Falkner
Falkner tells the story of a woman's upbringing under the tyrannical figure of her father. As a six-year-old orphan, Elizabeth Raby prevents Rupert Falkner from committing suicide; Falkner later adopts her and begins working to make her a model of virtue.
"The opening scene of this tale took place in a little village on the southern coast of Cornwall. Treby (by that name we choose to designate a spot whose true one, for several reasons, will not be given) was, indeed, rather a hamlet than a village; although, being at the seaside, there were two or three houses which, by dint of green paint and chints curtains, pretended to give the accommodation of "Apartments Furnished" to the few bathers who, having heard of its cheapness, seclusion, and beauty, now and then resorted thither from the neighbouring towns."
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Public domain (US)·No sign-up·DRM-free·Real text, not scans
Copyright note. Falkner by Mary Shelley is believed to be in the public domain in the United States only. It may still be copyrighted in other countries. If you are not in the United States, please check your local laws to ensure this eBook is in the public domain in your country before downloading Falkner in PDF or EPUB.
- Pages
- 352
- Reading time
- 12 hours 42 minutes
- Pace
- Intermediate
- First published
- 1837
- Language
- English
- Downloads
- 2,204
189 years later, still timely
Why Read Falkner in 2026?
Mary Shelley leaves monsters for moral courage. In this intimate novel, adoption, loyalty, and justice collide as secrets test what love owes to truth. It is a study of consent, reputation, and the quiet bravery of choosing right when law and custom point elsewhere.
Today's connection
Timely for conversations about found family and restorative ethics. Shelley interrogates guardianship, accountability, and female agency without turning sermonizing. Think of it as a courtroom of conscience, where mercy and responsibility argue case by case.
Love with spine
Affection guided by ethics.
Justice at home
Private choices with public cost.
Secrets and sight
What truth asks us to risk.
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About the author
Mary Shelley
A pioneering imagination about creation, care, and responsibility in the age of making life.
If this one stays with you…
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From Falkner
Consumption, in all countries except our own, is considered a contagious disorder, and it too often proves such here.
Mrs. Baker felt some complacency on reading this letter; with the common English respect for wealth and rank, she was glad to find that her humble roof had sheltered a man who was the son.
Brave to rashness as Falkner was, yet there was much in what he had just heard that made him recoil, and almost tremble.
This part of Cornwall shares much of the peculiar and exquisite beauty which every Englishman knows adorns "the sweet shire of Devon."
It contained a sad, but too common story of the hard-heartedness of the wealthy, and the misery endured by the children of the highborn.