11 h 10 minAudiobook10 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
A spinning wheel turns fibre into thread—but what holds one heart to another?
In Caroline Lee Hentz’s Helen and Arthur; Or, Miss Thusa’s Spinning Wheel, two young people share the title with an older woman and her familiar household tool. This classic romance belongs to a world of home life, courtship, family duty, and moral questions.
Miss Thusa’s spinning wheel offers a way into that world. It stands for patient work and skills passed from one generation to another. Its thread also gives you an image to carry through your reading: the ties between people, and the place of love within home and duty.
What you’ll discover
- Home and heart Enter the home-centred world of domestic fiction, where courtship and family duty meet.
- The title’s three figures Meet Helen, Arthur, and the older Miss Thusa, whose spinning wheel gives the novel its second name.
- A wheel full of meaning Consider a household object that brings patience, inherited skills, and human ties into focus.
- A sentimental tradition Explore a romance from an American writer whose fiction speaks to women and family readers.
- A thoughtful reading Encounter the attitudes of another age while reflecting on its ideas of love and duty.
Who will love it
Readers who love nineteenth-century American domestic fiction, eerie folk tales told by firelight, stories of sisters and rivals, and gentle romances where faith and character are tested.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A ghost story by the spinning wheel
- A mother's wish and a young doctor's firmness
- Strawberries, a snake, and a lesson in trust
- A mother's death and a night in the desk
- The ruined thread and a tale of the black horseman
- Growing up, a blind friend, and a stepmother's stand
- Bryant Clinton arrives
- Louis falls, Miss Thusa gives, and the wheel's secret
- What the story is about and how it is told
Who’s who
- Helen GleasonA shy, dreamy girl ruled by fear who slowly learns courage through trust and small trials.
- Miss ThusaA tall, gray, eccentric spinner who tells ghostly tales, loves Helen deeply, and guards a secret in her wheel.
- Arthur HazletonThe calm, firm young doctor who guides Helen toward courage and faith, and who is loved by his blind sister.
- Mittie GleasonHelen's proud, brilliant sister, starved for love and burning with jealousy.
- Louis GleasonHelen's warm, merry brother, easily led astray by a charming friend.
- Bryant ClintonA handsome, long-haired college friend of Louis whose charm hides vanity and deceit.
- Alice HazletonArthur's blind sister, gentle, musical, and fearless because she trusts those who love her.
- Mrs. Gleason the stepmotherA patient, dignified woman who gives Mittie every kindness and finally asks for respect.
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- Audiobook
- 11 h 10 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 10 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Helen und Arthur; oder: Miss Thusas Spinnrad
by Caroline Lee Hentz · 1853
A child hears a ghost story by a spinning wheel, and the old spinner's tales shape her whole life.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
Helen and Arthur; Or, Miss Thusa's Spinning Wheel is a novel by Caroline Lee Hentz, an American writer who died in 1856. It follows a frightened, dreamy child named Helen Gleason from a stormy night in a nursery into young womanhood, and it asks what shapes a heart: the stories it hears, the people who guide it, and the passions it cannot tame.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A ghost story by the spinning wheel
The book opens on a windy night. Miss Thusa is tall and gray, with spectacles pushed up on her forehead and a nose like a ridge. She belongs to no family, so she moves from home to home, and her wheel always goes ahead of her.
Helen begs for a story, and Miss Thusa acts out the tale of the worm-eaten traveler. A lonely woman spins and sings that she wishes for company. A skeleton comes down her chimney bone by bone and leads her to an open grave. Helen listens with a mix of horror and delight.
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What is Helen and Arthur about?
It follows Helen Gleason from a frightened childhood, shaped by the ghost stories of the spinner Miss Thusa, to young womanhood, where a doctor's guidance, a jealous sister, and a charming stranger test her courage.
Who is Miss Thusa in the book?
Miss Thusa is an eccentric, solitary spinner who carries her wheel from house to house, tells chilling tales, and loves Helen and Louis deeply. Her wheel holds a secret that matters later in the story.
Who is Bryant Clinton?
Clinton is Louis's handsome, long-haired college friend who comes to stay with the Gleasons. His charm wins hearts, including Mittie's, and Miss Thusa distrusts him from the start.
The author
Caroline Lee Hentz
1800–1856 · American novelist
Caroline Lee Hentz (1800–1856) was an American author and educator. She was born in Lancaster, Massachusetts, and died in Marianna, Florida. She wrote novels, plays, and short stories. Her novels include Rena, published in 1850, Marcus Warland, published in 1852, and The Planter’s Northern Bride, published in 1854.
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