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For the Major: A Novelette
Excerpt from For the Major: A Novelette
Madam Carroll of the Farms, upon a certain even ing in May, 1868, was sitting in her doorway, her eyes fixed upon the dull red line of a road winding down the mountain opposite. This road was red be cause it ran through red clay and a hopelessly sticky road it was, too, at most seasons of the year, as the horses of the Tuloa stage line knew to their cost. But the vehicle now coming through the last fringes of the firs was not a stage; and it was drawn, also, by two stout mules that possessed a tenacity of pur pose greater even than that of red clay. It was the carriage of Major Carroll of the Farms, Far Edger ley, and at the present moment it was bringing home his daughter from the western terminus of the railway.
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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Madam Carroll of the Farms, upon a certain even ing in May, 1868, was sitting in her doorway, her eyes fixed upon the dull red line of a road winding down the mountain opposite. This road was red be cause it ran through red clay and a hopelessly sticky road it was, too, at most seasons of the year, as the horses of the Tuloa stage line knew to their cost. But the vehicle now coming through the last fringes of the firs was not a stage; and it was drawn, also, by two stout mules that possessed a tenacity of pur pose greater even than that of red clay. It was the carriage of Major Carroll of the Farms, Far Edger ley, and at the present moment it was bringing home his daughter from the western terminus of the railway.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
242 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1882
About the author
Constance Fenimore Woolson
206 books40 followersConstance Fenimore Woolson (March 5, 1840 – January 24, 1894) was an American novelist, poet, and short story writer. She was a grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper, and is best known for fictions about the Great Lakes region, the American South, and American expatriates in Europe.
Woolson was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, but her family soon moved to Cleveland, Ohio, after the deaths of three of her sisters from scarlet fever. Woolson was educated at the Cleveland Female Seminary and a boarding school in New York. She traveled extensively through the midwest and northeastern regions of the U.S. during her childhood and young adulthood.
Woolson’s father died in 1869. The following year she began to publish fiction and essays in magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine. Her first full-length publication was a children’s book, The Old Stone House (1873). In 1875 she published her first volume of short stories, Castle Nowhere: Lake-Country Sketches, based on her experiences in the Great Lakes region, especially Mackinac Island.
From 1873 to 1879 Woolson spent winters with her mother in St. Augustine, Florida. During these visits she traveled widely in the South which gave her material for her next collection of short stories, Rodman the Keeper: Southern Sketches (1880). After her mother’s death in 1879, Woolson went to Europe, staying at a succession of hotels in England, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Woolson published her first novel Anne in 1880, followed by three others: East Angels (1886), Jupiter Lights (1889) and Horace Chase (1894). In 1883 she published the novella For the Major, a story of the postwar South that has become one of her most respected fictions. In the winter of 1889–1890 she traveled to Egypt and Greece, which resulted in a collection of travel sketches, Mentone, Cairo and Corfu (published posthumously in 1896).
In 1893 Woolson rented an elegant apartment on the Grand Canal of Venice. Suffering from influenza and depression, she either jumped or fell to her death from a window in the apartment in January 1894. Two volumes of her short stories appeared after her death: The Front Yard and Other Italian Stories (1895) and Dorothy and Other Italian Stories (1896). She is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, and is memorialized by Anne's Tablet on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Woolson’s short stories have long been regarded as pioneering examples of local color or regionalism. Today, Woolson's novels, short stories, poetry, and travelogues are studied and taught from a range of scholarly and critical perspectives, including feminist, psychoanalytic, gender studies, postcolonial, and new historicism.
(from Wikipedia)
Woolson was born in Claremont, New Hampshire, but her family soon moved to Cleveland, Ohio, after the deaths of three of her sisters from scarlet fever. Woolson was educated at the Cleveland Female Seminary and a boarding school in New York. She traveled extensively through the midwest and northeastern regions of the U.S. during her childhood and young adulthood.
Woolson’s father died in 1869. The following year she began to publish fiction and essays in magazines such as The Atlantic Monthly and Harper's Magazine. Her first full-length publication was a children’s book, The Old Stone House (1873). In 1875 she published her first volume of short stories, Castle Nowhere: Lake-Country Sketches, based on her experiences in the Great Lakes region, especially Mackinac Island.
