On his
recovery
he
a lodger in the old house.
a lodger in the old house.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v30 - Guide to Systematic Readings
The character of Joe Gargery,
simple, tender, quaintly humorous, would
alone give imperishable value to the
book. Scarcely less well-drawn are Pip's
termagant sister, “Mrs. Joe ); the sweet
and wholesome village girl, Biddy, who
becomes Joe's second wife; Uncle Pum-
blechook, obsequious or insolent as the
person he addresses is rich or poor; Pip's
friend and chum in London, the dear
boy Herbert Pocket; the convict with
his wistful love of Pip; bright, imperious
Estella: these are of the immortals in
fiction.
Caxtons, The, by Edward Bulwer, Lord
Lytton. (The Caxtons) was not only
instantly popular in England, but 35,000
copies were sold in America within three
years after its publication in 1850. The
Caxtons are Austin Caxton, a scholar en-
gaged on a great work, «The History of
Human Error;' his wife Kitty, much his
junior; his brother Roland, the Captain,
who has served in the Napoleonic cam-
paigns; the two children of the latter,
Herbert and Blanche; and Austin's son,
Pisistratus, who tells the story. The quiet
country life of the family of Austin Cax-
ton interrupted by a visit to London.
There Pisistratus, who has had a good
school education, though he has not yet
entered the university, is offered the po-
sition of secretary to Mr. Trevanion, a
leader in Parliament. Lady Ellinor, Mr.
Trevanion's wife, was loved as a girl by
Roland and Austin Caxton; but she had
passed them both by to make a marriage
better suited to an ambitious woman. By
a freak of fate Pisistratus now falls in
by the Hon. Emily Lawless. (1892. )
(Grania' has awakened much interest as
the story of a little-understood section
of Ireland, the Arran Isles. The aim of
its author was to produce a picture true
in atmosphere and in detail to all the
characteristics of Irish life; an aim fully
achieved. Grania is first introduced as
a child of twelve, sailing in Galway Bay
with her father, Con O'Malley, in his
"hooker” or fishing smack. Grania, with
her dark skin and hair, show's the strain
of Spanish blood coming to her from her
mother, a Joice, from the Continent,
as the people of Arran call Ireland itself.
Six years later when Con is dead, Grania,
a handsome, high-spirited girl, takes sole
care of her invalid sister Honor. Hum-
ble though their two-roomed, square cabin
is, it is the most comfortable in the
neighborhood; and owning it and the bit
of land around it, Grania is the richest
girl of the place. She is industrious
and independent, gets in her own crops
of potatoes and oats, and fattens her
calves and pigs for the market. Mur-
dough Blake, handsome, vain, and a great
braggart, accepts Grania's affection as a
matter of course, almost feeling that he
is doing her a favor when he condescends
to borrow money from her. There is no
plot, and the incidents serve to show
the noble character of the girl. "Grania)
contains many glimpses of the folk-lore
and customs of the Irish peasants, and
the gloom and sordidness of their life
as it was thirty years ago is vividly pre-
sented. Besides the chief figures of the
story, there are several other interesting
types: Shan Daly, the vagabond, and
## p. 135 (#171) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
135
his neglected family; Peggy O'Dowd and in one of his letters.
In the compan-
other gossips; red-haired Teige O'Shaugh-ionship of the Hermit, and under his
nessey, who adores Grania; and Pete guidance, the adventurer explores Clover-
Durane and his father, with their old- nook, and discourses of it. He learns of
school manners.
the Kingdom of As-you-like, whither the
dwellers in Clovernook repair yearly;
Charles Auchester, a musical novel by
the Land of Turveytop, where men are
Elizabeth Sara Sheppard, an Eng-
lishwoman, was written when she was
purged of their worldliness; the Isle of
Jacks; Honey-Bee Bay; and at the pleas-
sixteen, and published a few years later,
ant inn called “Gratis ) he meets the
in 1853.
The manuscript was first sub-
mitted to Disraeli, who prophesied that
Twenty-Five Club and other gentle phi-
losophers, in whose tales and conversation
the book would become a classic. His
the realities of the crude world outside
enthusiasm may have been owing in part
are refined into the dreams of this realm
to the fact that the hero is of Jewish
of fancy. "Clovernook) charms by its
extraction, and that the author pays the
quiet humor, the grace of its fancies, and
highest tributes to the genius and glory
the benevolence which characterizes even
of the Hebrew race. The novel records
its satire. It is the work to which Mr.
the development of one Charles Auches-
Jerrold referred as, in certain parts, best
ter, who from earliest childhood has his
expressing himself as he wished the
very being in the world of harmony. His
world to understand him. It was writ-
story, told by himself, is a blending of
ten in the prime of his literary career, at
his outer and inner life in one beautiful
the age of forty years, while he was the
web of experience. He introduces him-
self as a child in an old English town,
leading contributor to Punch, with his
living a quiet sequestered life with his
position well established as one of the
mother and sister. Afterwards he goes
popular writers of the day. Appearing
to the Cæcilia School in Germany to carry
serially in that paper, The Chronicles
of Clovernook) was published separately
on his musical education. The guiding
star of his life there is Seraphael, a mar-
in 1846, and has since had its place in
the collected works of its author.
velous young genius, whose very presence
is an inspiration. By Seraphael is meant
Mendelssohn, whose career is followed Put
Yourself in His Place, by Charles
closely throughout. Jenny Lind is sup-
Reade (1870) is a dramatic novel
with a purpose. The scene is laid in
posed to be the original of another of
Auchester's friends, Clara Bennette, a
Hillsborough, an English manufacturing
famous singer. Many musical events are
city; and the story relates the struggles
described with remarkable fidelity to the
of Henry Little, workman and inventor,
spirit as well as to the letter of such oc-
against the jealousy and prejudice of
the trades-unions. Because he is a Lon-
currences. The entire book, fanciful and
doner, because he is better trained and
extravagant though it is in parts, is steeped
in an indescribable golden atmosphere
consequently better paid than the Hills-
borough men, because he invents quicker
of music, and of the spiritual exaltation
which musicians know. As the record
processes and labor-saving devices, he
is subjected to series of persecu-
of spiritual experiences whose source is
tions worthy of the Dark Ages, and is
harmonious sound, Charles Auchester)
ground between the two millstones of
is perhaps unique in the whole range of
Capital and Labor;- for if the workmen
fiction.
are ferocious and relentless, they have
Chro
hronicles of Clovernook, The, by learned their villainy from the masters
Douglas Jerrold. Clovernook is a and bettered the instruction. This stern
(hamlet wherein fancy has loitered away study of social problems, however, is no-
a truant hour,» «the work of some sprite where a tract, but always the story of
that in an idle and extravagant mood Henry Little, who is as devoted a lover
made it a choice country-seat. ” Into as he is honest a workman, as thorough
this land of fantasy the author rides in a social reformer as a clear, practical
the twilight; the sagacity of his ass, thinker, and the hero of as bitter a fight
whose name is Bottom, bringing him against prejudice, worldly ambition, and
through unknown paths to the house of unscrupulous rivalry outside the mills,
the Hermit of Bellyfulle — the very as that which he wages against «The
pope of Hermits," as Dickens styled him Trades. ) Among the notable figures in
a
>)
## p. 136 (#172) ############################################
136
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ness.
the book are Squire Raby, Henry's see Paul once more; Scrope travels night
uncle, a gentleman of the old school; and day to bring him, but arrives on
Jael Dence, the country girl, simple, Paul's wedding day, and returns alone
honest, and strong; Grotait, the gentle- to find Lenore dead.
manly president of the Saw-Grinders' The change that love brings in Lenore,
Union, with his suave manners and his the effect Paul has on her intense, pas-
nickname of «Old Smitem"; and Dr. sionate nature, and the clashing of his
Amboyne, philanthropist and peacemaker, will against hers, make interesting char-
who maintains that to get on with any. acter studies.
body you
must understand him, and
when you understand him you will get
,
Rutledge, a novel, by Miriam Coles
Harris, created a veritable sensation
on with him. His favorite motto is the
in its day, for its freshness and bright-
title of the book. Like all of Charles
A peculiarity of the story, sup-
Reade's stories, Put Yourself in His
posed to be told by the heroine, is that
Place) has a wealth of dramatic inci-
the author has achieved the awkward
dent, and moves with dash and vigor.
and uncalled-for feat of not once men-
tioning the young lady's name in the
Good-bye, Sweetheart, by Miss Rhoda
entire course of it. About the year 1854
Broughton, is a bright, amusing
she is brought from school to the house
contemporary love story in three parts,
of Arthur Rutledge, her guardian, for
- Morning,' Noon,' and Night,'— told
whom she conceives a secret admiration.
in the third person by the author, and
Some months later she goes to an aunt
in the first by Jemima Herrick, the hero-
in New York, enters society, and
ine's plain elder sister. In Part i. the
wrongly supposing Rutledge to be inter-
scene is laid in Brittany, where Jemima
ested in her cousin, allows herself to
and Lenore are leading a bohemian life.
become engaged to Victor Viennet, a
Lenore, who is young and beautiful, finds
brilliant youth of doubtful antecedents.
an admirer in Frederick West; but she
During a visit to Rutledge's country
prefers his friend Paul Le Mesurier. A
home, Victor is threatened with expos-
spoilt child, she is accustomed to have
ure by Dr. Hugh, who knows that he is
her own way; and now that she is in
bearing an assumed name; and, goaded
love for the first time, she determines
to desperation, he kills him. While hid-
to win Paul. He is an ugly man with a
den in Rutledge's house, by connivance
bad temper, eighteen years her senior,
of his betrothed, the murderer confesses
but the only person who can conquer her
that he is the nameless son of Rut-
willfulness. Against his better judgment
ledge's sister, led astray in her girlhood
he finally yields to her attractions, and
and long since dead. Then, in despair,
the day before he returns to England
he shoots himself in the secret room,
they become engaged.
once his mother's, and fast closed since
In Part ii. the scene is laid in Eng-
her fight in disgrace.
After a proper
land, where, after absence of six
interval, Rutledge and the young lady
months, Paul and Lenore come together
discover that they have loved each other
again in a country-house. He is jealous
from the first, and all ends happily.
of Charles Scrope, a handsome youth,
Those who enjoy plenty of mystery, and
who has followed Lenore to England;
do not object to unions between middle-
and at a ball where Paul exacts too
aged guardians and their youthful
much, the lovers quarrel, and Paul, mad
wards, will read this once highly popu-
with jealousy, leaves Lenore forever. In
lar tale with pleasure. Its author shows
her desperation she promises to marry
herself to be possessed of religious feel-
Scrope, but on the day of the wedding
ing, and has tried, not too obtrusively,
she finds that she cannot bring herself
to instill a salutary moral lesson.
to become his wife.
In Part iii. Lenore goes to Switzerland
Israel Mort, Overman, by John Saun-
with her sisters, to recover her health, ders, (1876,) is a strong plea for
meets Paul accidentally, is more in love English miners. The author strenuously
with him than ever, but learns that he desires the government to enforce better
is engaged to his cousin. From this sanitary conditions and precautionary
time she grows rapidly worse; Scrope
He traces the formation of
devotes himself to her comfort, but noth- carbon, and finds an intolerable contrast
ing can save her. Her last desire is to between the sunlit tropical forests of
an
measures.
