Novel 250: Ulick Ralph Burke, Beating the Air (1879)

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A young aristocrat is unexpectedly forced to make his own way in life.

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Ulick Ralph Burke (1845-1895), barrister and historian of Spain and Mexico, wrote two novels, of which this was the first.  His somewhat rambling plot gives him plenty of scope for satiric representation of English and Anglo-Indian society.

“The plot is interesting and well constructed, and there is a pleasant variety in the dramatis personae. . . .  The style, too, is crisp and occasionally epigrammatic. . . .  The characters . . . have . . . a distinct individuality.” Athenaeum, November 15, 1879

“We are indebted to Mr. Burke for a good novel, and a wholesome hero.” Spectator, December 6, 1879

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

“Beating the Air is not a strong book, but it is well meant, and, in its mild way, is far from being unpleasant.” Academy, November 22, 1879

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/beatingair01burk/

v.2 https://archive.org/details/beatingair02burk/

v.3 https://archive.org/details/beatingair03burk/

Novel 249: Margaret Roberts, A Younger Sister (1892)

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One daughter of a country squire in the Lake District longs to see the world; the other is content to stay at home.

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Margaret Roberts (1833-1919) wrote nearly thirty novels between 1857 and 1897; this is one of the last.  The heroine’s self-indulgent father is an especially well-done character.

Roberts “always gives us good work and always casts an unfailing charm over what she writes.” Manchester Guardian, May 10, 1892

“As a whole the sketch is worthy of the delicate hand” of the author. Academy, June 18, 1892

A contrasting view:

“Small beer.” Saturday Review, June 11, 1892

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Novel 248: Sir Edward Bruce Hamley, Lady Lee’s Widowhood (1853)

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A virtuous young widow is left at the mercy of her late husband’s unscrupulous uncle.

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Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Bruce Hamley (1824-1893), the younger brother of last week’s novelist, likewise supplemented a military career with literary efforts.  This, his only novel (serialized in 1850, issued in book form in 1853-54), features, in addition to some sentimental ladies and gentleman officers, an amusingly bad alcoholic gambler.

“‘Lady Lee’s Widowhood’ is unquestionably one of the wittiest and pleasantest things that the press of our day has given to the public. . . .  It furnishes the largest return of enjoyment for twenty-five cents that can be found in any bookstore in the country.” Southern Literary Messenger, December 1853

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

“This is a pleasant book. . . .  The characters (with the exception of Colonel Bagot Lee) are not very complex specimens of human nature, but they are brightly coloured, and drawn with spirit.  The character of Colonel Lee is of a higher class, and well worked out. . . .   The story . . . drags somewhat at times, but it is withal a bright, healthy book, with a dash of hearty humour in it.” Athenaeum, February 18, 1854

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/ladyleeswidowho01hamlgoog

v.2 https://archive.org/details/ladyleeswidowho00hamlgoog

Novel 247: William George Hamley, The House of Lys (1879)

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A gentleman grows interested in a poor girl, then fights in the Crimea.

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Major-General William George Hamley (1815-1893), having retired from the army in 1872, wrote three novels between 1878 and 1882, of which this is the second.  Its conflicted, morally developing hero and the less glorious side of Victorian army life are both well represented.

The “real interest of the book” consists in “the style and thought, sometimes almost too elaborately allusive, in the well-drawn sketches of military life in the Crimea and elsewhere” and in “the very best exemplification of the undesirable type of elderly military man we have ever met with—at least in fiction.” Examiner, May 24, 1879

“What with fun, love, and adventure, there is no flagging in the book from first to last, and General Hamley is to be congratulated on having written an extremely entertaining novel.” Saturday Review, June 14, 1879

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/houseoflysoneboo01haml

v.2 https://archive.org/details/houseoflysoneboo02haml

Novel 246: Anne Marsh-Caldwell, Lettice Arnold (1850)

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Two genteel sisters, one virtuous, one beautiful, are left in poverty, to make a living as seamstresses.

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For Marsh-Caldwell, see Novels 069, 187.  Despite the obvious didactic purpose of the contrast between the novel’s sisters, its characters are lifelike and its plot involving.

“We like the tale for its delicate shading of individual characters chosen from the most every-day life.” Literary World, August 3, 1850

The author “has depicted, with her usual vigorous and truthful colouring” the wretched lives of seamstresses. Critic, November 15, 1850

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

“‘Lettice Arnold’ is the work of a woman—a woman who has great facility of composition, and considerable imagination, but little judgment.  It is literally ‘stuffed full’ of prejudices, especially against light literature as it is produced in France”; but it “is well written; and . . . it is one of the few novels which can be perused with pleasure and resumed without pain.” Observer, November 4, 1850

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/letticearnoldtal01mars

v.2 https://archive.org/details/letticearnoldtal02mars

Novel 245: Alexander James Beresford-Hope, Strictly Tied Up (1880)

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Finding herself a social failure, an aging countess courts popularity by adopting her niece.