From 1873 to 1879 Woolson spent winters with her mother in St. Augustine, Florida. During these visits she traveled widely in the South which gave her material for her next collection of short stories, Rodman the Keeper: Southern Sketches (1880). After her mother’s death in 1879, Woolson went to Europe, staying at a succession of hotels in England, France, Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
Woolson published her first novel Anne in 1880, followed by three others: East Angels (1886), Jupiter Lights (1889) and Horace Chase (1894). In 1883 she published the novella For the Major, a story of the postwar South that has become one of her most respected fictions. In the winter of 1889–1890 she traveled to Egypt and Greece, which resulted in a collection of travel sketches, Mentone, Cairo and Corfu (published posthumously in 1896).
In 1893 Woolson rented an elegant apartment on the Grand Canal of Venice. Suffering from influenza and depression, she either jumped or fell to her death from a window in the apartment in January 1894. Two volumes of her short stories appeared after her death: The Front Yard and Other Italian Stories (1895) and Dorothy and Other Italian Stories (1896). She is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome, and is memorialized by Anne's Tablet on Mackinac Island, Michigan.
Woolson’s short stories have long been regarded as pioneering examples of local color or regionalism. Today, Woolson's novels, short stories, poetry, and travelogues are studied and taught from a range of scholarly and critical perspectives, including feminist, psychoanalytic, gender studies, postcolonial, and new historicism.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 16, 2016
This 19th-century novella plays upon the expectations of genteel Southern womanhood and then subverts them in ways I didn't expect. I thought of one thing; nothing came of it: it was another thing entirely. After having read Miss Grief and Other Stories, this is the first 'longer' piece I've read by Woolson. It too contains what I'm discovering is her trademark empathy, humor and some very fine prose.
October 26, 2021
110/2021 Para el club de lectura de autoras del siglo XIX que organiza @cl_autorasxix , al que voy menos de lo que me gustaría, hemos leído este libro, que durante el primer tercio no tenía nada claro dónde me iba a llevar o de qué iba a ir la historia y que de repente arranca y me empezó a interesar todo más.
La vida en un pueblo pequeño, los secretos, las apariencias y todo lo que una mujer y una hija están dispuestas a hacer por su marido enfermo. La enfermedad del comandante es la excusa para hablar del universo que a veces construimos entre nosotras.
Me ha gustado, sin entusiasmos, pero es una lectura agradable.
La vida en un pueblo pequeño, los secretos, las apariencias y todo lo que una mujer y una hija están dispuestas a hacer por su marido enfermo. La enfermedad del comandante es la excusa para hablar del universo que a veces construimos entre nosotras.
Me ha gustado, sin entusiasmos, pero es una lectura agradable.
April 1, 2020
Constance Fenimore Woolson fu scrittrice di frontiera; stimata da Henry James, i romanzi della scrittrice statunitense difficilmente potevano essere accettati dai suoi contemporanei, anche perché scritti da una donna. Difatti, molte furono le censure che la Woolson subì in vita. Per il Maggiore, pubblicato a puntate dal 1882, è ambientato in uno stato del Sud subito dopo la fine della guerra civile americana e vi si narrano le vicende della famiglia del maggiore Carroll, anziano militare in congedo. Il romanzo può essere visto come un' opera di denuncia, in quanto dipinge il ruolo della donna nella società americana, ruolo affatto subalterno all' uomo. Ma ciò sarebbe del tutto restrittivo. In primo luogo perché, a ben guardare, è proprio madame Carroll, a dispetto del suo fare sottomesso, a tenere silenziosamente in mano il bandolo della matassa. Inoltre, considerandolo un semplice romanzo di denuncia, si trascurerebbe la grande capacità descrittiva della scrittrice, quel delineare immensi paesaggi e magiche atmosfere con eleganza e abilità.
April 25, 2016
Muy tierna toda la historia de la mujer que crea una ilusión para que el hombre que la sacó de la miseria viva sus últimos años con todas las comodidades materiales y sentimentales. Ambiente muuuuy provinciano, caracteres esquemáticos pero simpáticos al servicio de la protagonista. Bien, tiene la extensión justa para no hacerse pesado y no se va por las ramas.
April 7, 2016
My impressions here...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
http://carmenyamigos.blogspot.com.es/...
June 2, 2021
Una historia tranquila que muestra la fuerza de la figura masculina en la vida de las mujeres, y su influencia incluso sobre el entorno que las rodea.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews