The taming of Nan by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth
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"The taming of Nan" by Ethel Carnie Holdsworth is a novel written in the early 20th century. Set between an industrial Lancashire town and its surrounding farms, it centers on the volatile Nan Cherry, her long-suffering porter husband Bill, their impressionable daughter Polly, and the principled young farmer Adam Wild. The story explores domestic tyranny, working-class life, superstition, and the pull between town freedoms and country discipline as a family crisis forces
reckonings and choices. The opening of The taming of Nan plunges into a raw dawn scene where Nan’s relentless rage collides with Bill Cherry’s patient strength until a violent flare-up ends their bout and he leaves for work, only for Nan to “sweep him out” with salt and a whispered spell. Nearby, Adam Wild guards his prize wheat from trespassers; a moonlit prank brings Polly and her friends into his field, and after he breaks up their rough play, a humiliating scuffle ends with Adam vengefully kissing Polly before driving her off. That night Polly returns home late to a desolate kitchen and Granny Harker’s stern comfort, only to learn Bill has lost his legs in a rail accident, a shock that exposes the household’s fragility and Polly’s naive restlessness. The section closes as the Cherry clan organizes a bring-your-own feast to welcome Bill back from hospital, revealing a chorus of kin—pious, practical, and comic—poised around the stricken family. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
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About this eBook
| Author | Holdsworth, Ethel Carnie, 1886-1962 |
|---|---|
| LoC No. | 19019359 |
| Title | The taming of Nan |
| Original Publication | New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1919. |
| Credits | Emmanuel Ackerman, chenzw, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | PR: Language and Literatures: English literature |
| Subject | People with disabilities -- Fiction |
| Subject | Working class -- Fiction |
| Subject | England, Northern -- Fiction |
| Subject | Families -- Fiction |
| Subject | Spouses -- Fiction |
| Subject | Scolds -- Fiction |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 78408 |
| Release Date | Apr 10, 2026 |
| Last Update | Apr 11, 2026 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 489 downloads in the last 30 days. |
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