Chapter 17 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?" Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms. "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you. Edna's in there." Joan made a gesture of horror.
Chapter 17 of Joan Thursday: A Novel is here in full — 388 sentences across 78 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/77 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
plural of “bedroom” — a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading “Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.”
a line leading to a place or point
From this reading “Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.”
suddenly and rapidly
From this reading “Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"”
motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
From this reading “Joan made a gesture of horror.”
intense and profound fear
From this reading “Joan made a gesture of horror.”
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading “Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.”
the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb
From this reading “Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.”
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading “Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
later than; following
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
in the past
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
plural of “bedroom” — a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
a line leading to a place or point
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
impotence resulting from a man's inability to have or maintain an erection of his penis
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Edna's in there."
suddenly and rapidly
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
come upon, as if by accident; meet with
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
set up or found
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
motion of hands or body to emphasize or help to express a thought or feeling
From this reading Joan made a gesture of horror.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
intense and profound fear
From this reading Joan made a gesture of horror.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
past form of “jerk” — pull, or move with a sudden movement
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Joan made a gesture of horror.
and nothing more
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
informal terms for a mother
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Joan made a gesture of horror.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
happening unexpectedly
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
in or at that place or location
From this reading Edna's in there."
the thick short innermost digit of the forelimb
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Thursby jerked a thumb in the direction of the bedrooms.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
a mobile mass of muscular tissue covered with mucous membrane and located in the oral cavity
From this reading Suddenly, explosively, she found her tongue: "How's ma?"
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "She died an hour ago," he said slowly, "just after Ed went to find you.
Chapter 17 of Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance holds 388 sentences, grouped into 78 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 17 holds 388 sentences of Joan Thursday: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 78 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 388 sentences, grouped into 78 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 78 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 78 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 17 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading Joan Thursday: A Novel by Louis Joseph Vance on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6782 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36502 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36502, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 565 minutes of reading across 1357 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Joan Thursday: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of Joan Thursday: A Novel to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Joan Thursday: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