## p. 137 (#173) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
137
ever
son
past ages, and the dark loathsome gal- | compelled by his dæmon as Socrates.
leries where men grope for coal in con- He throws away his chances, comes near
stant danger from explosion, suffocation, to shipwrecking his happiness, and ac-
or inundation, He pictures the life of cepts his unpleasant position as a matter
a mining village centring at the black
of course. Contrasted with roughness
mouth of the pit. An atmosphere of and noble intolerance, which are his most
dread hangs over everything. The moth- obtrusive characteristics, is the charming
ers grieve over their baby sons at the daintiness of the exquisite Esther Lyon,
thought of the fate awaiting them. The whom he loves, and who dreads above
boys disappear from school when very all things to be made ridiculous, till a
young. They put on miners' suits and sight grander than many women
fearfully accompany their fathers down see - a man absolutely honest with man
the pit to work, which makes them pre- and God - stirs the depths of her moral
maturely old. The other children see nature. The character of Harold Tran-
their grimy figures from time to time, some, the fine gentleman of the book,
and shudder. The miner cannot hope struck out by the same strong hand that
for great rewards; and his life crushes drew Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda, ' -
out joy and spontaneity. With a gifted a handsome, clever, frank, good-natured
and exceptional man like Israel Mort, egoist. The minor characters stand out
it spurs to a fierce resolution to extri- distinct and vivid. The covetous upstart,
cate himself, and he exemplifies how Jermyn; Esther's father, the rusty old
easily a spirit of cupidity makes light Puritan preacher; Mrs. Transome, well-
of human life. His fiercely determined born, high-bred, splendid in her sumptu-
figure dominates the book as he does ous, fading, anxious beauty, and carry-
his gentle wife and timid imaginative | ing her tragical secret in a hand that
David. For the latter he plans a scarcely trembles, but that may be made
brilliant future; but first he will have to drop the fragile thing by a rude
him serve apprenticeship in all stages of touch; the shadowy squire, her husband;
mining work, and thus expel his weak Mrs. Holt, the eulogist of the priceless
fears of the mine. But David escapes infallible pills; Denner, the butler's hard-
to a more natural life. The long-dreaded headed and faithful wife, the white-faced
catastrophe arrives at last, bringing human monkey, Job; the aristocratic
death and suffering, melting and regen- Debarrys; gipsy-eyed and irrepressible
erating Israel's hard nature, and Harry; the sporting and port-drinking
sulting in a new and better state of
parson, John Lingon, not half a bad fel-
things. The strong and gloomy tale low, with his doctrine, "If the mob can't
shows mining as hard and dangerous be turn back, a man of family must
work at best; and shows, too, the ad- try to head the mob,»— they all live and
visability of legal supervision.
move. «One group succeeds another,
and not a single figure appears in any
Felix Holt, the Radical, by George of them, though it be ever so far in the
Eliot (Mrs. Lewes). (1866. ) As a background, which is not perfectly drawn
picture of upper middle-class and indus-
and perfectly colored. ”
trial English life of the period of the
Reform Bill agitation, this book is unsur-
First Violin, The, a noteworthy mu-
passed. If the critics who set George sical novel by Jessie Fothergill (1877),
Eliot highest as a delineator of character describes the romantic experiences of an
find the story clogged with moralities, English girl, May Wedderburn, while
and hindered by its machinery, the crit- she is studying music in Germany. Al-
ics who value her most for her pictures though the plot is somewhat conven-
of life and nature rank Felix Holt' tional, a certain freshness or enthusiasm .
among her best achievements. It is in the composition of the book endows
bright in tone, it shows little of the it with vitality. The heroine leaves
underlying melancholy of George Eliot's home to avoid marriage with
a Sir
nature, and its humor is rich and per- Peter Le Marchant. She is enabled to
vading. Its hero, Felix Holt, is a young do this through an elderly neighbor,
workman whose capacity might attain Miss Hallam, whose sister has been
anything, if his overpowering conscience the first wife of Sir Peter, and has been
would let him conform to the ways of a cruelly treated by him. As Miss Hal-
comfort-loving world. But he is as much lam's companion, May goes to Elberthal
re-
## p. 138 (#174) ############################################
138
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
on the Rhine near Cologne, one of those and run away, taking refuge in the de-
little German towns given up to music. serted Dench house (the estate of Sir
On the journey thither, Miss Wedder- Charles Henry Frankland), where they
burn is separated by accident from her are found and returned to the village
traveling companions. A good-looking by Horace's uncle and Sam Lawson,
stranger comes to her assistance. He the village do-nothing, a quaint charac-
proves to be Eugen Courvoisier, first ter whose droll actions and sayings en-
violin in the orchestra, a
man about liven the whole book.
whom is the fascination of mystery. Tina is then adopted by Miss Mehit-
Taking offense at a supposed discourt- able Rossiter, daughter of the former
esy of the beautiful young English girl clergyman of the parish, while Harry is
whom he had protected, he refuses to under the patronage of Lady Lothrop.
recognize her. She, for her part, is al- On Easter Sunday, the children, with
ready in love with him. By the kind- Horace, are taken in her great coach, by
ness of Miss Hallam, she remains in Lady Lothrop, to Boston, where they
Elberthal to have her voice cultivated, attend service at King's Chapel, and
and her lessons in music and in love meet prominent people in the city.
go on until the happy ending of the They make the acquaintance of Ellery
story. Her love is put to the touch by Davenport, a former officer in the Con-
the supposed dishonor of Courvoisier, tinental army whose characteristics closely
but bears the test without failing. "The resemble those of Aaron Burr. He rec-
First Violin) abounds in dramatic de- ognizes the Percivals as belonging to
scriptions of musical life in a small an excellent family, and finally secures
Rhine city, and makes the reader pleas- a valuable English inheritance for the
antly at home in middle-class German children. Henry, after leaving college,
households, where he learns to respect, returns to England to manage his estate,
if he does not admire, middle-class Ger- and finally takes orders in the Church
man respectability and calm content. of England. Tina is married to Ellery
If the book has the sentimentality of Davenport; but immediately after the
youth, its romance is altogether innocent ceremony Emily Rossiter, whose myste-
and pleasing.
rious disappearance some years before
was a cause of intense grief to her fam-
Old Town Folks, by Harriet Beecher ily, returns from Europe, confronts El-
Stowe. This work was published lery, and tells how he allured her from
The scene is Old Town; the home to live with him out of wedlock.
time, a period just succeeding the Revo- Tina adopts Emily's daughter, and goes
lution. A description of Natick, the old abroad with her husband. After their
Indian Mission town, and its famous return to America, Ellery devotes him-
Parson Lothrop, — whose stately bear- self to public affairs, and is eventually
ing, whose sermons in Addisonian Eng- killed in a political duel. Two years
lish, and whose scholarly temperament, later, Horace Holyoke is united to his
marked him as a social and intellectual first love, Tina. The story chiefly lives
leader,– introduces the story.
in the character of Sam Lawson.
« Lady» Lothrop, the parson's wife,
at the time of her marriage stipulated Count Robert of Paris, by Sir Walter
that she should be permitted to attend
Scott The scene is laid in Con-
Episcopal services on Christmas, Easter, stantinople during the reign of Alex-
and other great days of the church. ius Comnenus (1080-1118). The hero
Horace Holyoke, nominally author of the is a French nobleman who with his wife,
book, is left an orphan when a
Brenhilda, has gone on the first Crusade
boy. He tells how the views of Cal- (1196-99). While dining at the palace they
vinists and Arminians, and great ques- are separated by the Emperor's treachery,
tions of freedom and slavery, were freely and the Count is thrown into prison, from
discussed at the village gatherings.
which he releases himself with the assist-
Henry and Tina Percival, English or- ance of the Varangian Hereward the
phans, were consigned respectively to Saxon. Brenhilda, in the mean while, is
old Crab Smith and to Miss Asphyxia exposed to the unwelcome attentions of
Smith, illustrations of the malign influ- the Emperor's son-in-law, Nicephorus Bri-
ence of a misplaced adherence to the ennius, whom she challenges to combat.
old theology. The children are ill-treated When the time for the duel comes, Count
in 1869.
(
mere
## p. 139 (#175) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
139
Robert appears himself; in the absence ! latter had disinherited the father of Con-
of Briennius Hereward engages him and ingsby for marrying an amiable girl of
is overcome, but his life is spared in return less exalted station than his own. Their
for his past services. While the interest orphan son is now entirely dependent on
is centred in the fortunes of the hero and
his grandfather. Lord Monmouth, though
Hereward, these are closely connected with showing little affection for the boy, is gen-
the conspiracy of the false philosopher erous to him. He sends him to Eton and
Agelastes, Briennius, and Achilles Tatius, to Cambridge, and has him often visit
the commander of the Varangian Guard, him at his town-house or his Castle. These
to dethrone the Emperor. The plot is visits bring the boy in contact with many
exposed by Hereward, who refuses all re- interesting persons, such as the fascinat-
wards, and joins Count Robert and Bren- ing Sidonia, in whom Disraeli paints his
hilda, in whose maid he has discovered his ideal Jew; the Princess Colonna, and her
old Saxon love Bertha. Other characters stepdaughter Lucretia, whom the Marquis
introduced are Anna Comnena, daughter marries; the Duke (who has been identi-
of Alexius and author of the Alexiad; fied as the Duke of Rutland), the sub-
the Patriarch of the Greek Church; Ursel, servient Rigby (in whom John Wilson
a former conspirator; Godfrey of Bouillon, Croker is supposed to be portrayed), and
and other leaders of the Crusade. Many a host of personages of high degree with
historical facts are altered for artistic ef- imposing titles.
There are
more than
fect. At the time of the story Anna was threescore characters in the book, and
only fourteen instead of over thirty, and part of its popularity came from people's
was not the heiress to the throne. The interest in identifying them with men
conspiracy anticipates her later attempt to and women prominent in English social
overthrow her brother John, and substitute and political life. Sidonia, the brilliant
her husband. The most striking scene is Jew, is said to be either Disraeli himself
the swearing allegiance by the Crusaders or Baron Alfred de Rothschild. Lucian
to the Emperor as overlord, in which Gay is Theodore Hook, and Oswald Mill-
Count Robert defiantly seats himself on bank is W. E. Gladstone. The Marquis
the throne with his dog at his feet. The of Monmouth is the Marquis of Hertford,
story was, with (Castle Dangerous,' the and Coningsby himself has been variously
last of the Waverley novels, having ap- regarded as a picture of Lord Littleton,
peared in 1831, the year before the au- Lord Lincoln, or George Smythe.
thor's death.
Some of the charm of Coningsby has
passed away with the waning interest in
Coningsby, by Benjamin Disraeli, Lord the political events which it describes.
Beaconsfield, published in 1844, when Its satire, however, is still keen, particu-
Disraeli was thirty-nine years old, was larly that directed against the Peers.
his sixth and most successful novel.
three months it had gone through three House of the Seven Gables, The, the
editions, and 50,000 copies had been sold
in England and the United States. It romances, follows the fortunes of a de.
was a novel with a purpose: the author cayed New England family, consisting of
himself explained that his aim was to four members, — Hephzibah Pyncheon,
elevate the tone of public life, to ascertain her brother Clifford, their cousin Judge
the true character of political parties, and Pyncheon, and another cousin, Phæbe, a
especially to vindicate the claims of the country girl.
At the time the story opens
Tories. Incidentally he wished to empha- Hephzibah is living in great poverty at
size the importance of the church in the the old homestead, the House of the
development of England, and he tried to Seven Gables. With her is Clifford, just
do some justice to the Jews. The story released from prison, where he had
opens in the spring of 1832, on the very served a term of thirty years for the
day of the resignation of Lord Grey's supposed murder of a rich uncle. Judge
ministry. This gives Disraeli a good op- Pyncheon, who was influential in obtain-
portunity for a dissertation on the politics ing the innocent Clifford's arrest, that
of the time, including the call of the Duke he might hide his own wrong-doing, now
of Wellington to the ministry. The seeks to confine him in an asylum on
hero, Coningsby, at this time a lad of ten, the charge of insanity. Hephzibah's piti-
is visiting his grandfather, the rich and ful efforts to shield this brother, to sup-
powerful Marquis of Monmouth. The port him and herself by keeping a cent-
In
## p. 140 (#176) ############################################
140
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
one
man
shop, to circumvent the machinations of her on board the yacht that is his home.
the judge, are described through the While cruising off the Skelligs, they res-
greater portion of the novel. The sud- cue a raft-load of perishing people, who
den death of the malevolent cousin frees have escaped from a burning vessel.
them and makes them possessors of his Dorothea nurses
whom she
wealth. A lighter episode of the story is considers a sailor, but who proves to be
the wooing of little Phæbe by Holgrave, Mr. Giles Brandon.