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Alexander James Beresford-Hope (1820-1887), a well-known politician and patron of architecture, took up novel writing late in life, producing this and its sequel (The Brandreths) a couple of years later. His spirited delineation of his hapless characters is entertaining, if a little ruthless.

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“The author . . . loves to look on the lively side of things, and his novel may be described as a comedy of life and character.  All his personages are more or less conspicuous by some eccentricity, foible, or amiable weakness; his incidents and complications are generally humorous, and the drollery is brought to a climax in the dénouement.” Saturday Review, October 16, 1880

“Thoroughly and in every sense a novel, conceived in a light and happy vein, and scarcely even demanding a serious thought from beginning to end.” Athenaeum, October 23, 1880

A contrasting view:

It is “lively enough as regards some passages” but “there is not a single character capable of creating a genuine interest in the mind of the reader. . . . It seemed somewhat coarse all through, and left a nasty taste in the mouth.” Academy, November 20, 1880

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https://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph013992560 (Right-click (or control-click, if you have a Mac) on the “view digitized copy” links to download the novel’s three volumes in pdf form)

Novel 244: Edward Everett Hale, Ups and Downs (1873)

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After the sudden collapse of his uncle’s business, a young man works to establish himself in Detroit; meanwhile, a young German immigrant girl finds work as a governess in Milwaukee.

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Edward Everett Hale (1822-1909), a Unitarian minister and prominent American social reformer, also wrote several novels.  This one,  though sometimes marred by its author’s enthusiasms, has some lively characters and several interesting settings.

A “quiet story of domestic life in America . . . , a life as homely and picturesque as any that Mrs. Gaskell or George Eliot has described.” Saturday Review, October 25, 1873

“A very characteristic story of American life . . . written with humour and pathos.” Spectator, November 29, 1873

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Novel 243: John Cordy Jeaffreson, Live it Down (1863)

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In an old-fashioned Suffolk town, c.1820, as social and religious habits change, an aristocratic family is troubled by a dark secret.

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John Cordy Jeaffreson (1831-1901) wrote, in addition to much nonfiction, fourteen novels between 1854 and 1890.  An over-attention to historical and regional setting and a surplus of morality and sentiment are redeemed here by some well-defined characters and a good plot.

“The story is interesting throughout; the characters stand well on their feet, and are real human beings marked with individual character.” Athenaeum, March 28, 1863

It is “a good, sound novel.  It may not be vividly interesting; but it is clever, truthful, and observant.” Literary Times, April 28, 1863

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

Though “told in a manner which . . . it would be easy to criticize, . . . still it succeeds . . . in exciting the interest . . . and some of the characters are drawn with no little delicacy and discrimination.  Still the book is, in its general effect, a provoking one, for it might so easily have been made much better than it is.  The simple process of leaving out altogether about two-thirds of the first volume would have wrought wonderful improvement in the novel.   Not only is the first part of the story drawn out to an extent which is at once extremely wearisome and entirely useless, but Mr. Jeaffreson appears, in the earlier portion of the work, to have not unfrequently forgotten that he was telling a story at all.” Spectator, May 23, 1863

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/liveitdownastor02jeafgoog

v.2 https://archive.org/details/liveitdownastor00jeafgoog

v.3 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_000000048444#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=321&xywh=97%2C211%2C1937%2C1195

Novel 242: Emma Newby, Trodden Down (1866)

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A virtuous young lady is intended by her parents for one man but loves another.

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Emma Newby (1825-1899) wrote 13 novels between 1854 and 1879.  This one is chiefly notable for the chillingly calculated behavior of the heroine’s parents.

“The consciousness and confidence of power are visible in Mrs. Newby’s latest work, in which the reader will find a very romantic story very cleverly told.” Manchester Guardian, August 28, 1866

“The plot is sufficiently improbable, and its principal incident has been already made familiar to us by more than one novelist; but Mrs. Newby tells her tale with simplicity and feeling, and thus renders it touching and attractive.” London Review, September 8, 1866

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/troddendownanov00newbgoog

v.2 https://archive.org/details/troddendownanov01newbgoog

v.3 https://archive.org/details/troddendownanov02newbgoog

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Novel 241: Hope Stanford, Down the Way (1884)

James Sant,The Walker Sisters 

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A young intellectual becomes interested in a plain young lady neglected by her family.

