Novel 133: F.F. Montrésor, The Alien (1901)

 
John Atkinson Grimshaw, A Wet Road by Moonlight, Wharfedale

John Atkinson Grimshaw, A Wet Road by Moonlight, Wharfedale

 

A mysterious man is claimed by an old woman as the son and heir who died thirty years before.


Frances Frederica Montrésor (1862-1934) wrote a dozen or so novels between 1895 and 1907.  This one has interestingly conflicted characters and (except for an incongruous South American episode) a good plot.

“Cleverly thought out, and full of sympathy and observance, it is a book suited to all kinds and sorts of people. The interest . . . is never allowed to flag, while the quality of its character drawing gives it a delicate atmospheric beauty by no means common.” Academy, November 9, 1901

This “adds to the sincerity, simplicity, and insight marking her other stories a larger motive and a stronger grasp. . . . There is a touch of Mrs. Oliphant in the quiet humor, in the detached view and appraisement of ‘the human,’ and in the enduring consciousness of eternal goodness.” New York Times, December 7, 1901

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