Category: Free Reads

Novels and short stories you can read for free, written by Isabella Alden and other authors of her time.

New Free Read: “Deacon Bates’ Wife”

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Marcia Livingston, Isabella’s sister, was a widely published author whose work appeared in magazines and newspapers across the country. While she often wrote stories for young children, her stories about the trials and joys of marriage are true to life, charming, and inspiring.

Marcia’s story “Deacon Bates’ Wife” is about appreciating the ones we love, recognizing their burdens, and taking the time to look at them with fresh eyes.

When “Deacon Bates’ Wife” was published in newspapers in 1892 it was very well received. One New York newspaper editor added this thoughtful introduction:

“The following story … conveys an admirable lesson. We commend it to the considerate attention of all “good men” who have “over-worked wives.”

Deacon Daniel Bates takes great pride in his thrifty, hard-working wife, Cynthy, unaware that decades of unceasing labor have taken a toll on her spirit. It takes a keen-eyed summer guest and a dose of plain speaking to open the deacon’s eyes before it’s too late.

YOU CAN READ “DEACON BATES’ WIFE” FOR FREE!

Choose the reading option you like best:

Read on your device: You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device. Click here to download your preferred format from BookFunnel.com.

Print & Share: Select BookFunnel’s “email” option to receive an email with a PDF version you can read, print, and share with friends.

Mr. Moody’s Bible Class: Lesson 12 – Our Heavenly Home

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Twelve months ago, we began this Bible study with D.L. Moody’s teaching on sin. Today, we close it with his teaching on Heaven. They are fitting bookends; the problem that started this series finds its ultimate resolution in the home Christ has prepared for those who love Him.

In this final lesson, Mr. Moody reminds us that the world “is not our home; this is only our training place.” Then, he gives us a vision of the heavenly home that awaits us, which far surpasses every earthly treasure.

READ LESSON TWELVE FOR FREE!

Click here to download a large-print PDF version you can print or share with friends. If you missed Lessons One through Eleven, you’ll find them by clicking here or on the Free Reads tab above.

New Free Read: “The Bureau of Destiny”

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

In the early 1910s, Americans were experiencing a world in turmoil. With major events like the start of World War I and the sinking of the Titanic, many people found themselves looking for reassurance, order, and a sense of control over their futures. One surprising place they turned to—The stars.

During this time, a massive craze for astrology, palmistry, and fortune-telling swept the country. Newspapers filled their classified pages with advertisements from self-proclaimed astrologers, clairvoyants, and palm readers promising to map out business  prospects, cure health troubles, and—most popular of all—arrange perfect marriages.

A newspaper column from the classified ads page under the heading "CLAIRVOYANTS" listing several businesses. CLAIRVOYANT Palmist and Card Reader. Queen Olamphey. Phone Cedar 852. No. 2 Crown Street. MADAM LILLIS, Daughter of Queen Alice. Hours, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. No clients received on Sunday. 432 Pleasant Street, Cor. of Bellevue St. Phone Cedar 1911-W. LORNA LEE. Scientific palmist and medium. Her parlors are filled daily with people who go away pleased and satisfied. Come and see for yourself. LOW FEE this week: 50c, 41. No. 168 Pleasant St. Closed on Sunday.
from the Telegram and Gazette (Worcester, Massachusetts) September 6, 1914.

Raymond Macdonald Alden—Isabella’s son—recognized the growing trend. Raymond was an acclaimed scholar and author in his own right. He held a doctorate, served as chair of the English department at Stanford University, and was a noted expert on Shakespeare and classic literature who frequently delivered popular lectures.

Newspaper advertisement block. Headline: "MODERN DRAMATISTS AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS" (Ibsen, Galsworthy Hauptman, Brieux) Dr. Raymond McDonald Alden of Leland Stanford University. Lecture at Professional Woman's Building, 210 East Grace, Friday Evening, 8:15 o'clock. ADMISSION $1.00. For Benefit of Bureau of Vocations.
from the Richmond Times Dispatch, May 1, 1919.

