Freckles
- ISBN-10
- 1541269470
- ISBN-13
- 9781541269477
- Series
- Freckles
- Pages
- 154
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-12-23
- Publisher
- Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
- Author
- Gene Stratton-Porter
Description
Freckles, a novel primarily set in the Limberlost swamp area of Indiana with brief scenes in Chicago, was written by the American writer and naturalist Gene Stratton-Porter. The title character "Feeckles" appears briefly in Porter's earlier novel A Girl of the Limberlost- reading of which makes this book easy to understand. The story in Freckles is marked by loving descriptions of the flora and fauna of the wilderness and the innocence, determined courage and honesty of its hero. Raised since infancy in a Chicago orphanage, the hero is an adult orphan, just under twenty years of age, with bright red hair and a freckled complexion. His right hand is missing at the wrist and he speaks with a slight Irish accent. McLean, the part owner and manager, is impressed by the boy's polite assertiveness and he hires him despite his youth and disability. Black Jack Carter is a wood smuggler and Freckles' weapons are limited to a revolver and a stick. He boards with Duncan at night and Duncan's wife becomes a mother figure to him. Initially terrified of the wilderness, Freckles first conquers his fears by exploration of the Limberlost and develops an interest in the wildlife of the swamp by the spring. While he is reading in his room and recovering from his beating from his fight with Wessner- the agent of Black Jack, a lovely girl of about sixteen years appears looking for him. Freckles instantly falls in love with her. Freckles doctors a cut she received on the arm looking for him to lead her out of the swamp, conducts her back to her carriage, and dubs her "the Swamp Angel". The Swamp Angel declares her love for Freckles and her inquiries lead her to his family and his true name Terence Maxwell O'More of Dunderry House in County Clare. Gene Stratton-Porter (August 17, 1863 - December 6, 1924), born Geneva Grace Stratton in Wabash County, Indiana near Lagro, was an American author, early naturalist, nature photographer, and one of the first women to form a movie studio and production company. Her works were translated into several languages, including Braille and she was estimated to have had 50 million readers around the world. Her novel A Girl of the Limberlost was adapted four times as a film, most recently in 1990 in a made-for-TV version. She was the twelfth and last child born to Mary and Mark Stratton who shortened her name to Geneve and she later shortened it to Gene.. Despite not finishing high school, Gene became an avid reader and lifelong scholar of ecology and wildlife. Gene Stratton married Charles Dorwin Porter in 1886. Of Scots-Irish descent, he was the son of a doctor and became a pharmacist, with stores in Geneva and Fort Wayne, Indiana. They had one daughter, Jeannette, born in 1887. Porters built a large home in Geneva, which they named "Limberlost Cabin". From here, Stratton-Porter spent much time exploring the nearby Limberlost Swamp, where she set two of her most popular novels and many of her works of natural history. She became known as "The Bird Lady" and "The Lady of the Limberlost" to friends and readers. Gene began spending winters in Los Angeles, California, around 1919 after battling serious illness and she founded Gene Stratton-Porter Productions, Inc. and began her own film versions. She moved to California permanently in 1923 and maintained her home at Rome City, owned homes in Los Angeles, built a workshop on Catalina Island and was constructing a mansion in Bel-Air at the time of her death in 1924. Gene's life and career was ended tragically when a streetcar hit her car while travelling through Los Angeles to visit her brother, Jerome. She was only 61 years old.
