Product Description

Of all the books written by Hoosier writers, Gene Stratton-Porter's A Girl of the Limberlost is unquestionably the most cherished: the timeless story of an impoverished young girl, Elnora Comstock, growing up on the edge of the Limberlost swamp. Elnora Comstock has served as a role model for successive generations of independent young readers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23715 in Books
• Published on: 1984-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780253203311
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

Glorious
Shelve Titanic. Read this book instead. I normally avoid romances, but this is the most amazing book I have ever read. On a desert island, I would choose this book.

Elnora Comstock is a poor, emotionally-neglected girl whose mother despises her, and is pitied by her classmates at a local college. Elnora's sole friends are the nearby farmers, and the Bird Woman, collector of moths. Since Elnora lives within range of the huge, dangerous swamp "Limberlost", she often goes into it to collect moths. Soon, she discovers that she can pay her way through school with them.

Along the way, she befriends and homeless children, and recovers her father's old violin. When her mother discovers a devastating secret about her husband, she seeks to make things right between her and Elnora.

The second half of the book involves Elnora's nature-bound friendship with a rich young man, Philip Ammon. Ammon and Elnora slowly begin to fall in love... but he is already engaged to a jealous and egotistical young woman in Chicago. Keep in mind that at the time, an engagement was virtually the same thing as a marriage...

Elnora and Ammon's love is pure and lovely, completely devoid of physical attraction, and their romance is the best one in books. The characters are phenomenal, including Mrs. Comstock and Ammon's fiancee, neither of whom become cookie-cutter persecuters. The only flat character is the Bird Woman, but she is rarely there. The dialogue is good enough to be in a modern novel, and girls can sympathize with Elnora's embarrassment.

Elnora Comstock herself is one of the best literary heroines I've ever seen. She is independent and intelligent, concerned with physical appearance and yet aware that it's what's inside that counts, strong and feminine. She is the best example ever that a woman can be fill traditional roles without being repressed or oppressed.

This book is amazing. If you haven't read it already, you should! :):):)

A charming old fashioned book.
A lovely early 20th century book about a girl who lives in a rural area, catching rare moths to put herself through high school. This book is perfect for a girl in her young teens- an innocently romantic tale that focuses a on girl's growing understanding of her own role in the world. While the book's language and setting might seem outdated to some, the theme and plot are timeless classics.
This is a book that I have loved reading and re-reading for the past 20 years, since I was about 13 years old.

Moths
I've read this book every few years or so since I was 10(I'm now 60) the first copy being my grandmother's. One is transported into a different world, one where goals were clearer . Elnora's struggles can be related to by any girl today, and her triumph is purely her own. A lovely theme in the book allows each character to come to life as a caterpillar, spend a time in a cocoon, them emerge finally as a beautiful moth. Elnora's mother's transformation is particularly splendid. The ecological concerns of the novel convince the reader that our "modern" problems are mere variations on a theme. The reverence for hard work, creativity, and strict moral standards are refreshing.