Raymond was also an award-winning short story writer. He watched the growing obsession with astrology and palmistry with a sharp, humorous eye. In 1914, he confronted the trend the best way he knew how: through a light-hearted romantic story that poked fun at the craze. His story playfully shows how common sense, honesty, and real human connections make a far more reliable foundation for love than any horoscope ever could.

When a skeptical young man stumbles into a Los Angeles “Bureau of Destiny” to cure his heartache, he has little hope for a happy future. But as the bureau’s clever secretary takes his romantic fate into her own hands, he soon learns that destiny works in mysterious and delightfully unexpected ways.

YOU CAN READ “THE BUREAU OF DESTINY” FOR FREE!

Choose the reading option you like best:

You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device. Just click here to download your preferred format from BookFunnel.com

Or you can select BookFunnel’s “email” option to receive an email with a PDF version you can read, print, and share with friends.

Mr. Moody’s Bible Class: Lesson 11 – The Holy Spirit

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

As a minister’s wife for over four decades, Isabella Alden knew firsthand what D.L. Moody describes in this month’s Bible class: how quickly a congregation’s criticism can wear down a pastor’s spirit, and how “the Holy Spirit will not work in an atmosphere of criticism.”

Black and white photo of a woman in 1880. Her long hair is parted in the middle and braided into a coiled bun at the back of her head. She wears a high-collared dress with a white blouse underneath with rows of lace that cascade down the front of her gown.

In Lesson 11, Mr. Moody introduces us to both the Person and work of the Holy Spirit — His conviction of sin, His gift of hope, His call to love the unlovely, and His power to bring true liberty to a captive soul.

Black and white photo of D.L. Moody. His white hair is cut close to his head, as is his white beard and mustache. He wears the black suite and white collar of a cleric.

This is a lesson for anyone who wants to better understand the Holy Spirit’s work in daily life.

YOU CAN READ LESSON ELEVEN FOR FREE!

Click here to download a large-print PDF version you can print or share with friends. Then, join us again on September 29 for Lesson Twelve of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class.

If you missed Lessons One through Ten, you can find them by clicking here or on the Free Reads tab above.

New Free Read: “A Happy Summer”

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Today Marcia Macdonald Livingston is widely known as the mother of beloved Christian novelist Grace Livingston Hill and the older sister of Isabella “Pansy” Alden; but Marcia was actually a talented, well-published author in her own right. She wrote uplifting stories for readers of all ages, and this month’s free read is a wonderful example. Although “A Happy Summer” was written with children in mind, Marcia’s warm, engaging writing style makes this a meaningful and entertaining read for adults, too.

For sisters Jessie and May, life in a hot, cramped city attic makes the country feel like a distant dream. With their widowed mother working day and night to keep a roof over their heads, a summer filled with green fields and fresh air seems impossible. But when an unexpected act of kindness opens the door to a new life in the quiet village of Woodbury, the Wilson family discovers the joy of answered prayers and the simple beauty of nature.

Originally published in an 1883 issue of The Pansy magazine, this special edition of “A Happy Summer” includes the original artwork published with the story, so you can read it in the same way Victorian children first enjoyed it!

YOU CAN READ “A HAPPY SUMMER” FOR FREE!

Choose the reading option you like best:

You can read the story on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device. Just click here to download your preferred format from BookFunnel.com

Or you can select BookFunnel’s “email” option to receive an email with a PDF version you can read, print, and share with friends.

Mr. Moody’s Bible Class: Lesson 10 – The Resurrection of the Dead

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Dwight L. Moody was unlike any preacher of his era. Other celebrated evangelists of the nineteenth century (including his contemporary Charles Spurgeon) preached with scholarly precision and theological authority.

Mr. Moody took a different approach. He talked to his audiences the way a trusted friend might talk across a kitchen table — warmly, personally, and without pretense. It was a style he probably carried with him from his early days as a shoe salesman in Boston, where he learned that persuasion begins with a human connection, not an argument.

His simple, conversational style is evident throughout Lesson Ten of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class.

A headline banner printed in the original 1897 magazine. At the top "Mr. Moody's Bible Class" is printed in a large ornamental type font surrounded by a border of hearts and lilies. Below, in smaller type, "Conducted by Dwight L. Moody."