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Nothing seems to be known of Hope Stanford.  This, the first of her two novels, though quite good, in my opinion—its heroine especially is refreshingly unusual in her plainness and ill-temper—was not very well received.

“There is a good deal that is thin and common-place in this novel, but also decided tokens of originality and dramatic instinct. . . . One or two of the characters on which the author has spent most pains are exceedingly well done.” Contemporary Review, July, 1884

“This is a pleasant, simply written story with which there is little fault to find.  We think the writer has aimed somewhat too high, and that her characters are hardly sufficiently worked up. . . . Still the interest is well kept up. . . .  Finally the writer possesses one merit dear to the heart of all critics.  She knows what she wishes to say, and says it in clear simple language, pleasantly free from mannerisms and strainings after effect.” Scottish Review, October 1884

A contrasting view:

“There is practically no plot, and the incidents are neither happy nor well contrived.  The situation selected for study is tolerably good” but “the three volumes demand more compression and conciseness.” Athenaeum, May 10, 1884

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v.1 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000004C950#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=4&xywh=-1%2C-140%2C2576%2C2176

v.2 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000004C956#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-1%2C-90%2C2438%2C2060

v.3 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000004C95C#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-743%2C-125%2C2941%2C2485

Novel 240: Archibald Boyd, The Delameres of Delamere Court (1852)

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A needy aristocrat falls in love with a proud cotton-manufacturer’s daughter.

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Archibald Boyd (1801-1864), born in Scotland, emigrated to Australia in 1838, and in the 1840s worked to represent the interests of the Australian squatters in the British Parliament.  In 1849 he returned to England and took up novel writing; this is the second of the four novels he wrote between 1850 and 1856.

The obviousness of its plot “does not prevent ‘The Delameres’ from being a fairly good novel of its kind.—Too much time is spent at its commencement among the small people of the small town where the tale begins . . .; but from the moment that the curtain falls upon their twaddle and tea-drinking, the action and passion move rapidly enough:—and we read on, with as much eagerness as though we had been unable to foresee for a page’s length what was going to befall the lessoned hero and the lesson-giving heroine!” Athenaeum, January 24, 1852

“The most remarkable quality of this novel is style, or the power of presenting the writer’s images and ideas neatly, tersely, and with a quiet but sustained animation. . . .  The author has studied the externals of life and nature; he has a certain knowledge of present society from observation or hearsay, and of the past from books or tradition; he is clever in the mere contrivances of the fictionist to extricate his story from entanglements, or to carry it on. . . .  But . . . he is better in narrative than in dramatic development. . . .  When the author has to plunge his dramatis personae into difficulties in order to clear them up . . . he breaks down, from the want of knowledge of the events of life.” Spectator, May 22, 1852

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v.1 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003C2A0#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1496%2C-129%2C4405%2C2567 

v.2 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003EA90#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-555%2C0%2C3405%2C1984

v.3 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003D686#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-461%2C0%2C3386%2C1973

Novel 238: William Webb Follett Synge, Tom Singleton (1879)

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A young man is called to war in India; meanwhile the brother of the woman he loves strives to begin a literary career.

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“An exceedingly pleasant story, partaking of the kind called rattling, but with some strong situations, and some characters by no means ill drawn.” Academy, November 29, 1879

“It happens but rarely that among the number of novels which call for . . . attention . . . we find one we regret to part with. . . .  Mr. Follett-Synge’s novel is a rarity of this kind. . . .  The book is full of character, and the kind of wisdom which we can only call knowledge of the world. . . .   There is . . . a spirit as kindly as it is discerning . . . a true delineation of the ‘gentleman’ and ‘gentlewoman,’ a refined playful humour. . . . It is, . . a book which becomes a friend.” Spectator, December 13, 1879

“The author . . . is an ingenious novelist, whose calm audacity of conception does him credit.  By assuming, as a matter of course, the probability of the incredible, he has laid the foundations of a decidedly clever novel, and may carry nine-tenths of his readers triumphantly along with him.” Saturday Review, December 13, 1879

A contrasting view:

“We have seldom come across so unequal a book. . . .  At times, both in style and dramatic force, it is excellent, while at others flat and unprofitable.” Examiner, January 17, 1880

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https://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph014735424  (Right-click (or control-click, if you have a Mac) on the “view digitized copy” links to download the novel’s three volumes in pdf form)

Novel 237: Agnes Macdonell, Quaker Cousins (1879)

James Jacques Joseph Tissot, The Woman of Fashion

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Two Quaker orphans are brought to live with their worldly great aunt.

