The Lamplighter, one of the more popular books in the country when it was released in the mid-19th century, is an engaging story of a undisciplined and unloved girl who has her life transformed, by Providence, through the love of strangers, whose ties to her are greater than anyone initially suspects. It is well told and well written. It does start off slow, but moves fast after the girl -- Gertrude, or "Gerty" -- grows up. The last half of the book is, in particular, hard to put down. The "surprises" in the book are predictable, but the predictability is made up for in joy and the rewarding of goodness. It is primarily a story of the fruit of gratefulness, and secondarily a love story, though some may reverse the two. Second only in sales to Uncle Tom's Cabin during the nineteenth century, The Lamplighter is almost completely unknown today, its very popularity having been used to condemn it in literary critical circles. It tells the story of the development of a young, orphaned girl into a resilient, capable young woman who gets her man - her childhood compatriot - but does just fine on her own, thank you, until he returns at the end of the book from his quest to make his fortune overseas.