He doesn’t begin the lesson with a Scripture text or a theological declaration. Instead, he opens with a lovely description of the view from his study window at his home in Northfield, Massachusetts. He describes the Connecticut Valley stretching out before him and his view of the distant Vermont hills after an early mist has burned away. It’s a short and ordinary paragraph, and that is precisely his point. From that gentle opening he moves into one of the most profound doctrines of the Christian faith: the resurrection of the dead.

Color photo of a sprawling two-story home set amid mature green trees, surrounded by green lawns. The house is white with a dark green shingled roof and window shutters. A small covered porch marks the entry door. Covered verandas on the first and second stories offer shade.
Mr. Moody’s home in Northfield, Massachusetts in 1904.

Half way through the lesson, Mr. Moody shares more about his personal life and admits that when he was a child he was terrified of death. He describes how he would pause whatever he was doing and anxiously count the strokes of the church funeral bell (one toll for each year of the deceased’s life) and feel a cold dread whenever the count was low. It’s a tender and relatable confession of fear from a man who regularly preached to millions of people.

That is what makes this lesson so powerful and so relevant for readers today. Mr. Moody doesn’t lecture us about the Resurrection from a safe theological distance. Instead, he tells us what it cost him personally to believe it — and what it gave him in return.

YOU CAN READ LESSON TEN FOR FREE!

Click here to download a large-print PDF version you can print or share with friends. Then, join us again on August 25 for Lesson Eleven of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class.

If you missed Lessons One through Nine, you can find them by clicking here or on the Free Reads tab above.

New Free Read: “It Might Have Been”

Published on by Isabella Alden2 Comments

Our July free read is a short story by an author who may be new to you. Margaret Marshall Saunders was a Canadian writer of children’s stories and a passionate advocate for animal welfare. She was thirty-two years old and just starting her writing career in earnest when her novel Beautiful Joe was published in 1893 under her pen name “Marshall Saunders.” The book quickly became a worldwide bestseller and made history as the first book by a Canadian author to sell over a million copies.

Book cover for the 1893 version of Beautiful Joe features a red cloth cover with a black illustration of a dog laying on the ground.

Margaret Saunders was a talented writer, and when she submitted her short story “It Might Have Been” to Isabella Alden for publication in The Pansy magazine, the story must have touched Isabella’s heart.

Margaret Marshall Saunders with her dog, Billie Sunday.

Like the character of Ella Crouse in the story, Isabella had a temper! Throughout her life Isabella candidly shared times when her quick flare-ups and uncontrolled anger often got the best of her, leading to situations she later regretted. It’s easy to see how she identified with Margaret Saunders’ beautifully written story. She undoubtedly knew that this tale of regret and sisterly love would resonate deeply with her readers.

Published in the June 1895 issue of The Pansy, “It Might Have Been” by Margaret Marshall Saunders is a lovely short story that reminds us that building character is a slow process—earned through daily patience, forgiveness, and love.

Book cover showing two teen-aged girls in a Victorian-era parlor. Standing back to back, their arms crossed, they glare are each other over their shoulders. Before them, a pair of gloves lies on a small table.

Ella and her sister, Jessie, are opposites in every way. While Jessie is calm and fragile, Ella possesses a fierce, volatile temper that she struggles to master. One chaotic morning, a minor misunderstanding over a pair of gloves escalates into a passionate argument that Ella regrets. But when an unexpected crisis strikes the family later that day, Ella is forced to confront the terrifying reality of what might have been if she never got the chance to say “I’m sorry.”

YOU CAN READ “IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN” FOR FREE!

Click here to download “It Might Have Been” from BookFunnel.com, then read it on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device.

Or you can select BookFunnel’s “email” option to receive an email with a PDF version you can read, print, and share with friends.

WANT TO READ MORE ABOUT ISABELLA’S OWN STRUGGLE TO CONQUER HER TEMPER?

Explore these posts from the blog archive:

Joy Go With You

BFFs at Oneida Seminary

Locust Shade … and a New Free Read!