On his recovery he
a lodger in the old house. The House invites Dorothea and her brother to his
of the Seven Gables) has about it the home, where she meets Valentine, Mr.
same dreamy atmosphere that envelops Brandon's volatile young stepbrother.
Hawthorne's other novels. The usual He is very friendly to Dorothea, and
background of mystery is supplied in the makes love to her in jest, which finally
hereditary curse resting upon the Pyn- becomes earnest, though he makes no
cheon family. Hephzibah, the type of pretense at passion. As his health is
ineffectual, decayed aristocracy, the sen- delicate, he is going to settle in New
sitive feeble Clifford, the bright little Zealand, and begs Dorothea to marry
flower Phoebe, are prominent portraits him and accompany him. Being aban-
in the author's strange gallery of New doned by her uncle and brother, and
England types.
having no friends, the girl consents, but
on the wedding day Valentine does not
Europeans, The, an early, novel of
appear. He has fallen in love with
Henry James, describes the sojourn
another girl, and wishes to break the
of two Europeans, Felix Young and his
engagement with Dorothea, who is nat-
sister the Baroness Münster, with Ameri-
urally shocked, though fortunately her
can cousins near Boston. The dramatic
effects of the story are produced by the
heart is not deeply involved. Mr. Bran-
don shows her all sympathy, and soon
contrasts between the reserved Boston
explains that he has loved her from the
family, and the easy-going cosmopoli-
beginning, but has supposed that she
tans, with their complete ignorance of
cared for Valentine. She can hardly ac-
the New England temperament. To one
cept him at once when she has just been
of the cousins, Gertrude Wentworth, the
ready to marry another, but as her feel-
advent of Felix Young, with his foreign
nonchalance, is the hour of a great de-
ings subside she grows really to care for
him, and they are married in the end.
liverance from the insufferable boredom
of her suburban home. To marry Young, Egoist, The, by George Meredith, pub-
she rejects the husband her father has lished in 1879, is a fine illustration of
chosen for her, Mr. Brand, a Unitarian a complete novel without a plot. It is a
clergyman, who co oles himself with study of egotism. The egoist is Sir Wil-
her conscientious sister Charlotte. The loughby Patterne, of Patterne Hall, a con-
novel is written in the author's clean, summate young gentleman of fortune and
precise manner, and bears about it a rank, whose disposition and breeding make
wonderfully realistic atmosphere of a cer- him only too well aware of his perfections,
tain type of American home where plain and of his value in the matrimonial mar-
living and high thinking are in order. ket. He determines to choose his wife
The dreariness which may accompany prudently and deliberately, as befits the
this swept and garnished kind of life is selection of the rare creature worthy to
emphasized.
receive the gift of his incomparable self.
ff the Skelligs, by Jean Ingelow.
In describing the successive courtships by
which the egotism of the egoist is thrown
and has been much praised, though its
into high light, Meredith presents a most
rambling and disconnected style makes
natural group of fair women: the brilliant
Constantia Durham, Clara Middleton the
it very different from the intense and
analytic novel of to-day. There
“dainty rogue in porcelain,” and Lætitia
bright dialogues and good descriptions,
Dale with “romances on her eyelashes. »
the scenes at sea and in Chartres Cathe-
The curtain falls on the dreary deadness
dral being especially well done.
of Sir Willoughby's incurable self-satis-
faction.
Dorothea Graham loses her mother in
early childhood, and comes into the care Gran
randissimes, The, by George W.
of an eccentric old uncle, who keeps her
Cable. The Grandissimes, whose
in school for nine years, and then takes fortunes are here told, are
one of the
O,
are
## p. 141 (#177) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
141
leading families in Louisiana. The head line, and of her cousin Gabrielle, who
of the family is Honoré, a banker. He shares her home. The Comte de Sa-
has an older half-brother, a quadroon, of vigny, a young nobleman whose pride
the same name,
to whom the father in the untarnished record of his family
leaves the bulk of his property. For a is a distinguishing characteristic, and
long time there has been a feud between whose regard for truth is as pronounced
the Grandissimes and the De Grapions, as its absence is in Renée, asks and
heightened, eighteen years before, by the obtains her hand in marriage. Fearful
killing in a duel by Honoré's uncle, of losing him, she conceals the fact that
Agricola, of Nancanou, the husband of her uncle, who has been instrumental in
Aurora, the last of the De Grapions. bringing about the marriage, is living
The cause of the duel is a quarrel over under an assumed name and is a con-
a gambling debt, which involves the loss victed forger. Moved by the latter's
of Nancanou's whole estate. At the threats, she persuades her husband to
opening of the story, Aurora and her make him steward of his vast estates.
only daughter, Clotilde, are living in It is her life of duplicity, her anxieties,
carefully concealed poverty in New Or- fears, and the betrayal of her husband's
leans, in an apartment belonging to the faith, with which the story deals. The
elder Honoré. Joseph Frowenfeld is a truth is finally discovered, and a long
young German-American, who, without period of restraint, separations, and un-
his knowledge, has been nursed during kindness, ensues, ending at last in the
a fever by the Nancanous.
The story
serious illness of the young wife. The
develops the friendship of Honoré the reconciliation of Renée and the Comte
younger with Frowenfeld, their falling in is finally perfected in the rose garden,
love with mother and daughter, and the which gives the title to the story, - a
course of their wooing. Other characters bower of roses attached to the old châ-
prominently connected with the story are teau of Lestourde, the Comte's ancestral
the former domestic slave, Palmyre; Phi- home.
losophe; Dr. Keene, a friend of Frow- The story is delightfully told, in a
enfeld's; and Raoul Innerarity, the clerk perfectly natural style, and the charac-
of Frowenfeld and a typical young Cre- ters stand out in lifelike reality. Bits
ole. The final reconciliation of the hos- of local color, descriptions of the social
tile families and the marriage of the and family life of provincial France,
young people are brought about by the glimpses of Biarritz, Pau, Bayonne, and
intervention of the fiery old Agricola. other well-known places, are pleasing add-
The book is of special interest in show- itions to the central theme.
ing the attitude of the Creole population The story begins and ends with sun-
toward this country at the time of the shine; for as the author says, “Some
cession of the Louisiana Purchase to the lives are like sonatas: the saddest, slow-
United States. Its character-study is est part is in the middle. »
close, and the sub-tropical atmosphere of
place and people well indicated. It was
Heir
eir of Redclyffe, The, by Charlotte
Cable's first novel, being published in May Yonge, is a sad but interest-
1880.
ing love story, and gives a picture of the
home life of an English family in the
Rose
ose Garden, The, by Mary Frances country.
Peard, is a modern love-story, the Sir Guy Morville, the attractive young
of which is laid in Southern hero, leaves Redclyffe after the death of
France. Renée Dalbarade, young his grandfather, and becomes a member
French girl, who has been brought up of his guardian's large household. Many
by an indulgent mother, and given a incidents are related of his life there
superficial education in boarding- with Laura, Amy, and Charlotte, their
school, is the heroine. She has never lame brother Charles, and his own se-
been taught the value of sincerity; but, date, antagonistic cousin, Philip Morville.
inheriting the moral weaknesses of her At the end of three years he and Amy
mother, accepts the pleasing fabrications confess their love for each other; but as
of society as a necessity, and shuns truth he is still a youth, no engagement is
for its unpleasant aspect. She is, how- made, and at the advice of his guardian
ever, charming and lovable; the idol of he leaves Hollywell. Philip wrongly
her mother, of the quaint maid Jacque- | suspects Guy of gambling, and tells his
scene
a
а
## p. 142 (#178) ############################################
142
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
а
guardian his suspicions. Guy has paid able as possible in order to get her best
his uncle's gaming debts, and when called expression. Thus poor little Guenn, the
upon for an explanation he is too gen- belle of Plouvenec, learns to love him;
erous to clear his character at his un- and when he departs for Paris without
cle's expense.
He is banished from time for a farewell to her, she is heart-
Hollywell, and returns to Redclyffe at broken. The tragical end of the story
the end of the Oxford term. At Red- follows naturally. The charm of Guenn)
clyffe Guy bravely rescues some ship- is its strong local color. The very work-
wrecked men after a storm at sea, and ings of the Breton mind are shown in the
before long his reputation is restored superstitions of the people and their bond-
by his uncle. He returns to Hollywell, age to tradition. The artist friends of
finds that Amy has been true to him, Hamor are well painted, as are the various
and they are married. They go abroad village people, Mother Quaper, Mother
for their wedding journey; and after a Nives, Madame of the Voyageurs, Jeanne
few weeks of mutual happiness, they Ronan, and the fishermen, good and bad.
learn that Philip is sick with a fever in Among all the characters the most digni-
Italy. Guy overlooks past injustice, they fied, the noblest, is Thymert, «recteur
go to him, and Guy nurses him through des Lannions,” an ideal parish priest.
severe illness. He takes the fever
himself and dies shortly afterwards, leav: Guerndale, by F. J. Stimson (“J. S. of
ing Amy to mourn his loss for the rest Dale»). (Guerndale) is the story
of her life. The story ends with the of the life of Guyon Guerndale recounted
marriage of Philip and Laura, who had by his friend John Strang of Dale, au
long been secretly engaged; and as Guy's early playmate and sincere friend. Guy
child is a girl, Philip inherits Redclyffe. is a silent, dreamy boy, whose life from
The two characters which stand out the first is overshadowed by hereditary
in the book are Guy Morville, generous, ill-fortune, which has clung to the family
manly, bright, and of a lovable disposi- of Guerndale since their ancestor, Sir
tion; and Philip, stern, honorable, self- Guyon brought disgrace upon his house
esteeming, and unrelentingly prejudiced by murdering his companion, Philip Sim-
against Guy,- until Guy's unselfish no- mons, during a quarrel about a diamond
bility of conduct forces him to humble that had been dug up while they were
contrition.
delving for precious metal. John Sim-
(The Heir of Redclyffe) is the most mons, Philip's father, had accompanied
popular novel Miss Yonge has written. Sir Godfrey Guerndale, as his trusted
It was published in 1853.
servant, when that disappointed supporter
of the Stuarts sought refuge in the New
Guenn, A Wave of the Breton Coast, World, and gave his name to the country
by Blanche Willis Howard, 1883, was settlement in Massachusetts, which was
received as the best story of the author long known as Guerndale and then as
of (One Summer,' nor has she since writ- Dale. From the time that Sir Godfrey's
ten anything to surpass it. The scene is worthless son, Sir Guyon, committed his
laid in the ancient town Plouvenec, with crime, the fortunes of the Guerndales
its one irregular street of crowded houses waned; while the house of Simmons
and its old fortress. Guenn herself, though waxed rich and prosperous, and its de-
not seventeen, works with the fisher girls scendants spelled their name Symonds.
of the place, packing sardines at the usine. Young Guy Guerndale has for his evil
Plouvenec has its artist colony, and the genius another Philip Symonds, a gay,
girls add to their scant incomes by serving good-natured good-for-nothing, whom he
as models. Guenn, however, refuses to admires and idealizes, and who blights
pose to Everett Hamor, a young Ameri- his life by marrying Annie Bonnymort,
can, who has set his heart on painting the woman Guy is passionately in love
her graceful figure and her great masses with. Annie has been Guy's companion
of brown, shining hair. At last, won by and playmate from childhood, and his
his kindness to her deformed brother Nan- one aspiration has been to win her for
nic, and influenced by her father, Hervé his wife. He is rudely awakened from
Rodelle, who covets her earnings, she his dream by hearing of her engagement
consents to pose.
