The Harvester (1911) by Gene Stratton Porter is the story of a Thoreau-esque idealist and naturalist and his search for the love of his dreams, the Dream Girl. David Langston, the Harvester, lives in the woods and harvests medicinal herbs which he sells for a living. Suddenly he encounters Ruth Jameson, the real flesh-and-blood girl that had appeared to him only in his imagination. The Harvester woos her with all the impossible idealistic extremes of his heart, against all odds and with a selfless intensity.
An uplifting turn-of-the-century Indiana classic for all ages.