William Holman Hunt, Morning Prayer
A younger son settles on an unpromising farm left him by his godfather.
Rosa Mackenzie Kettle (1818-1895) wrote some 26 novels between 1839 and 1895. This one has an involving (if sometimes contrived) plot and vivid (if sometimes exaggerated) characters.
“It is very pleasantly and unaffectedly written, is full of excellent description, and very true, but not common-place, analysis of character. . . . The cleverest and truest portraits in the book, delicately, yet most forcibly touched” are those of an unhappily married couple. “We have rarely seen that vague and baffling scourge of married life, incompatibility, analysed with a more masterly hand.” Leader and Saturday Analyst, August 5, 1854
“The story is ingenious, and extremely well told; although the materials are very simple, the interest is kept up, and those who begin to read will not be likely to put it down before they come to an end. . . . Those who are looking for a pleasant novel cannot do better.” Athenaeum, August 12, 1854
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