Hamor never makes to his friend Philip, who desires her
love to her, but he is a man of charming money. Guy leaves America, and spends
individuality, who makes himself as agree- several years at the universities abroad.
## p. 143 (#179) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
143
Choi
more
He meets Annie and realizes that she is changed since the days of his bachelor-
unhappy, while she for the first time hood. Instead of speculating on the soul-
understands by intuition his unconfessed ful subjects which agitated his mental
love for her. Guy and his devoted friend, faculties at that time, he finds himself
Norton Randolph, join in the Turko-Rus- hopelessly entangled with the butcher,
sian war; and Guy, after displaying great the baker, the candlestick-maker, the
valor, is severely wounded in the second school-teacher, and the clergyman, and
assault of Plevna. While convalescent, is particularly interested in the size of
news reaches him of the death of Annie; his quarterly bill for boots and shoes.
and he succumbs to the shock and ex- The experiences of the couple when they
pires soon after, having made one final are first married and go to housekeeping
effort to hurl away the ill-fated diamond are described in an amusing way, and
which has been bequeathed to him, and the trials caused by Mary Ann and the
which proves to be but a crystal after cook are most realistic. A clever point
all. In his creation of Guy the author in the story is where a second wedding
has embodied the spirit of chivalry journey is undertaken, but under decid-
which he claims still lives, though dis- edly different conditions, as there are
guised in the garb of modern civiliza- now four vigorous children to be left be-
tion. (Published in 1882. )
hind. The husband and wife anticipate
the freedom from care which their out-
hoir Invisible, The, by James Lane
ing will afford them; but while deriving
Allen, appeared in 1897, and is one
enjoyment from the trip, they both ac-
of his most popular and pleasing stories.
It was enlarged from an earlier story
knowledge that they are counting the
called John Gray. )
days until their return home. The re-
Its scene is the
flections close with the hope expressed
Kentucky of a hundred years ago. The
by the head of the family that the child-
hero is John Gray, a schoolmaster and
ren may be as happy as he and his
idealist, who, disappointed in his love
wife Josephine have been, despite the
for Amy Falconer, a pert, pretty, shallow
fact that their careers have been SO
flirt, gradually comes to care for Mrs.
much
Falconer, her aunt,
commonplace and prosaic
noble woman
in reduced circumstances, who with her
than they had anticipated in their youth-
ful days. The Reflections) were pub-
husband has left a former stately home
lished in 1892, and followed by The
in Virginia and come to live in the Ken-
Recollections of a Philosopher,' which
tucky wilderness. She loves him in re-
continue the family chronicles.
turn with a deep, tender passion that has
in it something of the motherly instinct
of protection" but, her husband being Ki
idnapped, by Robert Louis Steven-
was published in 1886, when
alive, she conceals her feeling from Gray
the author was thirty-six, and was his
until after he has departed from Lexing-
seventh work of fiction. In his own
ton and settled in another State. She
opinion, it was his best novel; and it is
then writes him to say she is free - and
generally regarded as one of his finest
he replies that he is married. But he
performances in romantic story-telling.
tells her in a final letter that she has
The full title reads: Kidnapped: Being
remained his ideal and guiding star to
Memoirs of the Adventures of David Bal-
noble action. The romantic atmosphere
four in the Year 1751); and the contents
and the ideal cast of these two leading
characters make the fiction very attract-
of the tale are further indicated on the
ive; and the fresh picturesque descrip-
title-page, thus: “How he was kidnapped
tions of pioneer life in Kentucky give
and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Des-
ert Isle; his Journey in the Wild High-
the tale historical value.
lands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck
Reflections of a Married Man, by Rob- Stewart and other notorious Highland
ert Grant. These entertaining “re- Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at
flections » chronicle in a humorous man- the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Bal-
ner the various experiences. perplexities, four of Shaws, falsely so called. ” David,
and amusing episodes, which occur in on his father's death, visits his uncle near
the daily life of a married couple at the Edinburgh, and finds him a miser and
present day. The husband reflects that villain, who, to get rid of his nephew,
at the age of thirty-five, being happily packs him off on the brig Covenant, in-
married, bis entire point of view has tending to have him sold in America.
а
son,
## p. 144 (#180) ############################################
144
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
son.
mance.
In a
On shipboard he falls in with Alan, the twenty. In “Sortes,” at a New-Year's
dare-devil Jacobite, one of the most spir- party, Faith, who is a New England
ited and vivid characterizations of Steven- maiden, draws this oracle: -
David espouses the Stuart cause,
« Rouse to some high and holy work of love,
and in company with Alan has a series
And thou an angel's happiness shalt know. ”
of lively experiences narrated with great
swing and color. The fight in the round-
The story tells how she fulfilled this
house of the brig, the Aight in the
condition, and what was her reward.
heather from the red-coats of King
Her haps and mishaps, her trials and
George, and other scenes, are conceived
tribulations, her sorrows and her joys
and carried out in the finest vein of ro- (including two lovers who may be placed
After these wanderings, David,
in either category, as the reader pleases),
circumventing his rascally uncle, comes
are duly recorded, together with the ex-
into his own.
periences of her immediate circle. The
story is brightly told, and the desirable
Captains, Courageous, by Rudyard element of fun is not wanting. It is a
Kipling, published in 1897, is a study
good Sunday-school book, if Sunday-
in the evolution of character. The hero is
school books are meant to influence the
an American boy, Harvey Cheyne, the
behavior of the secular six days.
son of a millionaire, a spoiled little puppy,
but with latent possibilities of manliness Jan Vedder's Wife, by Mrs. Amelia
smothered by his pampered life. A happy Barr, is a story of life in the Shet-
accident to the boy opens the way for the
land Islands fifty years ago.
It is highly
development of his better nature.
dramatic, with a delightful breeziness of
fit of seasickness he falls from the deck atmosphere. The personages feel and
of a big Atlantic liner, and is picked think with the simple directness that
up by a dory from the Gloucester fish- seems a result of close contact with na-
ing schooner We're Here, commanded by ture. Jan Vedder, a handsome young
Disko Troop, a man of strong moral char- sailor, «often at the dance, seldom at
acter and purpose. This skipper is un- the kirk, marries Margaret, the daugh-
moved by Harvey's tales of his father's ter of rich Peter Fae. He is clever but
wealth and importance, nor will he con- self-indulgent, and fettered by inertia;
sent to take him back to New York until while Margaret is exacting, selfish, self-
the fishing season is over; but proposes satisfied, and thrifty to meanness. He
instead to put the boy to work on the needs money, and when she refuses to
schooner at ten dollars a month. This help him, draws her savings from the
enforced captivity is Harvey's regenera- bank without her knowledge. Then
tion. He learns to know the value of Margaret returns to her father's house,
work, of obedience, of good-will. He is and refuses to see him. From this point
sent back to his father as a boy really a double thread of interest attracts the
worth the expense of bringing up. Mr. reader, who follows the separated for-
Cheyne returns good office with good tunes of Jan and Margaret through
office by securing Troop's son, Dan, a years of unhappiness, poverty, and dis-
chance to rise as a seaman.
trust. The moral of the story is the
The simple story is told with a direct- danger of the sin of selfishness; and
ness and clarity characteristic Kipling, when the offending Adam is whipped
who appears so little in the pages of the out) of two struggling souls, the reader
book that they might be leaves from life shares their happiness. The local color
itself. The strength and charm of the is vivid, and the story delightfully
story lies in its rare detachment from simple.
the shackles of the author's personality,
and in its intrinsic morality. It is un: Metzerott, Shoemaker, a novel, by
Pearson Woods. The
marred by one dogmatic line, yet it is
permeated by an ethical atmosphere.
events of this striking socialistic story
Like the plays of Shakespeare, it is right-
take place within the last twenty years,
eousness.
in the American factory town of Mickle-
gard. Thoughtful discussions of
Faith Gartney's Girlhood, by Mrs. A. ligious and socialistic problems bring
D. T. Whitney, is a story for girls, together men of divers stations and
containing a record of their thought and varying opinions: Karl Metzerott, free-
life between the ages of fourteen and thinker, who intends to see the United
re-
## p. 145 (#181) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
145
impatient with the existing order, espe-
cially with the upper classes. The story
opens with scenes amidst the country
gentry and their dependents. Marcella
becomes engaged to Aldous Raeburn,
the son of a nobleman, but breaks the
engagement, partly through the influ.
ence of Wharton, a brilliant socialistic
demagogue. She goes to the city, and
by her intercourse with the poor, through
her work as a trained nurse, she learns
the difficulties in the way of enforced
social reform, and gradually comes to a
clearer appreciation of her early mis-
takes and the noble character of Al-
dous; with the result that she finally
returns to him. The novel contains
graphic sketches of the state of the
lower classes in England, rural and
urban, one of the dramatic incidents of
the plot being the trial and execution of
the poacher Hurd. The scenes in par-
liament, too, where Wharton's knavery
is exposed, are powerfully realistic and
effective. Marcella evolves into a noble
type of the higher womanhood, and the
story is one of the strongest and most
successful Mrs. Ward has written.
States of America one great commune;
Dr. Richards, who cannot believe in a
«God who leaves nine-tenths of his creat-
ures to hopeless suffering,” but who,
after his own wearisome illness and the
death of his crippled boy, begins to
understand that God has sent pain to
teach him; the Rev. Ernest Clare, who
sacrifices salary to opinions, and who
hopes to see the day when the Golden
Rule will be the socialist's motto); and
jolly Father McClosky with a heart full
of charity and good-will toward all men.
Metzerott's young wife has worked her-
self to death under the scourge of pov-
erty, leaving an only child, Louis, his
father's idol. Affairs begin to go better
with the shoemaker after a time, and in
conjunction with the Price sisters, poor
sewing women, and Anna Rolf, widow
of a broken-hearted inventor, he founds
a co-operative establishment which pros-
pers and becomes a feature of the city.
Now and again during the narrative the
love affairs of the young people come to
the surface, and the reader learns how
persistent Franz Schaefer won Polly
Price; how Gretchen, «to whom nothing
ever happened,” narrowly escaped ruin,
but was rescued and married out of
hand by the devoted Fritz Rolf; and how
millionaire Randolph's coquettish little
daughter, Pinkie, loved, then scorned,
then loved again, handsome Louis Met-
zerott, only to lose him at last. Mean-
while the seethings of discontent are at
work among the people. A disastrous
flood, from the bursting of a millionaire
club's fish-pond dam, incenses them; and
the death of poor, overworked Tina Kel-
lar, just as she might have enjoyed her
first taste of prosperity, provokes an out-
break. A furious mob, headed by Met-
zerott, marches to the house of Ran-
dolph, intent on destroying it and him.
But almost at the outset, a missent bullet
strikes down Louis Metzerott, and ends
the demonstration. The unhappy shoe-
maker is crazed with grief over his son's
death; but finally, through a hope of
rejoining him hereafter, is induced by
Clare to acknowledge a belief in God.
Marcella, by Mrs. Humphrey Ward, is
the writer's fourth novel, and was
published in 1894, when she was forty-
three years of age. It is the story of the
life of the heroine from her girlhood, when
she has vague dreams of social amelior-
ation, is ignorant of facts and unjustly
Deephaven, by: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Deephaven is an imaginary sea-
port town, famous for its shipping in the
old days, — like so many towns along
the northern coast of New England, -
and now a sleepy, picturesque old place
in which to dream away a summer. Kate
Lancaster and Helen Denis, two bright,
sympathetic girls, go to live in the Bran-
don house there; and the story tells of
the glimpses they get into New England
life, and the friendships they make, dur-
ing that summer. Mrs. Kew, of the
lighthouse, is the most delightful charac-
ter in the book, although Mrs.
simple, tender, quaintly humorous, would
alone give imperishable value to the
book. Scarcely less well-drawn are Pip's
termagant sister, “Mrs. Joe ); the sweet
and wholesome village girl, Biddy, who
becomes Joe's second wife; Uncle Pum-
blechook, obsequious or insolent as the
person he addresses is rich or poor; Pip's
friend and chum in London, the dear
boy Herbert Pocket; the convict with
his wistful love of Pip; bright, imperious
Estella: these are of the immortals in
fiction.