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Agnes Macdonell (1840-1925) wrote three novels in the 1870s, of which this is the last.  The title characters’ earnestness grows wearing at times, but their selfish, self-deluded aunt is a lot of fun.

“There is a natural ease about the progress of events which is the result of care and thoughtfulness.  The story is, in fact, in admirable harmony with the refinement and self-restraint shown in the characters.” Athenaeum, March 22, 1879

“A book for people who prefer homely scenes described with humour and delicacy.” Academy, April 19, 1879

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

“A very readable novel” but “spun out with gratuitous prolixity.” Saturday Review, May 10, 1879

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v.1 https://books.google.com/books?id=FYU-AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=editions%3AwMa2nv7aBUIC&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false

v.2 https://books.google.com/books?id=NYU-AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=editions%3AwMa2nv7aBUIC&pg=PP5#v=onepage&q&f=false

v.3 https://books.google.com/books?id=VIU-AQAAMAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=editions%3AwMa2nv7aBUIC&pg=PP7#v=onepage&q&f=false

Novel 236: Hamilton Aïdé, Confidences (1859)

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A young curate gains the trust of various of his parishioners.

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For Aïdé, see Novels 076 and 176.

“The book is decidedly both good and interesting.  The drawing-room conversation and small-talk of a country town are well given, as far as the dialogue is concerned; while the incidents are natural and the characters well sustained.  There are touches of pathos here and there, which we must rank with a higher style of composition than that usually attained in works of this class.” New Quarterly Review, April, 1859

“The best idea we can give the reader of the work before us, is to suppose the celebrated philosopher in Goldsmith's Citizen of the World transformed into” its narrator.  “As he is a man of vast sympathies, very enlightened views, and a great love for his kind, and having withal peculiar facilities from his position for studying character, it may be imagined that his letters are pregnant with philosophical reflections on modern society. . . .  ‘Confidences’ is written in the most pleasing manner of any novel we have read for years past.” Leader and Saturday Analyst, June 11, 1859

A contrasting view:

“These ‘Confidences’ are of the mildest interest.  If we were ill-natured, we should call them insipid.   The style is pleasant and well bred, but the matter in hand has neither bone nor muscle.  The story, if story it may be called, is rambling gossip about a small parish. . . .  There is no precision of touch in either the dialogue or description, whether of people or their belongings.  There is a rather pleasant flavour in its gentle dullness, but the ‘Confidences’ were not worth making.” Athenaeum, July 9, 1859

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https://archive.org/details/confidences00aide

Novel 235: Catherine Gore, The Heir of Selwood (1838)

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A childless baronet with an entailed estate, living unhappily with his wife, decides to adopt a child.

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For Gore see Novels 012, 072, 118, 172.  The characterization here is excellent throughout, even if the plot, towards the end, grows a little over-fanciful.

“Mrs. Gore has added another charming work to her delightful list; a work no less conspicuous than its predecessors for the interest and naturalness of its plot, the ease and simplicity of its development, the flesh and blood and bone of its characters, the pointed, happy satire, the good humour, and the pathos and passion of its language.” It is “a work that from the first page to the last has scarcely a barren page—scarcely a leaf in which some trait of character—some powerful yet natural incident, some witty yet good-tempered observation on life, its men or its puppets—does not promise to secure it from the fate which, season after season, awaits tens of thousands of leaves denominated fashionable novels.” Examiner, October 14, 1838

“Like all Mrs. Gore’s novels, The Heir of Selwood displays an intimate observation and no slight acquainance with the human heart.  The story . . . is replete with interest; and the effects upon the principal actors at different periods of their lives, when young, middle-aged, and elderly, are very naturally as well as very forcibly painted.” Literary Gazette, October 29, 1838

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

It is “excellent in the complication of its story” but “sadly deficient in the solution of the same.” Athenaeum, October 27, 1838

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/heirofselwoodort01gore

v.2 https://archive.org/details/heirofselwoodort02gore

v.3 https://archive.org/details/heirofselwoodort03gore

Novel 234: Sabine Baring-Gould, Through Flood and Flame (1868)

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A factory-owner’s nephew falls in love with a working girl.

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Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924) wrote some fifty works of fiction and nearly a hundred other works in various genres, including the hymn “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” This novel consistently entertains despite its sometimes contrived damsel-in-distress plot.

