Novel 179: Mary Louisa Molesworth, She was Young and He was Old (1872)

April 19, 2021 David Bywaters

A virtuous young lady marries a middle-aged attorney to please her dying mother.

Here is another novel by the other Molesworth (see Novel 100), with well-defined characters placed in a carefully developed, interestingly uncomfortable situation.

“We have read it with a pleasure which is due partly to the inherent interest of the subject, hackneyed as it is, but mainly to the quiet dignity of the style, and a certain sub-acid flavour discernible throughout.” Molesworth has “hit off many of the weak points of provincial life.” Athenaeum, January 27, 1872

“The author . . . is an exceedingly graceful writer, with a good deal of literary taste. Her pair of sisters have evidently been a work of love, and some pride as well. We may congratulate her on a success.” The main character “is certainly made so life-like that we have learned to look at her with her creator’s partial eyes.” Saturday Review, June 15, 1872

Download this week’s novel:

http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph014012488

Crossword 178: That’s Thats

April 16, 2021 David Bywaters

This puzzle celebrates the versatility in English of the terminal “s”—which can indicated plurality, possession (either singular or plural, depending on apostrophe placement), or nothing in particular (as in the name “Bywaters”). It can also (with an apostrophe) indicate an elided version of the common word “is,” but I'm saving that for another puzzle, in which I’ll celebrate the versatility of the English apostrophe.

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178-That's-Thats.puz

178-That's-Thats.pdf

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178 That's Thats

Novel 178: Mrs. Henry Chetwynd, A Brilliant Woman (1892)

April 12, 2021 David Bywaters

A beautiful, much-admired woman marries so that she may become a society leader.

Here is another novel by Chetwynd (see Novel 80); though not free of sentimentalism, especially at the end, it features some excellent studies of changing characters.

“The plot is very ingeniously constructed. . . . The husband . . . and the wife . . . are both highly individual characters, and exceedingly well drawn.” Academy, December 17, 1892

“We do not often get such good, careful work. . . . From the first to the last page it is well written, and worth reading.” Spectator, January 28, 1893

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/brilliantwoman01chet

v.2 https://archive.org/details/brilliantwoman02chet

v.3 https://archive.org/details/brilliantwoman03chet

Crossword 177: Coming In Last

April 9, 2021 David Bywaters

Thomas Benjamin Kennington, Serena, Found of Savages

Among the many human proclivities that baffle me is the love of racing—of doing a thing, or of watching somebody or something do a thing, faster than some other body or thing. It honors the tyranny of Time, that inexorable force which impels us all helplessly towards apparent annihilation. It upsets the restful calm for which we ought all to strive, as both an aesthetic and a moral ideal. Rather than be in a hurry, I’m happy to come in last.

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177-Coming-in-Last.puz

177-Coming-in-Last.pdf

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177 Coming in Last

Pointing Hand.png — A crossword of mine appears Wednesday, April 14, in Universal Crossword

Novel 177: Ellen Georgiana Clutton-Brock, James Gordon’s Wife (1871)

April 5, 2021 David Bywaters

George Goodwin Kilburne, Penning A Letter

A man of towering intellect resists the power of love.

Ellen Georgiana Clutton-Brock (1845-1894), née Eyre, wrote two novels, of which this is the first. The first volume is good, and the second excellent, as complex characters make believable mistakes; the third, in which Providence intervenes to reward and punish them, is not so disappointing as to ruin the the whole.

“The author of ‘James Gordon’s Wife’ has succeeded by sheer cleverness of writing in making readable, and occasionally really interesting, a story which in less able hands would probably have been insufferably dull.” Athenaeum, May 27, 1871

“The story is an ordinary one enough, with the incidents too obviously arranged to suit a moral; but it is told with a force and a liveliness which altogether redeem the book from the charge of being dull.” Spectator, September 2, 1871

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/james-gordons-wife-1

v.2-3 http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph014384326
(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)

Crossword 176: Parliamentary Divisions

April 2, 2021 David Bywaters

John Atkinson Grimshaw, Reflections on the Thames, Westminster

Though the inspiration for this puzzle was 64 Across (see my remarks on “The Star Spangled Banner” accompanying Crosswords 032 and 033), I’m proudest of 38 Across, which I recommend to any statistics-compiling social scientist stuck for a topic.

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176-Parliamentary-Divisions.puz

176-Parliamentary-Divisions.pdf

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176 Parliamentary Divisions

Novel 176, Hamilton Aïdé, Penruddocke (1873)

March 29, 2021 David Bywaters

William Holman Hunt, The Old Church at Ewell

A younger son is badly treated by his mother.

Here is another novel by Aïdé (see Novel 076), with a good plot and some striking characters.