Caxtons, The, by Edward Bulwer, Lord
Lytton. (The Caxtons) was not only
instantly popular in England, but 35,000
copies were sold in America within three
years after its publication in 1850. The
Caxtons are Austin Caxton, a scholar en-
gaged on a great work, «The History of
Human Error;' his wife Kitty, much his
junior; his brother Roland, the Captain,
who has served in the Napoleonic cam-
paigns; the two children of the latter,
Herbert and Blanche; and Austin's son,
Pisistratus, who tells the story. The quiet
country life of the family of Austin Cax-
ton interrupted by a visit to London.
There Pisistratus, who has had a good
school education, though he has not yet
entered the university, is offered the po-
sition of secretary to Mr. Trevanion, a
leader in Parliament. Lady Ellinor, Mr.
Trevanion's wife, was loved as a girl by
Roland and Austin Caxton; but she had
passed them both by to make a marriage
better suited to an ambitious woman. By
a freak of fate Pisistratus now falls in
by the Hon. Emily Lawless. (1892. )
(Grania' has awakened much interest as
the story of a little-understood section
of Ireland, the Arran Isles. The aim of
its author was to produce a picture true
in atmosphere and in detail to all the
characteristics of Irish life; an aim fully
achieved. Grania is first introduced as
a child of twelve, sailing in Galway Bay
with her father, Con O'Malley, in his
"hooker” or fishing smack. Grania, with
her dark skin and hair, show's the strain
of Spanish blood coming to her from her
mother, a Joice, from the Continent,
as the people of Arran call Ireland itself.
Six years later when Con is dead, Grania,
a handsome, high-spirited girl, takes sole
care of her invalid sister Honor. Hum-
ble though their two-roomed, square cabin
is, it is the most comfortable in the
neighborhood; and owning it and the bit
of land around it, Grania is the richest
girl of the place. She is industrious
and independent, gets in her own crops
of potatoes and oats, and fattens her
calves and pigs for the market. Mur-
dough Blake, handsome, vain, and a great
braggart, accepts Grania's affection as a
matter of course, almost feeling that he
is doing her a favor when he condescends
to borrow money from her. There is no
plot, and the incidents serve to show
the noble character of the girl. "Grania)
contains many glimpses of the folk-lore
and customs of the Irish peasants, and
the gloom and sordidness of their life
as it was thirty years ago is vividly pre-
sented. Besides the chief figures of the
story, there are several other interesting
types: Shan Daly, the vagabond, and
## p. 135 (#171) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
135
his neglected family; Peggy O'Dowd and in one of his letters.
In the compan-
other gossips; red-haired Teige O'Shaugh-ionship of the Hermit, and under his
nessey, who adores Grania; and Pete guidance, the adventurer explores Clover-
Durane and his father, with their old- nook, and discourses of it. He learns of
school manners.
the Kingdom of As-you-like, whither the
dwellers in Clovernook repair yearly;
Charles Auchester, a musical novel by
the Land of Turveytop, where men are
Elizabeth Sara Sheppard, an Eng-
lishwoman, was written when she was
purged of their worldliness; the Isle of
Jacks; Honey-Bee Bay; and at the pleas-
sixteen, and published a few years later,
ant inn called “Gratis ) he meets the
in 1853.
The manuscript was first sub-
mitted to Disraeli, who prophesied that
Twenty-Five Club and other gentle phi-
losophers, in whose tales and conversation
the book would become a classic. His
the realities of the crude world outside
enthusiasm may have been owing in part
are refined into the dreams of this realm
to the fact that the hero is of Jewish
of fancy. "Clovernook) charms by its
extraction, and that the author pays the
quiet humor, the grace of its fancies, and
highest tributes to the genius and glory
the benevolence which characterizes even
of the Hebrew race. The novel records
its satire. It is the work to which Mr.
the development of one Charles Auches-
Jerrold referred as, in certain parts, best
ter, who from earliest childhood has his
expressing himself as he wished the
very being in the world of harmony. His
world to understand him. It was writ-
story, told by himself, is a blending of
ten in the prime of his literary career, at
his outer and inner life in one beautiful
the age of forty years, while he was the
web of experience. He introduces him-
self as a child in an old English town,
leading contributor to Punch, with his
living a quiet sequestered life with his
position well established as one of the
mother and sister. Afterwards he goes
popular writers of the day. Appearing
to the Cæcilia School in Germany to carry
serially in that paper, The Chronicles
of Clovernook) was published separately
on his musical education. The guiding
star of his life there is Seraphael, a mar-
in 1846, and has since had its place in
the collected works of its author.
velous young genius, whose very presence
is an inspiration. By Seraphael is meant
Mendelssohn, whose career is followed Put
Yourself in His Place, by Charles
closely throughout. Jenny Lind is sup-
Reade (1870) is a dramatic novel
with a purpose. The scene is laid in
posed to be the original of another of
Auchester's friends, Clara Bennette, a
Hillsborough, an English manufacturing
famous singer. Many musical events are
city; and the story relates the struggles
described with remarkable fidelity to the
of Henry Little, workman and inventor,
spirit as well as to the letter of such oc-
against the jealousy and prejudice of
the trades-unions. Because he is a Lon-
currences. The entire book, fanciful and
doner, because he is better trained and
extravagant though it is in parts, is steeped
in an indescribable golden atmosphere
consequently better paid than the Hills-
borough men, because he invents quicker
of music, and of the spiritual exaltation
which musicians know. As the record
processes and labor-saving devices, he
is subjected to series of persecu-
of spiritual experiences whose source is
tions worthy of the Dark Ages, and is
harmonious sound, Charles Auchester)
ground between the two millstones of
is perhaps unique in the whole range of
Capital and Labor;- for if the workmen
fiction.
are ferocious and relentless, they have
Chro
hronicles of Clovernook, The, by learned their villainy from the masters
Douglas Jerrold. Clovernook is a and bettered the instruction. This stern
(hamlet wherein fancy has loitered away study of social problems, however, is no-
a truant hour,» «the work of some sprite where a tract, but always the story of
that in an idle and extravagant mood Henry Little, who is as devoted a lover
made it a choice country-seat. ” Into as he is honest a workman, as thorough
this land of fantasy the author rides in a social reformer as a clear, practical
the twilight; the sagacity of his ass, thinker, and the hero of as bitter a fight
whose name is Bottom, bringing him against prejudice, worldly ambition, and
through unknown paths to the house of unscrupulous rivalry outside the mills,
the Hermit of Bellyfulle — the very as that which he wages against «The
pope of Hermits," as Dickens styled him Trades. ) Among the notable figures in
a
>)
## p. 136 (#172) ############################################
136
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
ness.
the book are Squire Raby, Henry's see Paul once more; Scrope travels night
uncle, a gentleman of the old school; and day to bring him, but arrives on
Jael Dence, the country girl, simple, Paul's wedding day, and returns alone
honest, and strong; Grotait, the gentle- to find Lenore dead.
manly president of the Saw-Grinders' The change that love brings in Lenore,
Union, with his suave manners and his the effect Paul has on her intense, pas-
nickname of «Old Smitem"; and Dr. sionate nature, and the clashing of his
Amboyne, philanthropist and peacemaker, will against hers, make interesting char-
who maintains that to get on with any. acter studies.
body you
must understand him, and
when you understand him you will get
,
Rutledge, a novel, by Miriam Coles
Harris, created a veritable sensation
on with him. His favorite motto is the
in its day, for its freshness and bright-
title of the book. Like all of Charles
A peculiarity of the story, sup-
Reade's stories, Put Yourself in His
posed to be told by the heroine, is that
Place) has a wealth of dramatic inci-
the author has achieved the awkward
dent, and moves with dash and vigor.
and uncalled-for feat of not once men-
tioning the young lady's name in the
Good-bye, Sweetheart, by Miss Rhoda
entire course of it. About the year 1854
Broughton, is a bright, amusing
she is brought from school to the house
contemporary love story in three parts,
of Arthur Rutledge, her guardian, for
- Morning,' Noon,' and Night,'— told
whom she conceives a secret admiration.
in the third person by the author, and
Some months later she goes to an aunt
in the first by Jemima Herrick, the hero-
in New York, enters society, and
ine's plain elder sister. In Part i. the
wrongly supposing Rutledge to be inter-
scene is laid in Brittany, where Jemima
ested in her cousin, allows herself to
and Lenore are leading a bohemian life.
become engaged to Victor Viennet, a
Lenore, who is young and beautiful, finds
brilliant youth of doubtful antecedents.
an admirer in Frederick West; but she
During a visit to Rutledge's country
prefers his friend Paul Le Mesurier. A
home, Victor is threatened with expos-
spoilt child, she is accustomed to have
ure by Dr. Hugh, who knows that he is
her own way; and now that she is in
bearing an assumed name; and, goaded
love for the first time, she determines
to desperation, he kills him. While hid-
to win Paul. He is an ugly man with a
den in Rutledge's house, by connivance
bad temper, eighteen years her senior,
of his betrothed, the murderer confesses
but the only person who can conquer her
that he is the nameless son of Rut-
willfulness. Against his better judgment
ledge's sister, led astray in her girlhood
he finally yields to her attractions, and
and long since dead. Then, in despair,
the day before he returns to England
he shoots himself in the secret room,
they become engaged.
once his mother's, and fast closed since
In Part ii. the scene is laid in Eng-
her fight in disgrace.
After a proper
land, where, after absence of six
interval, Rutledge and the young lady
months, Paul and Lenore come together
discover that they have loved each other
again in a country-house. He is jealous
from the first, and all ends happily.
of Charles Scrope, a handsome youth,
Those who enjoy plenty of mystery, and
who has followed Lenore to England;
do not object to unions between middle-
and at a ball where Paul exacts too
aged guardians and their youthful
much, the lovers quarrel, and Paul, mad
wards, will read this once highly popu-
with jealousy, leaves Lenore forever. In
lar tale with pleasure. Its author shows
her desperation she promises to marry
herself to be possessed of religious feel-
Scrope, but on the day of the wedding
ing, and has tried, not too obtrusively,
she finds that she cannot bring herself
to instill a salutary moral lesson.
to become his wife.
In Part iii. Lenore goes to Switzerland
Israel Mort, Overman, by John Saun-
with her sisters, to recover her health, ders, (1876,) is a strong plea for
meets Paul accidentally, is more in love English miners. The author strenuously
with him than ever, but learns that he desires the government to enforce better
is engaged to his cousin. From this sanitary conditions and precautionary
time she grows rapidly worse; Scrope
He traces the formation of
devotes himself to her comfort, but noth- carbon, and finds an intolerable contrast
ing can save her. Her last desire is to between the sunlit tropical forests of
an
measures.
