A farmer falls in love with one woman while entangling himself with another.
For Mann, see Novel 016. This is her first novel, justly praised for its unpretending plot and careful characterization.
“The whole book is pervaded by a keen sense of those subtle class distinctions which play so great a part in country life.” Academy, March 31, 1883
“Mrs. Mann writes a sensible, characteristic, and thoroughly entertaining ‘story of a quiet place.’ She affects nothing and makes no pretence; her tale of the parish of Hilby is refreshingly straightforward, and she succeeds admirably in her modest undertaking. . . . Few more genuine or delightful romances have recently made their appearance.” Athenaeum, April 7, 1883
“Though it does not make great promises, at all events it performs as much as it has undertaken, after a thorough and enjoyable fashion which is not always to be met with in more ambitious works.” It provides “a good and carefully-drawn picture of tranquil country life. . . . Mrs. Mann has the excellent gift of being able to put herself in the place of the individuals she writes about, looking at things from the point of view they would be likely to take, and sympathizing with their sentiments, and this gift imparts real human nature to her work, and enables her to render faithfully delicate gradations of disposition and feeling which are not very easy to put into words, though it is by no means unusual for people to have a vague impression of their existence.” Spectator, April 14, 1883
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