
ALFRED A KNOPF - New York MCMXXV
BOOK ONE - THE FAMILY - I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
The story opens with Professor St. Peter standing alone in the empty rooms of a house he has lived in for decades. The three‑story, ash‑colored home is a maze of creaking stairs, sagging steps and stubborn fixtures, each flaw a reminder of the years he has spent repairing what never seems to stay fixed. Through vivid description we learn of his striking appearance—dark hair, hawk‑like eyes, a sculpted head that his daughters once painted—while his interior life is marked by a quiet weariness that has dulled the fire of his earlier passions.
Beyond the cracked windows lies the garden he built as a refuge after his first child’s birth. It is the one place that still feels alive, nurtured with the help of a kindly retired farmer neighbor. As the professor steps into this green sanctuary, the narrative hints at the return of his daughters and the shifting family dynamics that will test his long‑held routines, promising a thoughtful exploration of memory, responsibility, and the quiet courage required to face change.
Language
en
Duration
~5 hours (328K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Laura Natal Rodrigues at Free Literature (Images generously made available by Hathi Trust Digital Library.)
Release date
2021-05-29
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1873–1947
A major American novelist of the prairie, she turned memories of Nebraska into vivid stories about immigrants, settlers, and the hard beauty of frontier life. Her fiction pairs clear, graceful prose with a deep feeling for place, ambition, and endurance.
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