## p. 137 (#173) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
137
ever
son
past ages, and the dark loathsome gal- | compelled by his dæmon as Socrates.
leries where men grope for coal in con- He throws away his chances, comes near
stant danger from explosion, suffocation, to shipwrecking his happiness, and ac-
or inundation, He pictures the life of cepts his unpleasant position as a matter
a mining village centring at the black
of course. Contrasted with roughness
mouth of the pit. An atmosphere of and noble intolerance, which are his most
dread hangs over everything. The moth- obtrusive characteristics, is the charming
ers grieve over their baby sons at the daintiness of the exquisite Esther Lyon,
thought of the fate awaiting them. The whom he loves, and who dreads above
boys disappear from school when very all things to be made ridiculous, till a
young. They put on miners' suits and sight grander than many women
fearfully accompany their fathers down see - a man absolutely honest with man
the pit to work, which makes them pre- and God - stirs the depths of her moral
maturely old. The other children see nature. The character of Harold Tran-
their grimy figures from time to time, some, the fine gentleman of the book,
and shudder. The miner cannot hope struck out by the same strong hand that
for great rewards; and his life crushes drew Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda, ' -
out joy and spontaneity. With a gifted a handsome, clever, frank, good-natured
and exceptional man like Israel Mort, egoist. The minor characters stand out
it spurs to a fierce resolution to extri- distinct and vivid. The covetous upstart,
cate himself, and he exemplifies how Jermyn; Esther's father, the rusty old
easily a spirit of cupidity makes light Puritan preacher; Mrs. Transome, well-
of human life. His fiercely determined born, high-bred, splendid in her sumptu-
figure dominates the book as he does ous, fading, anxious beauty, and carry-
his gentle wife and timid imaginative | ing her tragical secret in a hand that
David. For the latter he plans a scarcely trembles, but that may be made
brilliant future; but first he will have to drop the fragile thing by a rude
him serve apprenticeship in all stages of touch; the shadowy squire, her husband;
mining work, and thus expel his weak Mrs. Holt, the eulogist of the priceless
fears of the mine. But David escapes infallible pills; Denner, the butler's hard-
to a more natural life. The long-dreaded headed and faithful wife, the white-faced
catastrophe arrives at last, bringing human monkey, Job; the aristocratic
death and suffering, melting and regen- Debarrys; gipsy-eyed and irrepressible
erating Israel's hard nature, and Harry; the sporting and port-drinking
sulting in a new and better state of
parson, John Lingon, not half a bad fel-
things. The strong and gloomy tale low, with his doctrine, "If the mob can't
shows mining as hard and dangerous be turn back, a man of family must
work at best; and shows, too, the ad- try to head the mob,»— they all live and
visability of legal supervision.
move. «One group succeeds another,
and not a single figure appears in any
Felix Holt, the Radical, by George of them, though it be ever so far in the
Eliot (Mrs. Lewes). (1866. ) As a background, which is not perfectly drawn
picture of upper middle-class and indus-
and perfectly colored. ”
trial English life of the period of the
Reform Bill agitation, this book is unsur-
First Violin, The, a noteworthy mu-
passed. If the critics who set George sical novel by Jessie Fothergill (1877),
Eliot highest as a delineator of character describes the romantic experiences of an
find the story clogged with moralities, English girl, May Wedderburn, while
and hindered by its machinery, the crit- she is studying music in Germany. Al-
ics who value her most for her pictures though the plot is somewhat conven-
of life and nature rank Felix Holt' tional, a certain freshness or enthusiasm .
among her best achievements. It is in the composition of the book endows
bright in tone, it shows little of the it with vitality. The heroine leaves
underlying melancholy of George Eliot's home to avoid marriage with
a Sir
nature, and its humor is rich and per- Peter Le Marchant. She is enabled to
vading. Its hero, Felix Holt, is a young do this through an elderly neighbor,
workman whose capacity might attain Miss Hallam, whose sister has been
anything, if his overpowering conscience the first wife of Sir Peter, and has been
would let him conform to the ways of a cruelly treated by him. As Miss Hal-
comfort-loving world. But he is as much lam's companion, May goes to Elberthal
re-
## p. 138 (#174) ############################################
138
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
on the Rhine near Cologne, one of those and run away, taking refuge in the de-
little German towns given up to music. serted Dench house (the estate of Sir
On the journey thither, Miss Wedder- Charles Henry Frankland), where they
burn is separated by accident from her are found and returned to the village
traveling companions. A good-looking by Horace's uncle and Sam Lawson,
stranger comes to her assistance. He the village do-nothing, a quaint charac-
proves to be Eugen Courvoisier, first ter whose droll actions and sayings en-
violin in the orchestra, a
man about liven the whole book.
whom is the fascination of mystery. Tina is then adopted by Miss Mehit-
Taking offense at a supposed discourt- able Rossiter, daughter of the former
esy of the beautiful young English girl clergyman of the parish, while Harry is
whom he had protected, he refuses to under the patronage of Lady Lothrop.
recognize her. She, for her part, is al- On Easter Sunday, the children, with
ready in love with him. By the kind- Horace, are taken in her great coach, by
ness of Miss Hallam, she remains in Lady Lothrop, to Boston, where they
Elberthal to have her voice cultivated, attend service at King's Chapel, and
and her lessons in music and in love meet prominent people in the city.
go on until the happy ending of the They make the acquaintance of Ellery
story. Her love is put to the touch by Davenport, a former officer in the Con-
the supposed dishonor of Courvoisier, tinental army whose characteristics closely
but bears the test without failing. "The resemble those of Aaron Burr. He rec-
First Violin) abounds in dramatic de- ognizes the Percivals as belonging to
scriptions of musical life in a small an excellent family, and finally secures
Rhine city, and makes the reader pleas- a valuable English inheritance for the
antly at home in middle-class German children. Henry, after leaving college,
households, where he learns to respect, returns to England to manage his estate,
if he does not admire, middle-class Ger- and finally takes orders in the Church
man respectability and calm content. of England. Tina is married to Ellery
If the book has the sentimentality of Davenport; but immediately after the
youth, its romance is altogether innocent ceremony Emily Rossiter, whose myste-
and pleasing.
rious disappearance some years before
was a cause of intense grief to her fam-
Old Town Folks, by Harriet Beecher ily, returns from Europe, confronts El-
Stowe. This work was published lery, and tells how he allured her from
The scene is Old Town; the home to live with him out of wedlock.
time, a period just succeeding the Revo- Tina adopts Emily's daughter, and goes
lution. A description of Natick, the old abroad with her husband. After their
Indian Mission town, and its famous return to America, Ellery devotes him-
Parson Lothrop, — whose stately bear- self to public affairs, and is eventually
ing, whose sermons in Addisonian Eng- killed in a political duel. Two years
lish, and whose scholarly temperament, later, Horace Holyoke is united to his
marked him as a social and intellectual first love, Tina. The story chiefly lives
leader,– introduces the story.
in the character of Sam Lawson.
« Lady» Lothrop, the parson's wife,
at the time of her marriage stipulated Count Robert of Paris, by Sir Walter
that she should be permitted to attend
Scott The scene is laid in Con-
Episcopal services on Christmas, Easter, stantinople during the reign of Alex-
and other great days of the church. ius Comnenus (1080-1118). The hero
Horace Holyoke, nominally author of the is a French nobleman who with his wife,
book, is left an orphan when a
Brenhilda, has gone on the first Crusade
boy. He tells how the views of Cal- (1196-99). While dining at the palace they
vinists and Arminians, and great ques- are separated by the Emperor's treachery,
tions of freedom and slavery, were freely and the Count is thrown into prison, from
discussed at the village gatherings.
which he releases himself with the assist-
Henry and Tina Percival, English or- ance of the Varangian Hereward the
phans, were consigned respectively to Saxon. Brenhilda, in the mean while, is
old Crab Smith and to Miss Asphyxia exposed to the unwelcome attentions of
Smith, illustrations of the malign influ- the Emperor's son-in-law, Nicephorus Bri-
ence of a misplaced adherence to the ennius, whom she challenges to combat.
old theology. The children are ill-treated When the time for the duel comes, Count
in 1869.
(
mere
## p. 139 (#175) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
139
Robert appears himself; in the absence ! latter had disinherited the father of Con-
of Briennius Hereward engages him and ingsby for marrying an amiable girl of
is overcome, but his life is spared in return less exalted station than his own. Their
for his past services. While the interest orphan son is now entirely dependent on
is centred in the fortunes of the hero and
his grandfather. Lord Monmouth, though
Hereward, these are closely connected with showing little affection for the boy, is gen-
the conspiracy of the false philosopher erous to him. He sends him to Eton and
Agelastes, Briennius, and Achilles Tatius, to Cambridge, and has him often visit
the commander of the Varangian Guard, him at his town-house or his Castle. These
to dethrone the Emperor. The plot is visits bring the boy in contact with many
exposed by Hereward, who refuses all re- interesting persons, such as the fascinat-
wards, and joins Count Robert and Bren- ing Sidonia, in whom Disraeli paints his
hilda, in whose maid he has discovered his ideal Jew; the Princess Colonna, and her
old Saxon love Bertha. Other characters stepdaughter Lucretia, whom the Marquis
introduced are Anna Comnena, daughter marries; the Duke (who has been identi-
of Alexius and author of the Alexiad; fied as the Duke of Rutland), the sub-
the Patriarch of the Greek Church; Ursel, servient Rigby (in whom John Wilson
a former conspirator; Godfrey of Bouillon, Croker is supposed to be portrayed), and
and other leaders of the Crusade. Many a host of personages of high degree with
historical facts are altered for artistic ef- imposing titles.
There are
more than
fect. At the time of the story Anna was threescore characters in the book, and
only fourteen instead of over thirty, and part of its popularity came from people's
was not the heiress to the throne. The interest in identifying them with men
conspiracy anticipates her later attempt to and women prominent in English social
overthrow her brother John, and substitute and political life. Sidonia, the brilliant
her husband. The most striking scene is Jew, is said to be either Disraeli himself
the swearing allegiance by the Crusaders or Baron Alfred de Rothschild. Lucian
to the Emperor as overlord, in which Gay is Theodore Hook, and Oswald Mill-
Count Robert defiantly seats himself on bank is W. E. Gladstone. The Marquis
the throne with his dog at his feet. The of Monmouth is the Marquis of Hertford,
story was, with (Castle Dangerous,' the and Coningsby himself has been variously
last of the Waverley novels, having ap- regarded as a picture of Lord Littleton,
peared in 1831, the year before the au- Lord Lincoln, or George Smythe.
thor's death.
Some of the charm of Coningsby has
passed away with the waning interest in
Coningsby, by Benjamin Disraeli, Lord the political events which it describes.
Beaconsfield, published in 1844, when Its satire, however, is still keen, particu-
Disraeli was thirty-nine years old, was larly that directed against the Peers.
his sixth and most successful novel.
three months it had gone through three House of the Seven Gables, The, the
editions, and 50,000 copies had been sold
in England and the United States. It romances, follows the fortunes of a de.
was a novel with a purpose: the author cayed New England family, consisting of
himself explained that his aim was to four members, — Hephzibah Pyncheon,
elevate the tone of public life, to ascertain her brother Clifford, their cousin Judge
the true character of political parties, and Pyncheon, and another cousin, Phæbe, a
especially to vindicate the claims of the country girl.
At the time the story opens
Tories. Incidentally he wished to empha- Hephzibah is living in great poverty at
size the importance of the church in the the old homestead, the House of the
development of England, and he tried to Seven Gables. With her is Clifford, just
do some justice to the Jews. The story released from prison, where he had
opens in the spring of 1832, on the very served a term of thirty years for the
day of the resignation of Lord Grey's supposed murder of a rich uncle. Judge
ministry. This gives Disraeli a good op- Pyncheon, who was influential in obtain-
portunity for a dissertation on the politics ing the innocent Clifford's arrest, that
of the time, including the call of the Duke he might hide his own wrong-doing, now
of Wellington to the ministry. The seeks to confine him in an asylum on
hero, Coningsby, at this time a lad of ten, the charge of insanity. Hephzibah's piti-
is visiting his grandfather, the rich and ful efforts to shield this brother, to sup-
powerful Marquis of Monmouth. The port him and herself by keeping a cent-
In
## p. 140 (#176) ############################################
140
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
one
man
shop, to circumvent the machinations of her on board the yacht that is his home.
the judge, are described through the While cruising off the Skelligs, they res-
greater portion of the novel. The sud- cue a raft-load of perishing people, who
den death of the malevolent cousin frees have escaped from a burning vessel.
them and makes them possessors of his Dorothea nurses
whom she
wealth. A lighter episode of the story is considers a sailor, but who proves to be
the wooing of little Phæbe by Holgrave, Mr. Giles Brandon.
