Novel 211: James Payn, What He Cost Her (1877)
A strong-willed young lady marries a charming officer-in-training.
Here is another of Payn’s 60-some works of fiction (see Novels 011, 081), with an excellent portrait of a genial character drifting carelessly into evil.
“Though the subject is unpleasant, Mr. Payn has made a readable book. . . . There is plenty of vivacity in the narrative throughout.” Athenaeum, May 19, 1877
The novel “deals with a painful subject in a way which other novelists might emulate with advantage.” Spectator, January 26, 1878
A contrasting view:
“It is nothingness, like its lighter brethren, but it is heavy nothingness, the very ponderosity of Nihilism. It is not interesting, it is not amusing, it is not appealing, it is not instructive, . . . it is hopeless to go on saying what it is not. . . . There ought to be no difficulty in turning off such books as this once a month, or even sooner; anyone of average capacity might spin them off as fast as he could hold the pen.” Examiner, May 5, 1877
Download this week’s novel:
v.1 https://archive.org/details/whathecosther01payn