“A domestic novel of some merit. . . . The narrative, simple as it is, is worked out so well, and with so true an adherence generally to nature, that . . . the author deserves considerable credit”; he has also “a fund of shrewd sense.” Athenaeum, June 27, 1868

“A highly original and vigorous novel, although the promise of the first volume is not quite sustained.” Spectator, September 12, 1868

A contrasting view:

“In incident and plot it is most deficient, and in style it is decidedly vulgar.  It possesses no redeeming point.” Examiner, September 12, 1868

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/13648816.55012.emory.edu

v.2 https://archive.org/details/13648816.25309.emory.edu

v.2 https://archive.org/details/13648816.5667.emory.edu

Novel 233: Anna K. Green, The Leavenworth Case (1878)

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The superlatively beautiful nieces of a New York City plutocrat are suspected of his murder.

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Anna Katharine Green (1846-1935) was a pioneer in detective fiction; this was her first and most successful novel.

Green “has worked up a cause célèbre with a fertility of device and ingenuity of treatment hardly second to Wilkie Collins or Edgar Allen Poe.” Christian Union, January 22, 1879

“An interesting story of mysterious crime. . . . The characters act and speak much as they might do in the circumstances, and every detail has been carefully thought out.” Academy, February 22, 1879

A (somewhat) contrasting view:

“It seems to us a defect in this story, that the very beginning of it gives a tolerably plain hint of the end. . . . Compression, too, might have been applied, with much benefit. . . . Still, The Leavenworth Case is a meritorious effort.” Spectator, March 15, 1879

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Novel 232: Mary Emma Martin, Bonnie Lesley (1878)

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The orphaned daughter of an impecunious clergyman makes her way in the world.

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Mary Emma Martin (1845-1931) wrote some 32 novels during the Victorian period, many of them directed to children or young ladies.  This one, her first, though equipped with routine Victorian characters following a routine Victorian plot, is nonetheless intelligent and engaging.

“There is no praise too high for Mrs. Martin’s delightful story.” Academy, June 21, 1878

An “admirable little novelette, . . . spirited, interesting, refined and humorous.” Spectator, November 23, 1878

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http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_000000032EDA#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0

Novel 231: Julian Sturgis, Comedy of a Country House (1889)

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A young man, finding himself heir to a lordship and large estate, is besieged by scheming relatives.

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Julian Sturgis (1848-1904) specialized in light comic novels, of which he wrote a dozen or so, including, obviously, this one.

“Mr. Julian Sturgis’s ‘Comedy of a Country House’ is something like what a comedy should be—bright and vivacious, rapid and amusing, yet with occasional touches and suggestions of deeper feeling.  The cynicism is cheery rather than depressing, and there are some typical men and women lightly and knowingly sketched.  The dialogue is sprightly and natural.” Athenaeum, July 6, 1889

“The finish and lightness of touch which characterize Mr. Julian Sturgis’ work appear at their best in this entertaining story.” Literary World, November 9, 1889

A contrasting view:

“Mr. Julian Sturgis is a very clever man, and there is so much cleverness in his Comedy of a Country-House, that no reader who knows good work when he sees it can fail to render hearty and ungrudging admiration.  And yet . . . mere cleverness is an essentially unsatisfying quality. . . .  Like a display of fireworks . . . it is very attractive for the time, but it leaves nothing behind it.” Spectator, July 27, 1889

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v.1 https://archive.org/details/comedyofcountryh01stur

v.2 https://archive.org/details/comedyofcountryh02stur

Novel 230: Lady Harriet Anne Scott, Hylton House (1850)

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Three orphaned girls live with an unsympathetic guardian.

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Here is another novel by Scott (see Novel 022), with vivid characters and an involving, complex plot.

“The . . . incidents of this story . . . are so many, minute, and intricate, that it would be a very hard task to unravel them intelligibly, even if we could spare a full folio column for the attempt.  However, we will say of them that they amuse and interest, and in their development the authoress has displayed great tact and no small share of talent. . . .  As a story confined to domestic occurences it would not be easy to point out one of recent date more amusingly narrated.” Observer, April 29, 1850

“There is a strain of pleasant, lively narrative in this novel, which carries the reader onward with unflagging attention, and permits no single page to be dull or wearisome.  The characters are drawn with uncommon spirit. . . .  The story is well contrived, and the denouement ingeniously kept out of view till the latest moment; curiosity is ever on the stretch to know how it will end.” Critic, May 1, 1850

A contrasting view:

A “record of family intrigues, put together, perhaps not without skill, but unenlivened by any graces of composition or by any display of the feelings that raise and dignify human nature.” Morning Post, May 18, 1850.

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https://books.google.com/books?vid=BL:A0017514872&hl=en