Freckles was discovered on the doorstep of a Chicago orphanage, badly beaten and missing a hand. He yearns for the fulfillment of useful work, and at Indiana's Limberlost Swamp, his grit and determination win him the difficult, dangerous job of guarding a valuable stand of timber. Faithful and brave in his daily tasks, Freckles comes to appreciate the beauty and majesty of the natural world amid the wetlands' sights, sounds, and silences.

As nature works miracles in the boy's lonely, starved heart, Freckles meets a kind and gentle girl who collects specimens for a wildlife photographer. Despite his growing love for his Swamp Angel, Freckles feels himself far below her station -- until the opportunity arises for him to prove his true worth.

2020 50 States-50 Books Reading Challenge: #14 - INDIANA

READING LEVEL: 6.3 AR POINTS: 13.0

This classic novel, originally published in 1904, is set in the Limberlost Swamp in eastern Indiana, a real swamp just north of Ceylon near the Wabash River.

I would consider this a very clean, feel-good Christian kind of love story written for young adults back in the day, but today's young adults would probably find this story utterly ridiculously too sweet and clean.

"Freckles", abandoned on the steps of an orphanage in Chicago as an infant with a damaged black arm and his hand cut off, was an Irish misfit who no one wanted because he only had the one good arm. Trying to find a place for him as he outgrows the orphanage, the organization throws him into an abusive family who traded his good clothes for their own son's rags and beat him. He stole away in the night and didn't stop until he reached the Limberlost, then a thick forest grove in Indiana where the owner, McLean, a Scotsman from Scotland, would see strength and integrity and hire him to watch over the seven miles of timber-line trails around the perimeter for timber thieves.

He overcame his fears and dangers of working in the Limberlost and began to see and care for the living creatures within. He cleared out an area and created a beautiful sanctuary with hundreds of flowers and plants transplanted from around the forest.

Here he would meet and fall in love with the beautiful "Swamp Angel" who was lost in the forest and came across Freckles in his sanctuary. Her and Bird Lady were out to study and capture rare birds and butterflies on film. Their love of the forest creatures was their bond. But, she was from rich blood and he an outcast orphan. When he nearly died from saving her life from a falling tree, she does profess her love to him and promises to find the truth about his family because no one so noble could be from a less than worthy family. And, of course, as it turns out he is from rich Irish blood and the story of his abandonment was not all what he had believed about himself for the past 20 years. ( )

Good story of a guy in the same area as A Girl of the Limberlost. Healing power of nature. ( )

Absolutely incredible ( )

I have read FRECKLES by Gene Stratton-Porter several times, years apart. Each time I am delighted to rediscover the delightfulness of the story. Freckles is an orphan who finds a home, family and self-value after being hired to be a watchman for a lumber company. His job is to walk the perimeter of the Limberlost swamp (which I had thought for the first several readings to be located in Pennsylvania, while it is, in reality, in Indiana.) He faces unique challenges because of his job and physical limitations, but through all proves he is capable.

The book is written in the style of the early 1900s, including innocence and hardships we do not often know today.

The character of the adult Freckles also appears in the book GIRL OF THE LIMBERLOST, also by Stratton-Porter. ( )