How long is it?
268 pages in the Cherokee Publishing Company 2007 paperback edition.
Fiction · Novel · Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction
The Able McLaughlins
Highly regardedPulitzer Prize for Novel (pre-1948), 1924Reading facts
✓ Checked- Reading effort
- 42 / 100Moderate
- Length
- 268 pagesCherokee Publishing Company · 2007
- Reading time
- 5 h 15 minat 50 pages an hour ·
- Pace
- Measured
- Emotional intensity
- 4 / 5
About 5 h 15 min · at 30 minutes a day, about 11 days
Estimated from the page count of this edition. Dense books can take longer than the estimate.
About the book
Wully McLaughlin returns from the Civil War to his family's Iowa farm and finds his sweetheart, Chirstie McNair, avoiding him. Learning that she is pregnant after a sexual assault, he marries her and accepts public blame for the pregnancy, keeping her secret even from his parents. Among Scottish immigrant families whose farming, churchgoing and close scrutiny bind the community together, the couple tries to establish a home while Chirstie's attacker remains a threat.
Reader notes
Household routines and neighborhood disputes occupy much of the narrative, punctuated by dry humor and Wully's private fears. The historical novel treats sexual assault and its aftermath seriously; marital intimacy is implied, without graphic description.
How it reads
- Writing style
- Descriptive · Direct
- Tone
- Earnest · Tense
- Structure
- Linear
- Driven by
- Character · Relationships
- Point of view
- Third person, omniscient
- Setting
- Iowa
Reading complexity
- Writing
- 3 / 5
- Ideas
- 3 / 5
- Structure
- 2 / 5
- Background knowledge
- 2 / 5
About this profile
Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).
- Writing
- How much attention the sentences and language require.
- Ideas
- How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
- Structure
- How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
- Background knowledge
- Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
- Emotional intensity
- Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.
Themes
- Community
- Family
- Love
- Marriage
- Religion and faith
- War
Content notes
- Violence
- Strong
- Sexual content
- Mild
- Swearing
- Mild
- Substance use
- Mild
- Abuse
- Mild
- Self-harm or suicide
- Mild
Standing and awards
Highly regarded
- Pulitzer Prize for Novel (pre-1948), 1924
Questions readers ask
Which edition is shown here?
Cherokee Publishing Company · 2007 · Paperback. ISBN 9780877972884.
How long does it take to read The Able McLaughlins?
About 5 hours 15 minutes at 50 pages an hour, based on the 268-page Cherokee Publishing Company edition. Dense books can take longer.
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Edition and details
- Publisher
- Cherokee Publishing Company
- Publication year
- 2007
- Format
- Paperback
- Pages
- 268
- ISBN
- 9780877972884
- Edition language
- English
- Original language
- English
- First published
- 1923
- Genres and form
- Fiction · Novel · Historical Fiction · Literary Fiction · Historical fiction · Social novel
- Editions
- 16
- Languages
- 2 (English, Unspecified)