On his recovery he
a lodger in the old house. The House invites Dorothea and her brother to his
of the Seven Gables) has about it the home, where she meets Valentine, Mr.
same dreamy atmosphere that envelops Brandon's volatile young stepbrother.
Hawthorne's other novels. The usual He is very friendly to Dorothea, and
background of mystery is supplied in the makes love to her in jest, which finally
hereditary curse resting upon the Pyn- becomes earnest, though he makes no
cheon family. Hephzibah, the type of pretense at passion. As his health is
ineffectual, decayed aristocracy, the sen- delicate, he is going to settle in New
sitive feeble Clifford, the bright little Zealand, and begs Dorothea to marry
flower Phoebe, are prominent portraits him and accompany him. Being aban-
in the author's strange gallery of New doned by her uncle and brother, and
England types.
having no friends, the girl consents, but
on the wedding day Valentine does not
Europeans, The, an early, novel of
appear. He has fallen in love with
Henry James, describes the sojourn
another girl, and wishes to break the
of two Europeans, Felix Young and his
engagement with Dorothea, who is nat-
sister the Baroness Münster, with Ameri-
urally shocked, though fortunately her
can cousins near Boston. The dramatic
effects of the story are produced by the
heart is not deeply involved. Mr. Bran-
don shows her all sympathy, and soon
contrasts between the reserved Boston
explains that he has loved her from the
family, and the easy-going cosmopoli-
beginning, but has supposed that she
tans, with their complete ignorance of
cared for Valentine. She can hardly ac-
the New England temperament. To one
cept him at once when she has just been
of the cousins, Gertrude Wentworth, the
ready to marry another, but as her feel-
advent of Felix Young, with his foreign
nonchalance, is the hour of a great de-
ings subside she grows really to care for
him, and they are married in the end.
liverance from the insufferable boredom
of her suburban home. To marry Young, Egoist, The, by George Meredith, pub-
she rejects the husband her father has lished in 1879, is a fine illustration of
chosen for her, Mr. Brand, a Unitarian a complete novel without a plot. It is a
clergyman, who co oles himself with study of egotism. The egoist is Sir Wil-
her conscientious sister Charlotte. The loughby Patterne, of Patterne Hall, a con-
novel is written in the author's clean, summate young gentleman of fortune and
precise manner, and bears about it a rank, whose disposition and breeding make
wonderfully realistic atmosphere of a cer- him only too well aware of his perfections,
tain type of American home where plain and of his value in the matrimonial mar-
living and high thinking are in order. ket. He determines to choose his wife
The dreariness which may accompany prudently and deliberately, as befits the
this swept and garnished kind of life is selection of the rare creature worthy to
emphasized.
receive the gift of his incomparable self.
ff the Skelligs, by Jean Ingelow.
In describing the successive courtships by
which the egotism of the egoist is thrown
and has been much praised, though its
into high light, Meredith presents a most
rambling and disconnected style makes
natural group of fair women: the brilliant
Constantia Durham, Clara Middleton the
it very different from the intense and
analytic novel of to-day. There
“dainty rogue in porcelain,” and Lætitia
bright dialogues and good descriptions,
Dale with “romances on her eyelashes. »
the scenes at sea and in Chartres Cathe-
The curtain falls on the dreary deadness
dral being especially well done.
of Sir Willoughby's incurable self-satis-
faction.
Dorothea Graham loses her mother in
early childhood, and comes into the care Gran
randissimes, The, by George W.
of an eccentric old uncle, who keeps her
Cable. The Grandissimes, whose
in school for nine years, and then takes fortunes are here told, are
one of the
O,
are
## p. 141 (#177) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
141
leading families in Louisiana. The head line, and of her cousin Gabrielle, who
of the family is Honoré, a banker. He shares her home. The Comte de Sa-
has an older half-brother, a quadroon, of vigny, a young nobleman whose pride
the same name,
to whom the father in the untarnished record of his family
leaves the bulk of his property. For a is a distinguishing characteristic, and
long time there has been a feud between whose regard for truth is as pronounced
the Grandissimes and the De Grapions, as its absence is in Renée, asks and
heightened, eighteen years before, by the obtains her hand in marriage. Fearful
killing in a duel by Honoré's uncle, of losing him, she conceals the fact that
Agricola, of Nancanou, the husband of her uncle, who has been instrumental in
Aurora, the last of the De Grapions. bringing about the marriage, is living
The cause of the duel is a quarrel over under an assumed name and is a con-
a gambling debt, which involves the loss victed forger. Moved by the latter's
of Nancanou's whole estate. At the threats, she persuades her husband to
opening of the story, Aurora and her make him steward of his vast estates.
only daughter, Clotilde, are living in It is her life of duplicity, her anxieties,
carefully concealed poverty in New Or- fears, and the betrayal of her husband's
leans, in an apartment belonging to the faith, with which the story deals. The
elder Honoré. Joseph Frowenfeld is a truth is finally discovered, and a long
young German-American, who, without period of restraint, separations, and un-
his knowledge, has been nursed during kindness, ensues, ending at last in the
a fever by the Nancanous.
The story
serious illness of the young wife. The
develops the friendship of Honoré the reconciliation of Renée and the Comte
younger with Frowenfeld, their falling in is finally perfected in the rose garden,
love with mother and daughter, and the which gives the title to the story, - a
course of their wooing. Other characters bower of roses attached to the old châ-
prominently connected with the story are teau of Lestourde, the Comte's ancestral
the former domestic slave, Palmyre; Phi- home.
losophe; Dr. Keene, a friend of Frow- The story is delightfully told, in a
enfeld's; and Raoul Innerarity, the clerk perfectly natural style, and the charac-
of Frowenfeld and a typical young Cre- ters stand out in lifelike reality. Bits
ole. The final reconciliation of the hos- of local color, descriptions of the social
tile families and the marriage of the and family life of provincial France,
young people are brought about by the glimpses of Biarritz, Pau, Bayonne, and
intervention of the fiery old Agricola. other well-known places, are pleasing add-
The book is of special interest in show- itions to the central theme.
ing the attitude of the Creole population The story begins and ends with sun-
toward this country at the time of the shine; for as the author says, “Some
cession of the Louisiana Purchase to the lives are like sonatas: the saddest, slow-
United States. Its character-study is est part is in the middle. »
close, and the sub-tropical atmosphere of
place and people well indicated. It was
Heir
eir of Redclyffe, The, by Charlotte
Cable's first novel, being published in May Yonge, is a sad but interest-
1880.
ing love story, and gives a picture of the
home life of an English family in the
Rose
ose Garden, The, by Mary Frances country.
Peard, is a modern love-story, the Sir Guy Morville, the attractive young
of which is laid in Southern hero, leaves Redclyffe after the death of
France. Renée Dalbarade, young his grandfather, and becomes a member
French girl, who has been brought up of his guardian's large household. Many
by an indulgent mother, and given a incidents are related of his life there
superficial education in boarding- with Laura, Amy, and Charlotte, their
school, is the heroine. She has never lame brother Charles, and his own se-
been taught the value of sincerity; but, date, antagonistic cousin, Philip Morville.
inheriting the moral weaknesses of her At the end of three years he and Amy
mother, accepts the pleasing fabrications confess their love for each other; but as
of society as a necessity, and shuns truth he is still a youth, no engagement is
for its unpleasant aspect. She is, how- made, and at the advice of his guardian
ever, charming and lovable; the idol of he leaves Hollywell. Philip wrongly
her mother, of the quaint maid Jacque- | suspects Guy of gambling, and tells his
scene
a
а
## p. 142 (#178) ############################################
142
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
а
guardian his suspicions. Guy has paid able as possible in order to get her best
his uncle's gaming debts, and when called expression. Thus poor little Guenn, the
upon for an explanation he is too gen- belle of Plouvenec, learns to love him;
erous to clear his character at his un- and when he departs for Paris without
cle's expense.
He is banished from time for a farewell to her, she is heart-
Hollywell, and returns to Redclyffe at broken. The tragical end of the story
the end of the Oxford term. At Red- follows naturally. The charm of Guenn)
clyffe Guy bravely rescues some ship- is its strong local color. The very work-
wrecked men after a storm at sea, and ings of the Breton mind are shown in the
before long his reputation is restored superstitions of the people and their bond-
by his uncle. He returns to Hollywell, age to tradition. The artist friends of
finds that Amy has been true to him, Hamor are well painted, as are the various
and they are married. They go abroad village people, Mother Quaper, Mother
for their wedding journey; and after a Nives, Madame of the Voyageurs, Jeanne
few weeks of mutual happiness, they Ronan, and the fishermen, good and bad.
learn that Philip is sick with a fever in Among all the characters the most digni-
Italy. Guy overlooks past injustice, they fied, the noblest, is Thymert, «recteur
go to him, and Guy nurses him through des Lannions,” an ideal parish priest.
severe illness. He takes the fever
himself and dies shortly afterwards, leav: Guerndale, by F. J. Stimson (“J. S. of
ing Amy to mourn his loss for the rest Dale»). (Guerndale) is the story
of her life. The story ends with the of the life of Guyon Guerndale recounted
marriage of Philip and Laura, who had by his friend John Strang of Dale, au
long been secretly engaged; and as Guy's early playmate and sincere friend. Guy
child is a girl, Philip inherits Redclyffe. is a silent, dreamy boy, whose life from
The two characters which stand out the first is overshadowed by hereditary
in the book are Guy Morville, generous, ill-fortune, which has clung to the family
manly, bright, and of a lovable disposi- of Guerndale since their ancestor, Sir
tion; and Philip, stern, honorable, self- Guyon brought disgrace upon his house
esteeming, and unrelentingly prejudiced by murdering his companion, Philip Sim-
against Guy,- until Guy's unselfish no- mons, during a quarrel about a diamond
bility of conduct forces him to humble that had been dug up while they were
contrition.
delving for precious metal. John Sim-
(The Heir of Redclyffe) is the most mons, Philip's father, had accompanied
popular novel Miss Yonge has written. Sir Godfrey Guerndale, as his trusted
It was published in 1853.
servant, when that disappointed supporter
of the Stuarts sought refuge in the New
Guenn, A Wave of the Breton Coast, World, and gave his name to the country
by Blanche Willis Howard, 1883, was settlement in Massachusetts, which was
received as the best story of the author long known as Guerndale and then as
of (One Summer,' nor has she since writ- Dale. From the time that Sir Godfrey's
ten anything to surpass it. The scene is worthless son, Sir Guyon, committed his
laid in the ancient town Plouvenec, with crime, the fortunes of the Guerndales
its one irregular street of crowded houses waned; while the house of Simmons
and its old fortress. Guenn herself, though waxed rich and prosperous, and its de-
not seventeen, works with the fisher girls scendants spelled their name Symonds.
of the place, packing sardines at the usine. Young Guy Guerndale has for his evil
Plouvenec has its artist colony, and the genius another Philip Symonds, a gay,
girls add to their scant incomes by serving good-natured good-for-nothing, whom he
as models. Guenn, however, refuses to admires and idealizes, and who blights
pose to Everett Hamor, a young Ameri- his life by marrying Annie Bonnymort,
can, who has set his heart on painting the woman Guy is passionately in love
her graceful figure and her great masses with. Annie has been Guy's companion
of brown, shining hair. At last, won by and playmate from childhood, and his
his kindness to her deformed brother Nan- one aspiration has been to win her for
nic, and influenced by her father, Hervé his wife. He is rudely awakened from
Rodelle, who covets her earnings, she his dream by hearing of her engagement
consents to pose.
