Louisiana by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Name: Louisiana
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Olivia Ferrol, a New Yorker vacationing at Oakvale Springs, befriends Louisiana Rogers, a shy, ill-dressed young mountain girl who has arrived alone at the hotel and knows no one. Struck by her as an interesting "type," Olivia takes Louisiana under her wing, teaching her manners, lending her fine dresses, and educating her in literature and culture the girl has never encountered. Louisiana, whose father Elbert Rogers is a plain North Carolina farmer, proves an eager pupil and quickly begins to pass for sophisticated. When Olivia's brother Laurence Ferrol arrives, Olivia proposes an experiment: dress Louisiana elegantly and let Laurence believe she is a cultivated young woman of unknown origin, never mentioning her rural home or family. Louisiana agrees, and Laurence becomes fascinated by her as a "mysterious" and refined new type, growing steadily more attached to her, unaware of her true background. During an excursion, a sudden storm forces Laurence, Olivia, and Louisiana to take shelter at a farmhouse that turns out to be Louisiana's own home. In a panic, Louisiana asks her father to pretend not to know her, and he complies, playing along with the "joke." But at supper, when Laurence carelessly mentions the name of a character in a novel her father had described, Louisiana breaks down. She furiously confesses everything—the pretense was never about shame for her father, but fear of watching her sophisticated companions judge and laugh at him and their humble life. She sends Laurence and Olivia away, declaring that they will never meet again. Louisiana returns home ashamed of her own conduct, though not of her father. Elbert, unbeknownst to her, has overheard enough to believe she is genuinely ashamed of him. Without revealing this, he quietly resolves to "make her happy," having the old house completely and expensively remodeled in fashionable style, ordering her fine city clothes and dress goods, and even offering to send her to Europe with a senator's family. Louisiana, distressed by these changes and unable to feel at home in the transformed house, begs to stay with him rather than travel, while privately mourning the loss of the old, familiar home he is dismantling for her sake. On the evening the renovations are finished, father and daughter finally have a full reckoning by the fire. Louisiana confesses the whole truth of her shame and behavior at the farmhouse. Elbert, in turn, admits he had guessed her feelings all along and had undertaken the costly changes believing he was correcting the "injustice" of his own plainness—each had been suffering under a misunderstanding of the other's love. They reconcile completely, resolving never to misjudge each other again. That same night, Elbert falls ill with pneumonia. Neighbors and kin gather to nurse him, but he grows delirious, mistaking Louisiana for his late wife Ianthy, and dies within two weeks, his last words urging Louisiana not to "do anyone an injustice." Louisiana is grief-stricken and isolates herself, kept company by a hired housekeeper, Mrs. Nance, and visited by her cousin Jenny. She preserves the old parlor furnishings, locked away in a private room, as her only connection to her parents. Months later, Laurence Ferrol arrives at the farmhouse, having learned of Elbert's death, and proposes to Louisiana. Recalling her father's dying words not to be unjust, she accepts. The story closes a year later in New York, where Louisiana is now Laurence's admired wife, still regarded by his literary and artistic circle as a charming "new type," while she and Laurence continue to spend summers in North Carolina, keeping the one small room with her parents' old furnishings and pictures as private and untouched.

By Frances Hodgson Burnett · First published 1880 · Genre: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Social Commentary · 18 chapters · 39,921 words

First lines

Olivia Ferrol leaned back in her chair, her hands folded upon her lap. People passed and repassed her as they promenaded the long "gallery," as it was called; they passed in couples, in trios; they talked with unnecessary loudness, they laughed at their own and each other's jokes; they flirted, they sentimentalized, they criticised each other, but none of them showed any special interest in Olivia Ferrol, nor did Miss Ferrol, on her part, show much interest in them.

What this Textopian page supports

Louisiana is listed on Textopian as a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, dated 1880 CE.

This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.

Work type: Novel
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Date: 1880 CE
Language: English
Genres: Literary Fiction, Coming-of-Age, Social Commentary, Romance, Historical Fiction
Length: 39,921 words
Structure: 18 chapters, 1,011 paragraphs
Reading fit: Very Easy (5th Grade or below)

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Work identity for Louisiana by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
Readability and classroom-planning context
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Discussion starters

What should a reader notice first when entering Louisiana?
How does this novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett fit its genre, period, or classroom use?
Where does Literary Fiction first become important in the reading?

Similar titles

Genres

Literary Fiction — The book explores complex characters and their emotional landscapes, focusing on themes of identity, social class, and personal growth.
Coming-of-Age — The protagonist, Louisiana, navigates her transition from innocence to experience, highlighting her personal development and self-discovery.
Social Commentary — The narrative critiques social norms and class distinctions, particularly the interactions between Northern and Southern characters.
Romance — There are elements of budding relationships and emotional connections between characters, particularly between Olivia and Louisiana.