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Freckles  By  cover art

Freckles

By: Gene Stratton-Porter
Narrated by: Mary Starkey
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Publisher's summary

Freckles, a plucky young man, lands a job as a watchman for a lumber company that logs timber in a mysterious forest swamp called the Limberlost.
©1916 Gene Stratton Porter (P)1985 Books in Motion

What listeners say about Freckles

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

tear jerking, poor narration

My disappointment is that the narrator reads like a competent mother or teacher to her children. I would have preferred an actor to read this who could have honored Freckles great language and Irish brogue, voiced the Angel and the other characters.

The story was beautiful and well rounded--continuing through to the end of the tale where other authors would have dropped the reader. My only criticism is that I think Freckles should have been closer to 17-18 rather than 20. I understand his background intimidated him and made him more innocent than the average boy, but I felt his reactions to Angel were a little too naive.

Loved the book. Highly recommended!

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A Beautiful, Old Fashioned Tale

Written around 1904, this is a story of noble heart and good character during a time when love was pure and honor meant more than life.

Freckles is a young man with only one hand who had been raised in an orphanage with no idea of who his parents were. He had gone through life consumed with the thought that his mother had cut off his hand and then abandoned him. Hungry and lonesome, he comes into a lumber camp in the “Limberlost,” a section of prime woods in rural Indiana, and applies for the job of watchman. The owner hires him without even looking at his missing hand, and thus begins a tale of honor and true love and Freckles grows into a man.

Alone in the Limberlost, Freckles faces fears and dangers but refuses to quit as this is the only job he has and he desires to belong. Finally he discovers the beauty of the place and learns to love it and the creatures that live there. He is hired to protect the forest and does his best to do just that. In a clearing he creates a beautiful “garden” and one day takes his “Swamp Angel” to it. She falls in love with him but he refuses to allow himself to even consider it because he has no notion of his birth. She sets out to find out the truth.

This is a beautiful story but is written in old fashioned terms and manner. It is a classic in literature.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Doesn't get better!

Gene Stratton-Porter is our favorite with the kids to travel with. She makes for very peaceful trips! We just wish she would have written more books!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic story. Poor performance.

I have loved this book since I was a kid. I have nothing but praise for the story. The performance left much to be desired. Even when the text describes “lilting brogue” or “cried with anguish” each line is delivered in the same monotone way. The burly Scotsman’s lines were read just like the 16 year old girl’s. *But* if you can fill in the emotion in your own mind as you would when you were reading from the book, I cannot recommend this story highly enough. Or find a better performance of it.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Sorry/Poor Recording

This is a WONDERFUL, classic story! It’s beautiful, entertaining, unpredictable, and even educational. But the recording isn’t very good. The reader’s performance is so-so, but she doesn’t even attempt speaking in different voices, much less the various accents of the characters. The sound quality isn’t professional, and there are other voices and noises heard in the background, as if the narrator was recording at home with other people and maybe a TV playing in another room. It’s quiet but obvious and detracted from the lively story.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Heartwarming Classic

Definitely one to own for a lifetime and to pass down through the generations. A heartwarming book that teaches boys what "real men" are. Virtuous, lovely, adventurous and an amazing example of a true classic. We also purchased the hard copy!

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars
  • SP
  • 02-06-24

Terrible narration

I enjoyed the story. The narrator has a sweet voice but it sounded like there was a TV playing in the . There was no voice inflection so half the time I couldn’t tell which character was talking. And even though Freckles is a young man of 20, the narrator makes him sound like a child.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Time well spent!

Loved the story and it’s telling. I am Irish and it struck a chord in my 93 year old heart. Bravo to all the performers.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent Story

The story is wonderful, absolutely lovely. But the reader was only ok. It's not that she had a bad sounding voice. She couldn't do voices for the different characters, though, which took away from the fineness of the story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful story

Such a lovely story by a favorite author. It felt that the reader didn’t do the story justice.

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