Project Gutenberg 2004-04-01 Public domain in the USA. 161 Ward, Humphry, Mrs. 1851 1920 Ward, Mary Augusta Arnold Ward, Mrs. Humphry Arnold, Mary Augusta The Story of Bessie Costrell Produced by Andrew Templeton, Juliet Sutherland, Carol David and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team "The Story of Bessie Costrell" by Mrs. Humphry Ward is a novel written during the early 20th century. The story appears to explore themes of social class, morality, and the consequences of personal decisions, focusing particularly on the lives of ordinary villagers in a rural English setting. The narrative centers around John Bolderfield, an elderly laborer, and his niece Bessie Costrell, whose lives intertwine amid the struggles of poverty and familial loyalty. At the start of the novel, we witness John Bolderfield, a lifelong laborer, as he reflects on his imminent changes in life, including the death of his sister-in-law, Eliza. As John grapples with feelings of sadness and nostalgia, we are introduced to Bessie Costrell, whose financial irresponsibility and social aspirations create tension within her family dynamics. The opening scenes set the stage for John's complex relationship with his cash hoard and reveal the precarious position of Bessie, hinting at her desperation and the potential for conflict over money. John’s return to the village after a lengthy absence is laden with unspoken expectations, while Bessie’s subsequent actions threaten to disrupt the bonds of trust among them. This introductory portion lays the groundwork for exploring the moral struggles of the characters and the impact of their choices on their lives and community. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 82.1 (6th grade). Easy to read. en Fiction PR Text Category: Novels Category: British Literature 173879 2025-10-05T13:36:02.660248 text/html 173876 173737 2024-11-05T16:12:52.175159 2023-10-06T04:23:22.229836 text/html text/html 137520 2025-10-05T13:36:08.137225 application/epub+zip 139225 2025-10-05T13:36:05.189228 application/epub+zip 122437 2025-10-05T13:36:04.156187 application/epub+zip 254474 2025-10-05T13:36:10.349197 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 240194 2025-10-05T13:36:07.534186 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 205013 2022-09-06T19:10:06.066906 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 152384 2025-10-05T13:36:02.394238 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 132541 2024-10-28T19:14:32 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 16928 2025-10-05T13:36:10.479165 application/rdf+xml 11841 2025-10-05T13:36:04.640193 image/jpeg 3001 2025-10-05T13:36:04.396206 image/jpeg 135488 2025-10-05T13:36:02.674230 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia