Project Gutenberg 2006-11-28 Public domain in the USA. 468 Henry, Stuart Oliver 1860 1953 Villa Elsa A Story of German Family Life Produced by Jacqueline Jeremy and The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) "Villa Elsa" by Stuart Henry is a narrative exploring the themes of German family life, written in the early 20th century. The story centers around Gard Kirtley, a young American who travels to Germany to heal from his personal losses and experiences the stark contrast between his culture and the German way of life just before the outbreak of World War I. The narrative engages with societal and cultural insights that aim to shed light on the German character, offering a lens on the complexities inherent within it. The opening of "Villa Elsa" introduces readers to Gard Kirtley as he arrives in the lively atmosphere of Germany in 1913, a time marked by national pride and exuberance. As Kirtley settles into the household of the Bucher family in Dresden, he grapples with cultural differences, including their boisterous dining customs and rigid societal structures. The dynamics within the Bucher family reflect a blend of affection and authoritarianism, which captivates Gard's attention as he witnesses the complexities of their interactions, particularly with the enigmatic Fräulein Elsa. As he navigates his initial experiences—marked by foreignness and personal juxtaposition against the vibrant yet oppressive backdrop of pre-war Germany—he begins to question the underlying motivations of German life and their attitudes towards each other and to outsiders. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 73.4 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Americans -- Germany -- Fiction PS Text Germany Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Travel & Geography Browsing: Fiction Category: Novels Category: German Literature 435598 2025-06-08T12:23:50.337359 text/html 442315 2006-11-28T04:03:00 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 189647 2006-11-28T04:03:02 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 279509 2025-06-08T12:23:59.676818 application/epub+zip 283281 2025-06-08T12:23:52.824375 application/epub+zip 256829 2025-06-08T12:23:51.352401 application/epub+zip 499211 2025-06-08T12:24:05.137774 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 433465 2025-06-08T12:23:58.548876 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 380698 2022-09-09T12:02:26.219826 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 389143 2025-06-08T12:23:49.334427 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 388988 2006-11-28T04:03:00 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 156403 2006-11-28T04:03:00 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 389030 2006-11-28T04:03:00 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 156318 2006-11-28T04:03:00 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20712 2025-06-08T12:24:05.293784 application/rdf+xml 13325 2025-06-08T12:23:51.913362 image/jpeg 3571 2025-06-08T12:23:51.633382 image/jpeg 254519 2025-06-08T12:23:50.390356 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