What Might Have Been Expected (1898)

""What Might Have Been Expected"" is a novel written by Frank R. Stockton and published in 1898. The story is set in the fictional town of Slater'sville, where a group of wealthy citizens are trying to build a new library. However, they quickly realize that the only suitable location for the library is a piece of land owned by a poor farmer named John Gayther. The citizens offer to buy the land from Gayther, but he refuses, insisting that he wants to keep it for his family. As tensions rise between the wealthy citizens and the poor farmer, a series of unexpected events unfold. One of the citizens, a young woman named Miss Joanna, falls in love with Gayther's son, Tom, and tries to persuade him to sell the land. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger named Mr. Peterkin arrives in town and offers to buy the land from Gayther for a large sum of money. The novel explores themes of class conflict, love, and morality. It raises questions about the nature of wealth and power, and whether it is right for the wealthy to use their resources to take advantage of the poor. Ultimately, the characters must make difficult choices about what they value most in life and what they are willing to sacrifice for their beliefs.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.