Project Gutenberg 2014-10-30 Public domain in the USA. 193 Stephens, Ann S. (Ann Sophia) 1810 1886 Stephens, Ann Sophia Winterbotham Slick, Jonathan Sybil Chase; or, The Valley Ranche: A Tale of California Life Produced by Demian Katz and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (Images courtesy of the Digital Library@Villanova University (http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) "Sybil Chase; or, The Valley Ranche: A Tale of California Life" by Ann S. Stephens is a historical novel written in the mid-19th century. The story revolves around Sybil Yates, a woman trapped in a tumultuous life with her husband Philip, a gambler, in a lawless California valley. The narrative captures the challenges faced by settlers amidst the gold rush, highlighting themes of love, betrayal, and the struggle for freedom. At the start of the tale, the serene beauty of a California valley is described, contrasted with the chaotic lives of its inhabitants, particularly Sybil, who looks out over her surroundings with a heavy heart. She is drawn into turmoil when she spots a group approaching that includes a wounded man, Laurence, stirring emotions and painful memories. As she prepares to interact with the new arrivals, her inner turmoil becomes evident; she dreads the thought of being recognized and the potential consequences of her past intertwined with her current oppressive life. The opening sets the stage for a deeply emotional narrative driven by Sybil’s urgent desire for escape and her complex relationships with those around her. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 79.3 (7th grade). Fairly easy to read. en Women -- Fiction Frontier and pioneer life -- Fiction California -- Fiction Gambling -- Fiction Dime novels Wives -- Fiction PS Text Browsing: Culture/Civilization/Society Browsing: Literature Browsing: Fiction Category: Historical Novels Category: Novels Category: American Literature 283244 2025-06-19T05:49:56.967930 text/html 264430 2024-10-24T11:54:10 text/html 641185 2025-06-19T05:50:02.834381 application/epub+zip 640709 2025-06-19T05:49:57.840424 application/epub+zip 162652 2025-06-19T05:49:57.380376 application/epub+zip 745459 2025-06-19T05:50:06.901374 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 709570 2025-06-19T05:50:02.138360 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 237939 2022-09-21T12:45:21.655930 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 254952 2023-09-20T12:07:26.806362 text/plain 234974 2024-10-24T11:54:10 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 17063 2025-06-19T05:50:07.056330 application/rdf+xml 19938 2025-06-19T05:49:57.469388 image/jpeg 2999 2025-06-19T05:49:57.423892 image/jpeg 669501 2025-06-19T05:49:57.028386 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