A Daughter of the Land Paperback – March 26, 2009

Adam Bates and his wife have sixteen children; seven boys and nine girls. When his sons turn twenty-one, Mr. Bates buys them a farm. When his daughters grow up, they are given nothing except the right to leave the terrible atmosphere they grew up in to teach school.Kate, the youngest, is not allowed to leave at all. She must stay at home doing farm-work until she marries … if she can. But Kate rebels and finds another way to go to a school to train to be a teacher. Kate’s family casts her off and leaves her to make her own way in the world.A Daughter of The Land by Gene Stratton-Porter is a story taking place in a very real God-guided world. The characters are human and the situations are realistic.Essentially, it is the tale about the growth, physically and spiritually, of Katherine Eleanor Bates.I’d highly recommend this book for anyone, but it could be especially helpful if you were going through hard times. It teaches you that, no matter what low place you are in, there is always a way out; there is always a happy ending.My favorite thing about A Daughter of the Land:The characters, the characters, the characters! Every single one of them is truly human and perfectly developed. I especially liked Kate; stubborn as a mule and determined that no matter how hard it is, she will make her life into what she wants it to be.My least favorite thing about A Daughter of The Land:Sometimes it could be a bit confusing. Sometimes it seemed a bit melodramatic.Kellyn Roth, @reveriesreviews.wordpress.com

This story takes place beginning in the late 1880's in Indiana farm country. It is the story of hard work and sacrifice. It is also the story of the lot of women at the time. There are plain women, bold women, needy women, and conniving women. Some are completely subservient to their husbands, some are their husband's boss. Our heroine speaks her mind and gets her own way, but at great cost. It is a well done story that feels realistic and never trite. I highly recommend this book. I think that I shall read it again and read other books by this author.

This book tells the story of Kate Bates, a young woman with hopes and dreams that she must strike out on her own to achieve. The youngest child of a very land rich family, she was expected to remain in the family home and, essentially, be the maid, cook, and farm worker while her siblings were allowed land if they were male and good marriages if they were female. Kate wanted more for herself and was inspired by part of a sermon that she heard while walking past the local church. From hearing those words, Kate set out to achieve her long term goals to teach school and to own her own land. She faced steep odds. Her father was enraged that she would not yield to his demands and put her out of the family home. She was forced to make her own way.This is not a book that I would have picked up from a bookstore shelf, I found it on a book reader, but once I started to read it, I was hooked on the tale. I would probably suggest this book to young women as a book of inspiration. If you want something badly enough you might be like Kate and dedicate your life to achieving your goals.

I have read and reread 'A Girl of the Limberlost' at least once a year for over 50 years. I love it. I also am a fan of 'Freckles.' This book I will never read again. The story starts out well. The heroine is a young girl determined to complete her education and become a teacher. To do this, she must defy her tyrant of a father. I was so into this story that I skipped an appointment with friends and kept reading. The story just kept getting better and better, and then...... *********SPOILER ALERT******* A rich, successful businessman falls in love with this young teacher and takes her to Chicago and shows her all the wealth in his home. She knows that he is going to ask her to marry him and is planning to say "yes" until she receives a letter from him. The penmanship is terrible and his spelling and grammar are awful. (He is a self-made man who could not attend school because he had to take care of his widowed mother.) She is so appalled that she immediately runs to another man that she cares nothing about and marries him. What??? From this point on, I really did not like this heroine. She has twins but scarcely pays attention to one of them because she looks like her detested mother-in-law. After she becomes a widow, she once again meets up with the rich man from Chicago who says that he still loves her (and has spent years studying and can now SPELL), but once again selfish as she is, she decides that she would not marry him unless he gives up his business and buys her a farm! There are many more of these little gems in this book. All of her trials and tribulations (and there are many!) do not make me like her. In fact, she is one of my least favorite heroines EVER!*************END SPOILER*********

"A Daughter of the Land" is a book I read because my mother, down from my grandmother, passed this book on to me. I received it way back in my teenage years and I read it then. I found it harsh and depressing...the story of the 12th child, a daughter, who was expected to slave at home for her family while the other children received many comforts and wealth from their austere, but abundant farming family. Yuk.I picked it up again when I was about thirty and re-read it, thinking maybe I had misjudged it. No, it was Yuk.At a conference in 2006 the author of this book (Gene Stratton-Porter) was highly recommended for other works, which I then read... and ...LOVED. Her books now inspire my high recommendations and comments. Soo...I gave "A Daughter of the Land" another chance. It was humbling to realize that the book wasn't at fault before, it was me who hadn't yet grown up enough. Suffering was indeed still a theme, but so was hope and humbleness and loving in spite of disappointment. It was about forethought and wisdom and about the consequences of following foolishness, but it was not preachy. "Daughter" is not like her other works. It has a humanity which is more pronounced, and yet the nobility seems the richer for it.

One of the best authors, sweet and not at all gooey. Just wonderful as the characters are interwoven in the story.

I thought that this had an interesting story and was gripped by all the different twists and turns. It wasveasybto rad and kept me interested throughout.

After reading 'Freckles' and "A Girl of the Limberlost' the expectation was this book would be similar.It isn't. While the above mentioned books do touch on the incredible obstacles which the protagonists faced, it was limited to their youth.The main character, Kate, seems to overcome one obstacle only to be met by another. Her efforts to improve her life are often overturned by the actions of those who should care for her welfare. It was an often harsh tale with Kate making bad decisions but then trying very hard to make it a positive result. A sad book, but in many ways uplifting.Recommended.

It was refreshing to read a story about a woman who felt herself so connected to her land that she refused a life of luxury. This book speaks of the unfair attitude of society regarding the worth of female vs male offspring, and one special girl's life journey. I found Kate's endurance amazing and wished I had some of her backbone. This was my 3rd book from this author, and I have not been disappointed as yet. I would recommend her books to anyone who wants to read a beautiful and touching story.

Enjoy all her books and gives an insight into that era.