Audiobook · read by volunteers
New Chronicles of Rebecca
Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856–1923)
Read by Sean McGaughey, Sibella Denton, Jan Baxter, Mary Anderson, Lorelle Anderson, Nichole Karl, Lucy Burgoyne (1950-2014) · 11 chapters · 6 h 23
About the book
Rebecca Rowena Randall, the heroine of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, is one of the best-loved girls in American children’s fiction, and in this book Kate Douglas Wiggin gives her new adventures. The stories belong to the time when Rebecca lived in Riverboro, the village where her aunts, her friends and her rivals shape her days. Among them are Jack O’Lantern, Daughters of Zion and Rebecca’s Thought Book, each one a small episode of village life seen through the eyes of a lively and imaginative girl. The tone is warm and humorous, with a gentle sense of moral purpose. Eleven chapters, running a little over six hours, are ideal for readers who love old-fashioned stories of family, friendship and growing up. Rebecca returns, as bright and spirited as ever, and as ready to meet each day with hope.
Introduction
Kate Douglas Wiggin (1856–1923) was an American author and educator, who founded one of the first free kindergartens in California before she turned to writing books. Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was published in 1903 and was a great success. New Chronicles of Rebecca followed in 1907 and gathers stories set during Rebecca’s time in Riverboro, filling in episodes that the first book had not told.
Readers who have not met Rebecca before can still enjoy this book, since each chapter has its own story and the characters are quickly introduced. The village setting gives a pleasant sense of community, with its small rivalries and its neighbourly kindnesses. Rebecca herself is clever, talkative and generous, and her adventures often turn on a misunderstanding or an act of kindness. The humour is mild, the style is simple, and the whole is cheerfully sentimental.
It is a good book for family listening, because the stories can be heard one at a time, and the characters are easy to love. Those who enjoy Anne of Green Gables or Little Women will feel at home here.
Eleven recordings, about 6.4 hours in all, are shared among several LibriVox volunteers, one story to a recording. Titles such as A Tragedy in Millinery, The Saving of the Colors and Abner Simpson’s New Leaf promise a mixture of comedy and feeling, and each makes a pleasant evening’s listening. The titles range from the comic, A Tragedy in Millinery or Abijah the Brave and the Fair Emma Jane, to Rebecca’s Reminiscences and The Little Prophet, so the collection has room for several moods.
Public domain
Kate Douglas Wiggin died in 1923: 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