13 h 39 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 13 h 39 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the swamp your mother fears is the one place that can help you build a future?
Elnora Comstock wants to attend high school in Onabasha, but determination cannot buy books or suitable clothes. At home beside Indiana’s Limberlost Swamp, her widowed mother, Katharine, offers neither money nor comfort. Elnora faces the shame of arriving with heavy shoes and a rough lunch pail—and insists on going anyway.
In Gene Stratton-Porter’s A Girl of the Limberlost, the wild land holds more than danger. Its moths, birds, flowers and trees offer Elnora a way to earn her schooling. With help from kind neighbors and the Bird Woman, she begins to make her own way, while grief at home and a young visitor’s affection bring harder questions.
What you’ll discover
- A future worth the struggle Follow a farm girl who refuses to let poverty decide whether she belongs at school.
- A swamp alive with possibility Discover how close attention to moths and birds becomes a source of work and wonder.
- Kindness beyond the farmhouse Meet neighbors and a mentor whose practical care gives Elnora support she lacks at home.
- A mother held by grief Explore the painful distance between a determined daughter and a mother who withholds her warmth.
- Love on uncertain ground Watch Philip Ammon’s interest in Elnora complicate a young life already full of demands.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy stories of a determined girl, warm neighbors, and a stubborn mother. It suits anyone who loves birds, moths, and wild places.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Elnora faces high school in calico and shame
- Moths and good neighbors open a way forward
- A hungry boy named Billy changes the Sintons
- A violin brings Elnora closer to her father
- Graduation brings pain and an unexpected gift
- Mrs. Comstock goes into the swamp for her daughter
- Philip Ammon arrives and Edith Carr follows
- A girl earns her own life
- Mothers, grief, and love run through every scene
- Humor, nature, and music in the telling
Who’s who
- Elnora ComstockA brave, hardworking farm girl who collects moths to pay for school and longs for her mother's love.
- Katharine ComstockElnora's grieving mother, who has hidden behind money worries and bitterness since her husband died in the swamp.
- Wesley SintonThe kind neighbor who has helped Elnora all her life and cannot resist a child in need.
- Margaret SintonWesley's wife, who mothers Elnora, mourns her two lost daughters, and holds a secret about Elnora's father.
- The Bird WomanA naturalist who buys Elnora's moths, becomes her mentor, and understands what it means to start poor.
- BillyA hungry, brave boy from a broken home who wins the hearts of the Sintons and Mrs. Comstock.
- Philip AmmonA Chicago lawyer who comes to the Limberlost to recover and helps Elnora hunt moths.
- Edith CarrA rich, beautiful girl who is engaged to Philip and sure of her power over him.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- 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.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Una ragazza di Limberlost
by Gene Stratton-Porter · 1909
A farm girl in calico pays for high school by selling Limberlost moths to the Bird Woman.
Medium level10–20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you do if you walked into high school in a brown calico dress, with heavy shoes, no books, and no money to buy any? Elnora Comstock does exactly that.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Elnora faces high school in calico and shame
Elnora starts school on the first Monday of September. Her mother, Katharine, thinks the whole plan is foolish. Elnora hides her lunch pail in a hollow log and follows the swamp trail toward town.
At school every girl in the huge auditorium seems to have a friend, and nobody makes room for her. In algebra someone adds a tiny curl to the name on the board, so that Comstock reads as Cornstock. Elnora burns with anger, but the professor praises her solution.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1909
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 8 h 55 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Stratton-Porter, Gene. A Girl of the Limberlost. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-girl-of-the-limberlost.
Stratton-Porter, G. (2026). A girl of the Limberlost. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-girl-of-the-limberlost (Original work published 1909)
Stratton-Porter, Gene. A Girl of the Limberlost. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-girl-of-the-limberlost.
@book{strattonporter2026girl,
author = {Stratton-Porter, Gene},
title = {A Girl of the Limberlost},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/a-girl-of-the-limberlost},
note = {First published 1909}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Una ragazza di Limberlost
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is A Girl of the Limberlost about?
It follows Elnora Comstock, a farm girl near an Indiana swamp who pays for high school by selling moths and Indian relics. Her grieving mother, a violin, a young orphan named Billy, and a visitor named Philip Ammon all shape her path.
Who is the Bird Woman in the book?
She is a naturalist who paints and photographs the creatures of the Limberlost and buys moths and butterflies. She becomes Elnora's mentor and friend, helps her sell her specimens, and understands what it is to arrive at a city school poor.
Do I need to read Freckles first?
The story stands on its own. Freckles is mentioned as a boy who once guarded the Limberlost timber, and his old box in the swamp becomes Elnora's, but everything you need to follow the plot is explained.
The author
Gene Stratton-Porter
1863–1924 · American novelist and naturalist
Gene Stratton-Porter was an American writer and naturalist born in Wabash County, Indiana, in 1863. She lived in Indiana before moving to California. She wrote novels, nature books, and magazine articles. Her novels include Freckles, published in 1904, and A Girl of the Limberlost, published in 1909. She died in Los Angeles in 1924.
More by Gene Stratton-Porter
Vedi tutti i suoi libriMore like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
