A young American woman confuses her ideals with her social ambitions.
Here is another novel by Grant, for whom see Novel 257.
Grant “presents a drama of life; he marshals a variety of characters, each original and vital; his central figure is a unique creation, drawn with the unfaltering hand of a master. The reader will rejoice in what is distinctly a new book, as full of freshness as of vigor.” New York Times, May 19, 1900
“The book . . . has completely conquered us. It has triumphed both over our prejudices and over our purpose. Not only that, but a very careful reading of it compels us at the outset to say that no American writer for many years has wrought out a work of fiction so full of meaning, so admirable in its literary quality, and so large and comprehensive in its scope as this book of Mr. Grant’s. We came to scoff, but we have remained to praise; and Unleavened Bread deserves not only all the praise that we shall give it, but a much more exhaustive and critical consideration than any that is possible to us in these pages at the present time. Mr. Grant’s novel has certain qualities about it which are rarely found in anything that resembles an harmonious combination. In the first place, it is a most accurate and adequate study of character. In the second place, it is a most interesting story, one which compels you to read it to the end and then to read it once again, in order to revert to certain passages and episodes of which the full significance is not clearly understood at the time of the first reading. Again, it is almost the only novel that we know of which can be called American in the true sense of that word. . . . Unleavened Bread has the rare merit of growing more and more absorbingly interesting as it nears the end. No casual review can do justice to the admirable skill which Mr. Grant has shown in the development and conduct of the story, nor can we give an adequate idea of the point, the keenness and the pungency with which he has hit off a thousand little things, each of which, in itself, is of no particular importance, but all of which when taken together make the book a marvellous picture of American life today. The social part of it and the political part of it deserve equal praise; and while the local colour—whether the scene be Benham or New York or Washington—is perfect, the story as a whole is free from localism and is absolutely national.” Bookman, July 1900.
A contrasting view:
“The book leaves a painful impression. It is a powerful attack on what Judge Grant takes to be the shallow intellectual culture of the ‘new woman,’ with her catchwords of supposed progress, but the need of such a book is not apparent. Selma is neither natural nor typical of anything. The best that we can say of the book is that ‘Unleavened Bread’ will be talked about.” Chicago Daily Tribune, May 19, 1900
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