The Lamplighter
by Maria S. Cummins
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The Lamplighter was the first novel by twenty-seven-year-old Maria Susanna Cummins. It propelled her into a prominence that continued until her early death at the age of thirty-nine. A novel of female development, The Lamplighter is a woman's version of the quest story. Its heroine, Gerty, comes on the scene as a child abandoned in the slums of Boston. Rescued by the kindly lamplighter Trueman Flint, she learns to meet life with courage and honesty. The novel touched the hearts, validated show more the ideals, and assuaged the anxieties of a huge readership, and it remained continuously in print until the 1920s. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Not bad, though slow at parts. I have the Lamplighter Publishing copy which I understand has been edited somewhat. The overall story is great but the characters lack some of the depth you'd expect with a book this size; not sure how else to describe it. It seems the author wants you to connect to the characters but because they are lacking something I found it hard to do so. In the end I'm glad to have read it but it won't likely be brought out again.
A great message is lost in a boring story.
Maria S.Cummins, The lamplighter, Hutchinson & Co., [?1909,] Hardback. This copy has a 1909 bookplate, a Prize Awarded to Nellie Baylis for Lessons and Good Conduct, Mickleton Sunday School. Above that is another location: The Ardencote Club, Star Lane, Claverdon, Warwickshire CV35 8HW. The bookplate was printed by The Midland Educational Co., Lim, The City Booksellers, Birmingham & Leicester. At the back, there is a list of books in a series: 'The Fifty-two Series of Stories for Boys & Girls, edited by Alfred H.Miles, e.g. 1. Fifty-two Stories for Boys, 2. Fifty-two Stories for Girls, 11. Fifty-two Stories for Girlhood and Youth, 19. Fifty-two Stories of Pluck, Peril and Romance for Girls, 28. Fifty-two Stories of Heroism in Life and show more Action for Girls, 37. Fifty-two Stories of the Brave and True for Girls, 38. Fifty-two Stories for the Little Ones. show less
Given to my grandfather in 1900 for bringing five scholars into Sunday School.
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1898 C.K. Shorter List of Best 100 Novels
100 works; 34 members
500 Great Books by Women
507 works; 60 members
Fiction (Mostly) in Selective Bibliography of American Literature 1775-1900
431 works; 3 members
Author Information
5+ Works 530 Members
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Lamplighter
- Original title
- The Lamplighter
- Original publication date
- 1854
- Important places
- Boston, Massachusetts, USA
- First words
- It was growing dark in the city.
- Quotations
- There are faces whose ever-varying expression one loves to watch -- tell-tale faces, that speak the truth and proclaim the sentiment within; faces that now light up with intelligence, now beam with mirth, now sadden at the ta... (show all)le of sorrow, now burn with a holy indignation for that which the soul abhors, and now, again, are sanctified by the divine presence, when the heart turns away from the world and itself, and looks upward in the spirit of devotion. Such a face was Gertrude's.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Thy sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord shall be thy everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended."
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Statistics
- Members
- 522
- Popularity
- 57,507
- Reviews
- 4
- Rating
- (3.33)
- Languages
- 5 — Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 34
- ASINs
- 25