Hamor never makes to his friend Philip, who desires her
love to her, but he is a man of charming money. Guy leaves America, and spends
individuality, who makes himself as agree- several years at the universities abroad.
## p. 143 (#179) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
143
Choi
more
He meets Annie and realizes that she is changed since the days of his bachelor-
unhappy, while she for the first time hood. Instead of speculating on the soul-
understands by intuition his unconfessed ful subjects which agitated his mental
love for her. Guy and his devoted friend, faculties at that time, he finds himself
Norton Randolph, join in the Turko-Rus- hopelessly entangled with the butcher,
sian war; and Guy, after displaying great the baker, the candlestick-maker, the
valor, is severely wounded in the second school-teacher, and the clergyman, and
assault of Plevna. While convalescent, is particularly interested in the size of
news reaches him of the death of Annie; his quarterly bill for boots and shoes.
and he succumbs to the shock and ex- The experiences of the couple when they
pires soon after, having made one final are first married and go to housekeeping
effort to hurl away the ill-fated diamond are described in an amusing way, and
which has been bequeathed to him, and the trials caused by Mary Ann and the
which proves to be but a crystal after cook are most realistic. A clever point
all. In his creation of Guy the author in the story is where a second wedding
has embodied the spirit of chivalry journey is undertaken, but under decid-
which he claims still lives, though dis- edly different conditions, as there are
guised in the garb of modern civiliza- now four vigorous children to be left be-
tion. (Published in 1882. )
hind. The husband and wife anticipate
the freedom from care which their out-
hoir Invisible, The, by James Lane
ing will afford them; but while deriving
Allen, appeared in 1897, and is one
enjoyment from the trip, they both ac-
of his most popular and pleasing stories.
It was enlarged from an earlier story
knowledge that they are counting the
called John Gray. )
days until their return home. The re-
Its scene is the
flections close with the hope expressed
Kentucky of a hundred years ago. The
by the head of the family that the child-
hero is John Gray, a schoolmaster and
ren may be as happy as he and his
idealist, who, disappointed in his love
wife Josephine have been, despite the
for Amy Falconer, a pert, pretty, shallow
fact that their careers have been SO
flirt, gradually comes to care for Mrs.
much
Falconer, her aunt,
commonplace and prosaic
noble woman
in reduced circumstances, who with her
than they had anticipated in their youth-
ful days. The Reflections) were pub-
husband has left a former stately home
lished in 1892, and followed by The
in Virginia and come to live in the Ken-
Recollections of a Philosopher,' which
tucky wilderness. She loves him in re-
continue the family chronicles.
turn with a deep, tender passion that has
in it something of the motherly instinct
of protection" but, her husband being Ki
idnapped, by Robert Louis Steven-
was published in 1886, when
alive, she conceals her feeling from Gray
the author was thirty-six, and was his
until after he has departed from Lexing-
seventh work of fiction. In his own
ton and settled in another State. She
opinion, it was his best novel; and it is
then writes him to say she is free - and
generally regarded as one of his finest
he replies that he is married. But he
performances in romantic story-telling.
tells her in a final letter that she has
The full title reads: Kidnapped: Being
remained his ideal and guiding star to
Memoirs of the Adventures of David Bal-
noble action. The romantic atmosphere
four in the Year 1751); and the contents
and the ideal cast of these two leading
characters make the fiction very attract-
of the tale are further indicated on the
ive; and the fresh picturesque descrip-
title-page, thus: “How he was kidnapped
tions of pioneer life in Kentucky give
and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Des-
ert Isle; his Journey in the Wild High-
the tale historical value.
lands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck
Reflections of a Married Man, by Rob- Stewart and other notorious Highland
ert Grant. These entertaining “re- Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at
flections » chronicle in a humorous man- the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Bal-
ner the various experiences. perplexities, four of Shaws, falsely so called. ” David,
and amusing episodes, which occur in on his father's death, visits his uncle near
the daily life of a married couple at the Edinburgh, and finds him a miser and
present day. The husband reflects that villain, who, to get rid of his nephew,
at the age of thirty-five, being happily packs him off on the brig Covenant, in-
married, bis entire point of view has tending to have him sold in America.
а
son,
## p. 144 (#180) ############################################
144
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
son.
mance.
In a
On shipboard he falls in with Alan, the twenty. In “Sortes,” at a New-Year's
dare-devil Jacobite, one of the most spir- party, Faith, who is a New England
ited and vivid characterizations of Steven- maiden, draws this oracle: -
David espouses the Stuart cause,
« Rouse to some high and holy work of love,
and in company with Alan has a series
And thou an angel's happiness shalt know. ”
of lively experiences narrated with great
swing and color. The fight in the round-
The story tells how she fulfilled this
house of the brig, the Aight in the
condition, and what was her reward.
heather from the red-coats of King
Her haps and mishaps, her trials and
George, and other scenes, are conceived
tribulations, her sorrows and her joys
and carried out in the finest vein of ro- (including two lovers who may be placed
After these wanderings, David,
in either category, as the reader pleases),
circumventing his rascally uncle, comes
are duly recorded, together with the ex-
into his own.
periences of her immediate circle. The
story is brightly told, and the desirable
Captains, Courageous, by Rudyard element of fun is not wanting. It is a
Kipling, published in 1897, is a study
good Sunday-school book, if Sunday-
in the evolution of character. The hero is
school books are meant to influence the
an American boy, Harvey Cheyne, the
behavior of the secular six days.
son of a millionaire, a spoiled little puppy,
but with latent possibilities of manliness Jan Vedder's Wife, by Mrs. Amelia
smothered by his pampered life. A happy Barr, is a story of life in the Shet-
accident to the boy opens the way for the
land Islands fifty years ago.
It is highly
development of his better nature.
dramatic, with a delightful breeziness of
fit of seasickness he falls from the deck atmosphere. The personages feel and
of a big Atlantic liner, and is picked think with the simple directness that
up by a dory from the Gloucester fish- seems a result of close contact with na-
ing schooner We're Here, commanded by ture. Jan Vedder, a handsome young
Disko Troop, a man of strong moral char- sailor, «often at the dance, seldom at
acter and purpose. This skipper is un- the kirk, marries Margaret, the daugh-
moved by Harvey's tales of his father's ter of rich Peter Fae. He is clever but
wealth and importance, nor will he con- self-indulgent, and fettered by inertia;
sent to take him back to New York until while Margaret is exacting, selfish, self-
the fishing season is over; but proposes satisfied, and thrifty to meanness. He
instead to put the boy to work on the needs money, and when she refuses to
schooner at ten dollars a month. This help him, draws her savings from the
enforced captivity is Harvey's regenera- bank without her knowledge. Then
tion. He learns to know the value of Margaret returns to her father's house,
work, of obedience, of good-will. He is and refuses to see him. From this point
sent back to his father as a boy really a double thread of interest attracts the
worth the expense of bringing up. Mr. reader, who follows the separated for-
Cheyne returns good office with good tunes of Jan and Margaret through
office by securing Troop's son, Dan, a years of unhappiness, poverty, and dis-
chance to rise as a seaman.
trust. The moral of the story is the
The simple story is told with a direct- danger of the sin of selfishness; and
ness and clarity characteristic Kipling, when the offending Adam is whipped
who appears so little in the pages of the out) of two struggling souls, the reader
book that they might be leaves from life shares their happiness. The local color
itself. The strength and charm of the is vivid, and the story delightfully
story lies in its rare detachment from simple.
the shackles of the author's personality,
and in its intrinsic morality. It is un: Metzerott, Shoemaker, a novel, by
Pearson Woods. The
marred by one dogmatic line, yet it is
permeated by an ethical atmosphere.
events of this striking socialistic story
Like the plays of Shakespeare, it is right-
take place within the last twenty years,
eousness.
in the American factory town of Mickle-
gard. Thoughtful discussions of
Faith Gartney's Girlhood, by Mrs. A. ligious and socialistic problems bring
D. T. Whitney, is a story for girls, together men of divers stations and
containing a record of their thought and varying opinions: Karl Metzerott, free-
life between the ages of fourteen and thinker, who intends to see the United
re-
## p. 145 (#181) ############################################
SYNOPSES OF NOTED BOOKS
145
impatient with the existing order, espe-
cially with the upper classes. The story
opens with scenes amidst the country
gentry and their dependents. Marcella
becomes engaged to Aldous Raeburn,
the son of a nobleman, but breaks the
engagement, partly through the influ.
ence of Wharton, a brilliant socialistic
demagogue. She goes to the city, and
by her intercourse with the poor, through
her work as a trained nurse, she learns
the difficulties in the way of enforced
social reform, and gradually comes to a
clearer appreciation of her early mis-
takes and the noble character of Al-
dous; with the result that she finally
returns to him. The novel contains
graphic sketches of the state of the
lower classes in England, rural and
urban, one of the dramatic incidents of
the plot being the trial and execution of
the poacher Hurd. The scenes in par-
liament, too, where Wharton's knavery
is exposed, are powerfully realistic and
effective. Marcella evolves into a noble
type of the higher womanhood, and the
story is one of the strongest and most
successful Mrs. Ward has written.
States of America one great commune;
Dr. Richards, who cannot believe in a
«God who leaves nine-tenths of his creat-
ures to hopeless suffering,” but who,
after his own wearisome illness and the
death of his crippled boy, begins to
understand that God has sent pain to
teach him; the Rev. Ernest Clare, who
sacrifices salary to opinions, and who
hopes to see the day when the Golden
Rule will be the socialist's motto); and
jolly Father McClosky with a heart full
of charity and good-will toward all men.
Metzerott's young wife has worked her-
self to death under the scourge of pov-
erty, leaving an only child, Louis, his
father's idol. Affairs begin to go better
with the shoemaker after a time, and in
conjunction with the Price sisters, poor
sewing women, and Anna Rolf, widow
of a broken-hearted inventor, he founds
a co-operative establishment which pros-
pers and becomes a feature of the city.
Now and again during the narrative the
love affairs of the young people come to
the surface, and the reader learns how
persistent Franz Schaefer won Polly
Price; how Gretchen, «to whom nothing
ever happened,” narrowly escaped ruin,
but was rescued and married out of
hand by the devoted Fritz Rolf; and how
millionaire Randolph's coquettish little
daughter, Pinkie, loved, then scorned,
then loved again, handsome Louis Met-
zerott, only to lose him at last. Mean-
while the seethings of discontent are at
work among the people. A disastrous
flood, from the bursting of a millionaire
club's fish-pond dam, incenses them; and
the death of poor, overworked Tina Kel-
lar, just as she might have enjoyed her
first taste of prosperity, provokes an out-
break. A furious mob, headed by Met-
zerott, marches to the house of Ran-
dolph, intent on destroying it and him.
But almost at the outset, a missent bullet
strikes down Louis Metzerott, and ends
the demonstration. The unhappy shoe-
maker is crazed with grief over his son's
death; but finally, through a hope of
rejoining him hereafter, is induced by
Clare to acknowledge a belief in God.
Marcella, by Mrs. Humphrey Ward, is
the writer's fourth novel, and was
published in 1894, when she was forty-
three years of age. It is the story of the
life of the heroine from her girlhood, when
she has vague dreams of social amelior-
ation, is ignorant of facts and unjustly
Deephaven, by: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Deephaven is an imaginary sea-
port town, famous for its shipping in the
old days, — like so many towns along
the northern coast of New England, -
and now a sleepy, picturesque old place
in which to dream away a summer. Kate
Lancaster and Helen Denis, two bright,
sympathetic girls, go to live in the Bran-
don house there; and the story tells of
the glimpses they get into New England
life, and the friendships they make, dur-
ing that summer. Mrs. Kew, of the
lighthouse, is the most delightful charac-
ter in the book, although Mrs.
