here is an excerpt. The dialect is supposedly representative of the fishing folk in Ithaca, New York, 1909. The thick dialect thins out as Tess learns to chat like her dashing scholar.

“Just then a shadow fell upon the shore of the lake near the fishermen.
"There air Tess now," muttered Letts and his two companions eyed a figure clad in rags, with flying copper-colored hair and bare dirty feet, which dropped down beside Longman without asking whether or no.
"Cleanin' fish?" she queried.
"Can't ye see?" growled Ben.
"'Course I can," she answered; "just wondered if ye knowed yerselves."
"Where be yer dad?" queried Longman, smiling as he caught up two long fish, depositing one beside him where it flopped helplessly about upon the hot sand.
"Gone to Ithacy," replied Tessibel, and without change of expression or color caught the floundering fish in her dirty fingers.
"I air a hittin' the little devil on the head with a stone," said she, and with a pointed rock she expertly tapped the fish three times behind the beady eyes and threw him down again motionless.
"Suppose seein' the fish wrigglin' gives Tessibel mollygrubs in her belly," grinned Jake Brewer, but Ben Letts broke in.
"How be yer toad to-day, Tessibel?"
This he said with a malevolent smile, as he took from his pocket a huge hunk of tobacco and munched[…]”

Excerpt From: Grace Miller White. “Tess of the Storm Country.” Feedbooks, 1909. iBooks.
This material may be protected by copyright.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tess of the Storm Country by Grace Miller White is the story of a beautiful, destitute Fisherman's daughter and her enduring hope to get back her father after he is sent to prison. And of how 'the student' Fredrick Graves taught her about God and how to pray to get back her 'Daddy Skinner'. While waiting for her Daddy, she struggles with the cruel Ben Letts and with the burden that the students sister Teola places on her.

White's writing really makes you feel close to Tessabel. During the story it shows Tess grow from an ignorant, dirty squatter girl to an loving young woman. Although I really liked Tess, I think that Fredrick Graves had to be my favorite character. When he is lied to about Tess, and stops loving her (spoiler) it is just sooo sad. The authors writing brings you so close to him, and makes you feel his sorrow as if it was your own. -_-

Over all, I would say this was a very well written novel with a very well thought out plot. So much so that I finished this nearly 400 page book almost overnight. O_oThe only reason I gave it four stars was because it was kinda of weird and disturbing when Ben Letts delightedly tortured her frog... (another spoiler...hehe) I mean, I don't care about the toad but it was just weird. And then the way the spoke was kind of annoying at first, but you sort of get used to it. But excluding these things, I really liked this book, and highly recommend it if you want something that will trap you in for hours of a great story ;)

[Mika · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is intense and depressing, filled with blunt, gruesome descriptions of squalor, and dissipation on both sides of the tracks. Tess stands firm as the one truly ethical soul in the whole book. Everyone else, rich and poor, treat each other like absolute garbage, and treat poor Tess like garbage too. From the first to the last chapter, she’s up against dangerous killers, hypocrites, and violent snobs, with nothing to rely on, but her fists, her wits, and her prayers, to defend her shack, protect her integrity, and see her through.

Finally, at the very last, her courage and integrity are recognized by her community, summed up in a statement made by the character Bill Hopkins:
"Child," he said brokenly, "you are the one bright spirit in this generation."

Fortunately, Tess falls in love with the only boy in her town, with a potentially redeemable character.

I gave it three stars because the writing of some of the schmaltzy bits seemed genuinely out of place, amongst the horror of it all.

[Russell Posegate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Victorian style novel takes place in and around Ithaca, NY circa 1900. A quick read, look for the Dickens-style spontaneous expirations and cross-class love triangles, the Hawthorne-esque stern clergyman, and the weirdly dropped plot point of Tess’s magical curative abilities. Worth it for the name-checks of various local spots. Downloaded from Gutenberg.

[Velvetink]

epub version

[Samantha Glasser]

Read this book for free through Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/22064/...

[Stephanie G · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this is like Shameless without the R rating and giant scoops of wholesome.

Or, maybe not Shameless ... maybe like, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down!" ...

Perhaps not Reba McEntire ...

Sort of like if the Boxcar Children were left in a wilderness in an enclave of other boxcar kids abandoned for generations and then one of them finds faith and there's a murder mystery and there's class issues and some pretty consistent dialectal writing that you have to ignore to read... and it turns out being a pretty decent story.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

1909. Novel about a squatter girl living on the shore of Cayuga Lake in NY state. The book is not well written. In fact it is rather naive, but so forceful in places! A Protestant minister is depicted as cruel and self-serving while Tess, who has no knowledge of God or the bible, reveres the stately trees, the landscape itself, the Lake and it's storms which she comes to see as expressions of God. I had to get past an initial intolerance for the written mispronunciations of the squatters, but once I got used to it, the story was compelling and the book hard to put down.

[Loretta Struck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have an original copy. I have read it twice and it's such a beautiful story. It takes a little bit to adjust to the language, but it really sucks you in, and you feel like you're there. Full of love, tragedy, mystery, intruige, and some romance. You'll laugh and cry, which is all I want from a good book.

[Peter Baran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating source of the Pickford films, which is wall-to-wall melodrama but nevertheless works in a fable-like way. It constantly advocates for Tess as a moral protagonist, whilst hating her station in life, and its take on rich vs poor only really works due to quite how monstrous her villain (a religious leader) is. The dialect work here is interesting too.

[Molly Kii · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was a good story, though I did find a lot of unlikely moments, but somehow it still kept my interest and enjoyment. Maybe because I’ve never experienced the squatter world of Ithaca New York and that time period, so I think I was able to attribute some of the unlikely bits to that time and place. My brain just figured, “Well maybe it could have gone like that in that particular world.” I enjoyed Tess’s loyalty and fiercely loving heart.

[Dan Nimak · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a few words and sayings from a century ago that you'll quickly get the hang of, and you'll also discover that it's worth it. This old novel still works today!! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Be sure and watch Mary Pickford's silent movie after you read it.