Every Friday, Marilyn Knapp Litt, who blogs at ClassicKindle.com, brings us her recommendation of a free classic book to discover (or rediscover) on Kindle. Find more of Marilyn’s recommendations at her blog, ClassicKindle.com, a guide to the best free and inexpensive classic literature for the Kindle. You can also get Marilyn’s blog on Kindle and I recommend that you “Like” the Classic Kindle Facebook page as well so you don’t miss anything. Here’s Marilyn’s post:

Gene Stratton-Porter was an Indiana author. She wrote about an evocative swamp near Fort Wayne called “The Limberlost.” The story was that someone named Limber stumbled in and never came out. I read her books as a girl and dreamed of visiting that nearby natural wonder, as I was a Hoosier gal myself. Her most popular books was Freckles.

The scene was intensely attractive. The thickness of the swamp made a dark, massive background below, while above towered gigantic trees. The men were calling jovially back and forth as they unharnessed tired horses that fell into attitudes of rest and crunched, in deep content, the grain given them. Duncan, the brawny Scotch head-teamster, lovingly wiped the flanks of his big bays with handfuls of pawpaw leaves, as he softly whistled, “O wha will be my dearie, O!” and a cricket beneath the leaves at his feet accompanied him. The green wood fire hissed and crackled merrily. Wreathing tongues of flame wrapped around the big black kettles, and when the cook lifted the lids to plunge in his testing-fork, gusts of savory odors escaped.

Freckles approached him.

“I want to speak with the Boss,” he said.

The cook glanced at him and answered carelessly: “He can’t use you.”

The color flooded Freckles’ face, but he said simply: “If you will be having the goodness to point him out, we will give him a chance to do his own talking.”

With a shrug of astonishment, the cook led the way to a rough board table where a broad, square-shouldered man was bending over some account-books.

“Mr. McLean, here’s another man wanting to be taken on the gang, I suppose,” he said.

“All right,” came the cheery answer. “I never needed a good man more than I do just now.”

The manager turned a page and carefully began a new line.

“No use of your bothering with this fellow,” volunteered the cook. “He hasn’t but one hand.”

I saw a couple of reviews on Amazon that caught my attention:

I would like to say that I really love Gene Stratton Porter’s books. I have read Freckles (the first one I read at age 11), followed by A Girl of the Limberlost, Her Father’s Daughter, and The Harvester. Each one was beautifully written, with great detail, beautiful nature, and incredible feeling. I couldn’t put any of them down until I finished them. I am excited to try and read some of her other books, the titles of which I discovered here on Amazon.

And

This is the best book I have ever read! I am 13 years old, and have read the book twice. Gene Stratton Porter is a great writer, and has wonderful concepts.

I always give high marks for enthusiasm, even youthful enthusiasm.

And lest you think they are children’s books, I read them as a child, as I did Dickens and many other books. Porter’s works were popular with children, but they were written for adults. Those older books were offered to children, because adult themes were not explicit. But, I appreciate subtlety in a novel. In particular, I was offered these books because they were by an Indiana author. I wonder how many other forgotten authors are read only in their own state. There was a long list of Indiana authors as the Hoosier state was once known for its writers. Except for Kurt Vonnegut, they are all free Kindle classic writers now! I have already written about the marvelous Booth Tarkington. There will be more . . .

The draining of her beloved swamp was said to have hastened Porter’s death. In Googling for my blog today, I was amazed and pleased to find that restoration of the swamp was started in 1991. It seemed the farmland never did stop flooding. Maybe I will get to see that memorable swamp after all.

Download your free copy of Freckles here >>