The barbarous babes: Being the memoirs of Molly: Classic Book Guide and Free Edition
The barbarous babes: Being the memoirs of Molly: author and translator credits, catalogue synopsis, subjects and links to the Gutenberg reading formats.
The barbarous babes: Being the memoirs of Molly is catalogued by Project Gutenberg with author credits for Zangwill, Edith Ayrton (1874–1945).
Catalogue synopsis
Project Gutenberg supplies this automated synopsis of the opening text:
"The barbarous babes: Being the memoirs of Molly" by Edith Ayrton Zangwill is a children’s novel written in the early 20th century. Told in a lively first-person voice, it follows Molly and her siblings—Humphrey, Violet, and Teddy—through a string of misadventures born of fierce imaginations, pranks, and earnest but misguided attempts at virtue. Family life with their governess, visiting relatives, and an often-absent mother frames comic scrapes that turn into gentle moral lessons. The opening of this novel introduces a series of vivid episodes: Molly and Humphrey’s “torturing games” spiral into a mock martyrdom that nearly ends in disaster; jealousy of a visiting cousin’s curls leads Molly to cut them off in a Samson-and-Delilah prank; shy Violet, misreading a remark, bravely pays a formal call alone and causes social consternation; their mother must leave for her health, and Teddy tries to stow away before later being whipped for sweeping a chimney in play; Molly’s zeal to “missionary” her siblings culminates in an insulting bathroom placard that offends a visiting German musician until Humphrey mends matters; and, at last, the children’s chaotic home theatricals are rescued by their mother’s unexpected return, which steadies the household and brings the first performances off happily.
Book and edition facts
- Title: The barbarous babes: Being the memoirs of Molly
- Author credits: Zangwill, Edith Ayrton (1874–1945)
- Catalogue language: English
Catalogue subjects
- Children -- Juvenile fiction
- England -- Juvenile fiction
- Families -- Juvenile fiction
- Siblings -- Juvenile fiction
Gutenberg collections
- Category: British Literature
- Category: Children & Young Adult Reading
- Category: Humour
- Category: Novels
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View the complete Gutenberg catalogue record. Project Gutenberg identifies this edition as public domain in the United States; that designation does not establish its copyright status in every country.
Source notes
Catalogue metadata is public domain and is supplied through Gutendex, which imports Gutenberg's machine-readable catalogue. The automated synopsis is source-supplied, not an independently verified review. Author dates above describe the credited people; no ebook release date is presented as the book's original publication date.
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