Isabella’s Mystery Illness

Mr. Moody’s Bible Class: Lesson 9 – The Greatest Virtue: Love

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

Dwight L. Moody was one of the most beloved evangelists of the nineteenth century, who preached to millions on both sides of the Atlantic. For Isabella Alden, Mr. Moody was more than a famous name; he was part of her world.

Dwight Lyman Moody (portrait by Edward Clifford)

The connection ran deep in her family. Isabella’s uncle, Horatio Spafford, was a close personal friend of Mr. Moody’s, a supporter of his evangelistic campaigns, and a fellow laborer in Chicago’s Christian community. It was a personal letter from Moody (then preaching in Europe) that invited Horatio and his family to join him in England in 1873, a voyage that ended in tragedy and gave the world the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul.” Mr. Moody himself traveled to be with the grieving Spaffords in the aftermath of that loss. (You can read more about that here.)

Closer to home, Mr. Moody was a contributor to Isabella’s own work. In 1897 — the same year he was writing these monthly Bible lessons for a popular women’s magazine — he contributed a piece on prayer meetings to a Christian magazine Isabella edited, a collaboration that speaks to the mutual respect and shared mission between them.

What makes lesson nine of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class so interesting is that its central message was one Isabella had been sharing for decades in her stories and novels. Mr. Moody teaches that love is not a feeling reserved for the lovable — it is the very essence of God, extended unconditionally to the unworthy, and expressed in small acts of grace that leave impressions that last a lifetime.

If you have read any of Isabella’s novels, you’ll recognize that theme immediately. Her stories are populated with difficult people — the prickly neighbor, the harried, impatient mother, the unlovable child, the proud and self-righteous churchgoer — and her heroes and heroines choose to love them anyway, to speak a kind word, and to see the person beneath the surface. Isabella was writing fiction; Mr. Moody was preaching theology; but they were both saying the same thing.

In his ninth Bible class, Mr. Moody explains how God’s love differs from man’s love, and he shares the ultimate way in which we can show our love for God in return.

YOU CAN READ LESSON NINE FOR FREE!

Click here to download a large-print PDF version you can print or share with friends. Then, join us again on July 28 for Lesson Ten of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class.

If you missed Lessons One through Eight, you can find them by clicking here or on the Free Reads tab above.

New Free Read: “Two Ways of Seeing”

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

This month’s free read is a short story Isabella wrote for an 1876 issue of The Pansy magazine about Janie Smith, a miller’s daughter who can’t help comparing her own plain life with another girl’s seemingly charmed one.

Book cover showing a young girl standing outside in front of a busy railroad station. Her chestnut hair is worn in two braids. Her simple dress is calico and in her hands she carries a large basket with a neatly folded napkin on top.

Janie Smith has never ridden the stage coach, never seen the city, and never owned anything half so fine as the traveling costume Miss Josephine Jennings wears. Watching the elegant young heiress board the train one morning, Janie can’t help but feel the world has been very unfair. But the express-man’s quiet words — “Poor little thing!” — are about to change everything Janie thinks she knows about fairness and God’s blessings.

You can read “Two Ways of Seeing” for Free!

Click here to download “Two Ways of Seeing” from BookFunnel.com, then read it on your computer, phone, tablet, Kindle, or other electronic reading device.

Or you can select BookFunnel’s “email” option to receive an email with a PDF version you can read, print, and share with friends.

Mr. Moody’s Bible Class: Lesson 8 – The Christian’s Hope

Published on by Isabella AldenLeave a comment

What does it really mean for Christians to hope? D.L. Moody — Isabella’s friend and one of the most beloved evangelists of the nineteenth century — taught that biblical hope isn’t just optimism and positive thinking. It is the soul’s confident anchor in the promises of God.

Mr. D.L. Moody in 1897.

In his eighth Bible class, Mr. Moody explores the difference between false hope and the Christian’s true hope—and why the difference matters today more than ever.

You can read Lesson Eight for free!

Click here to download a large-print PDF version you can print or share with friends. Then, join us again on June 30 for Lesson Nine of Mr. Moody’s Bible Class.

If you missed Lessons One through Seven, you can find them by clicking here or on the Free Reads tab above.