Ted and the Telephone

"Ted and the Telephone" by Sara Ware Bassett is a fictional work written in the early 20th century, specifically in the 1920s. The story centers around a young boy named Ted Turner, who lives in the mill town of Freeman's Falls, New Hampshire. The narrative unfolds around Ted's journey as he navigates childhood, family dynamics, and his deep desire for a more vibrant life beyond the confines of the cotton mills, ultimately exploring themes of friendship and innovation. The opening of the book introduces Ted Turner's struggles with his new life after moving from a rural Vermont farm to a factory town. Despite his family's circumstances that led them to Freeman's Falls, Ted yearns for the vast beauty of nature he experienced before and expresses a strong interest in science, particularly in electricity and telecommunications. As Ted begins working at the Fernald estate, he finds himself gradually becoming involved in the operations while also harboring dreams of building his own inventions. The narrative sets the stage for the relationships he will forge, particularly with the Fernald family, and hints at the humorous and heartfelt moments that will come with both his scientific pursuits and his budding friendship with Mr. Laurie Fernald, who struggles with his own challenges. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Sara Ware Bassett was an American writer of fiction and nonfiction. Her novels primarily deal with New England characters, and most of them are set in two fictional Cape Cod villages she created, Belleport and Wilton. Her first novel, Mrs. Christy's Bridge Party, was published in 1907. She subsequently wrote more than 40 additional novels, continuing to write and publish into the late 1950s. Many of her novels focus on love stories and humorously eccentric characters. A number of her works are available as free e-books. Two of her novels, The Taming of Zenas Henry (1915) and The Harbor Road (1919), were adapted as the motion pictures Captain Hurricane (1935) and Danger Ahead (1921).