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Winter Evening Tales

by Amelia E. Barr (1831–1919)

  • Free to read
  • 5 hours to read
  • 6 chapters
  • Reading level: 7th grade

"Winter Evening Tales" by Amelia E. Barr is a collection of short stories written in the late 19th century. The anthology brings together a series of narratives that explore various aspects of human nature, intertwining themes of love, loss, and moral dilemmas. The engaging characters featured throughout hint at the profound emotional resonance and the reflections on life that readers can expect. The opening of "Winter Evening Tales" introduces readers to a detailed preface that highlights the author's ability to blend realism with romantic storytelling. Through the initial narrative titled "Cash," we meet David Lockerby and his struggles between following his ambitions in business versus a calling to ministry, revealing his family's conflicting expectations. The story paints a vivid picture of 19th-century Glasgow, setting the tone for the moral and emotional complexities that characterize the collection. David's dilemma and the relationships around him suggest a rich exploration of personal choices and societal pressures, promising a thoughtful journey through the lives of ordinary yet compelling characters.

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  • Christian fiction

Read the opening

Part I

"Gold may be dear bought."

A narrow street with dreadful "wynds" and "vennels" running back from it was the High street of Glasgow at the time my story opens. And yet, though dirty, noisy and overcrowded with sin and suffering, a flavor of old time royalty and romance lingered amid its vulgar surroundings; and midway of its squalid length a quaint brown frontage kept behind it noble halls of learning, and pleasant old courts full of the "air of still delightful studies."

From this building came out two young men in academic costume. One of them set his face dourly against the clammy fog and drizzling rain, breathing it boldly, as if it was the balmiest oxygen; the other, shuddering, drew his scarlet toga around him and said, mournfully, "Ech, Davie, the High street is an ill furlong on the de'il's road! I never tread it, but I think o' the weary, weary miles atween it and Eden."

"There is no road without its bad league, Willie, and the High street has its compensations; its prison for ill-doers, its learned college, and its holy High Kirk. I am one of St. Mungo's bairns, and I'm not above preaching for my saint."

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Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Part I
  3. Part II
  4. Part II
  5. Chapter I
  6. Chapter II: " — and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James i. 15
  7. Chapter II

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About this edition

This free edition of Winter Evening Tales by Amelia E. Barr comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #16222, released 2005-07-06. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Short Stories, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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