Audiobook · read by volunteers
Freckles
Gene Stratton-Porter (1863–1924)
Read by Mary Anderson, Laura Caldwell, RK Wilcox, Betsie Bush, Yazpistachio, Melissa, Qhali · 20 chapters · 8 h 43
About the book
Freckles is a young man raised in a Chicago orphanage, with only one hand and no family, and he wants nothing more than a job, a place to belong and people who will accept him as he is. He finds it in the Limberlost, a wild swamp in Indiana, where he is hired to guard valuable timber against thieves. At first alone and afraid, he gradually discovers the beauty of the forest: its birds, flowers and moths, and the kindness of the people who live near. A young woman he calls the Swamp Angel enters his life, and with her come questions about his past. Gene Stratton-Porter, a lover of nature, writes with warmth and sincerity. Seven LibriVox volunteers share this classic of courage and friendship. It is a story about courage, kindness and belonging.
Introduction
Gene Stratton-Porter lived from 1863 to 1924. She was an American novelist, but also a naturalist and a photographer, and she spent years observing and recording the wildlife of the Limberlost Swamp in northeastern Indiana. Freckles, published in 1904, was her first great success, and it drew directly on this knowledge. The descriptions of birds and plants, and of the forest in all its seasons, are not mere decoration but one of the pleasures of the book.
The novel belongs to a tradition of sentimental fiction in which character is tested by hardship and rewarded by kindness. Its hero is a young man who must prove himself, and he finds, in the Limberlost, people who value him for what he does rather than for what he lacks. Stratton-Porter weaves in themes of honesty, loyalty and the healing power of nature, and she was never shy about her own moral convictions.
Freckles sold in large numbers and was followed in 1909 by A Girl of the Limberlost, a companion novel set in the same swamp. Later the swamp was largely drained, and the book has taken on the added value of a record of a vanished landscape.
The recording has 20 chapters, whose titles all begin with the word “Wherein”, and lasts about eight and three-quarter hours. Seven volunteers read it. It is a gentle, optimistic story, well suited to a family with older children. The Limberlost itself is almost a character, and the descriptions of its moths, birds and flowers are given in loving detail. Younger and older listeners will both find something in the tale, and its sincere tone is part of what has made it a favourite for over a century.
Public domain
Gene Stratton-Porter died in 1924: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text