Novel 153: Frances Cashel Hoey, Falsely True (1870)

 
John Bagnold Burgess, A Spanish Beauty in a Red and Black Lace Shawl

John Bagnold Burgess, A Spanish Beauty in a Red and Black Lace Shawl

 

Prevented by tragic family history from marrying the virtuous young lady he loves, a young man seeks his fortune in Brazil.

Here is another novel by Hoey (see Novel 067), with a plot not unreasonably censured by the critics, but several vivid, conflicted characters.

“Upon the whole an interesting and carefully written book.” Athenaeum, September 3, 1870

“There is a great deal of power in this story; and not a little of it is shown in the sketches of character, though less, we think, in the conception of the plot, which is very finely conceived, if not quite as well executed”; it will “earn for Mrs. Cashel Hoey a reputation far above that of the most successful manufacturer of ‘novels of the season.’” Spectator, September 24, 1870

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F408#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-317%2C-1%2C3052%2C1951

v.2 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F40E#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-305%2C-1%2C3061%2C1957

v.3 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F414#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1217%2C-125%2C3900%2C2493

Crossword 150: Richly Arrayed

 
William Etty, Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball

William Etty, Preparing for a Fancy Dress Ball

 

Some people seem to think that, just because they never leave the house anymore, they need take no trouble about their dress—that they can sit around all day in sweatpants and t-shirts, or other sartorial atrocities named for bodily fluids or letters of the alphabet, and suffer no debilitating moral effects in consequence.

Not I! When I made this puzzle, I wore a three-piece Oxford-gray vicuna-wool suit trimmed in gold thread, a hand-stitched mulberry-silk shirt of deepest burgundy, a powder-blue diamond-plated necktie, and Belgian linen underwear lined with mink.  I trust that when you solve it you also will array yourself no less richly.

Download this week’s crossword:

150-Richly Arrayed.puz

150-Richly Arrayed.pdf

Solve this week’s crossword online:

150: Richly Arrayed

Novel 148: Percy White, Andria (1896)

 
George Frederick Watts, Lady Dalrymple

George Frederick Watts, Lady Dalrymple

 

A thoughtful and beautiful young lady is wooed by a painter, a rich young man, and (catastrophically) a philosopher.

Here is another engaging social comedy—or tragicomedy—by White (see Novel 075).

One character is “a finished picture and a masterpiece. . . .  one of the most brilliantly executed portraits in modern fiction.” Pall Mall Gazette, December 2, 1896

“A clever novel, subtle and discriminating in its character-drawing, containing at least one remarkable portrait, and full of excellent things that make it worth reading.” The Standard, January 1, 1897.

Download this week’s novel:

https://archive.org/details/andria00whitgoog

Novel 147: Rosa Mackenzie Kettle, Lewell Pastures (1854)

 
William Holman Hunt, Morning Prayer

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

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/lewellpastures01kett

v.2 https://archive.org/details/lewellpastures02kett

Crossword 145: And There's More!

 
Edward John Poynter, Andromeda

Edward John Poynter, Andromeda

 

There seems to be a trend nowadays of including more proper names in crosswords, on the theory that it’s fun to allude to cool stuff that fun, cool people like us like.  I haven’t joined this trend, possibly for selfish reasons:  my favorite Victorian novelists almost never show up in crosswords, whereas every other puzzle seems to include at least one Star Wars reference, however gratuitous: THE, for example, clued “Jabba ___ Hutt” or “Use ___ force, Luke!”

So I try to keep proper names out of my fill and also, especially, my themes.  I sigh, more in sorrow than in anger, when I encounter yet another puzzle where the theme turns out to be a set of actors whose last names are also the names of dog breeds, or whatever.  

This time, however, I’ve compromised my standards: half the theme answers contain proper names.  But at least they’re reasonably passé proper names—a vice-president whose term ended in 2000, a children’s cartoon that premiered the same year, and a 1939 movie based on a 1900 novel.  

Download this week’s crossword:

145-And-There's-More!.puz

145-And-There's-More!.pdf

Solve this week’s crossword online:

145 And There’s More!

Novel 145: Eleanor Frances Poynter, My Little Lady (1870)

 
Sir Edward John Poynter, In a Garden

Sir Edward John Poynter, In a Garden

 

An impulsive French girl, raised by a gambler, is aided by an English doctor.

Eleanor Frances Poynter (1840-1929), the sister of the painter Sir Edward John Poynter and of the translator Clara Bell, wrote some seven novels between 1870 and 1892, of which the first is this poignant story of vulnerable innocence in a hard and confusing world.

“It is an agreeable task to record a book which can be read with genuine pleasure. My Little Lady’s history” is “written in a simple graceful style.” Athenaeum, December 17, 1870

“The whole book is charming; quietly told, quietly thought, without glare or flutter, and interesting in both character and story.” Saturday Review, December 17, 1870

“It is really pleasant to read a novel like ‘My Little Lady’—a simple story, so vividly potraying a few characters that we can imagine we have known them, felt all their troubles, and rejoiced in their happiness.” Examiner, January 7, 1871

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000004766A#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-629%2C0%2C3742%2C1962

v.2 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F32A#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=6&xywh=-652%2C0%2C3781%2C1982

v.3 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F330#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&xywh=-1679%2C-126%2C4802%2C2518