“‘Penruddocke’ is a novel which shows a certain amount of power”; several characters are “well enough drawn to raise a story, in other respects carefully told, above the ordinary level.” Athenaeum, July 5, 1873

“Even the most blasé of novel-readers would find in this tale a plot sufficiently interesting to arouse his jaded senses, and yet it contains, at the most, only two incidents that can fairly be reckoned ‘sensational.’ It mainly depends for its interest on the clever way in which the plot is worked out, nothwithstanding the presence of an unusual number of dramatis personae.” Examiner, July 5, 1873

“Mr. Hamilton Aïdé has given us another of his carefully written and interesting stories. Without anything remarkable in power or new in incident, Mr. Aïdé always succeeds in engaging and holding our attention. . . . The plot is carefully worked out. . . . And he is careful in his writing; his English is simple, correct, and elegant.” Spectator, July 19, 1873

Download this week’s novel:

https://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/44OXF_INST/35n82s/alma990146524130107026

Crossword 175: Chariot

March 26, 2021 David Bywaters

James Jacques Joseph Tissot, The Ladies of the Cars

This puzzle, moving as it does from the ridiculous (gag gifts) to the sublime (church music), is calculated to lift you above sordid cares on a kind of celestial crossword chariot. It’s part of my ongoing project of making the world a better place, one solver at a time.

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175-Chariot.puz

175-Chariot.pdf

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175 Chariot

Novel 175: Jane Octavia Brookfield, Influence (1871)

March 22, 2021 David Bywaters

Richard Westall, Lady Hamilton (as St Cecilia)

An ambitious, intellectual woman seeks to arrange her friends’ lives.

Jane Octavia Brookfield (1821-1896), in the 1840s a very special friend of William Makepeace Thackeray, wrote four novels many years later, of which this is the second. Oddly clumsy in some ways (especially in its narrator’s intrusions), it nonetheless has some vivid, interesting characters.

“A novel of character which, if not deeply exciting, or suggestive of any new aspects of feminine human nature, is original in plan, and not ineffectively executed.” Athenaeum, January 21, 1871

“Influence at once makes itself felt as a book of character. There is no danger of confounding it with the ordinary run of novels, there is no danger of forgetting it. . . . The conversations are well managed, and, though there is no pretence at a plot, the story is interesting. Altogether, Influence is a good novel.” Spectator, May 20, 1871

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F6E4#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=4&xywh=-329%2C-123%2C2895%2C2158

v.2 http://access.bl.uk/item/viewer/ark:/81055/vdc_00000003F6EA#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=4&xywh=-316%2C-100%2C2906%2C2166

Crossword 174: Is It In Or Isn't It?

March 19, 2021 David Bywaters

William Shayer Senior, A Halt at the Inn

Like other hip crossword constructors of today, I ask myself that question over and over again, as I decide on each word: not “will it be known to the average solver?” but “is it in?” Only the hottest new celebrities, the coolest TV shows, the freshest slang, will do. To be sure, the French painter in today’s puzzle died in 1665, and its “mild oath” was in use as early as 1815: but they’re fadding—wait, I mean trending—now!

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174-Is-It-In-Or-Isn't-It?.puz

174-Is-It-In-Or-Isn't-It?.pdf

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174 Is It In Or Isn’t It?

Novel 174: Lucy B. Walford, Cousins (1879)

March 15, 2021 David Bywaters

Three sisters react to the return of their wealthy and distinguished cousin from India.

This novel provides a generous sampling of its author’s characteristically deft social comedy (see Novels 018, 066, 121), despite a sometimes annoying plot.

“There is a resemblance in the manner of handling to Miss Austen’s manner, especially in the first volume; and when it is said that Cousins does not come too discreditably out of the comparison, we need not say that a very high compliment is thereby paid to the author.” Academy, July 26, 1879

“It is, in part at least, a very good novel—one of the best that we have read for a long time. The situation . . . upon which it turns is . . . novel and . . . has great capabilities. . . . Its great attraction lies in the delicacy of the character drawing, in the charming domestic sketches in which it abounds, and in the natural and easy dialogue which is so rare an accomplishment with novelists. The first volume, which is far the best, will remind many readers of Miss Austen’s work, and it would be impossible to give it higher praise.” Manchester Guardian, August 18, 1879

Its “success is, in our judgment, decided”; it is “as careful and honest as it is modest and pure. The purpose of the story is kept in view throughout; there are no tricks of style or language, and there is no padding.” Saturday Review, August 30, 1879

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/cousins01walfo

v.2 https://archive.org/details/cousins02walf

v.3 https://archive.org/details/cousins03walf

Crossword 173: Faulty Instrument Panel

March 12, 2021 David Bywaters

This week I continue my ongoing attempt to render in crossword form the lighter side of all possible human afflictions. Next week I might try to take the sting out of intake manifold runner control system malfunctions, unless something better occurs to me in the meantime.

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173-Faulty-Instrument-Panel.puz

173-Faulty-Instrument-Panel.pdf

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173 Faulty Instrument Panel

Novel 173: Harold Frederic, March Hares (1896)

March 8, 2021 David Bywaters

Frederick Edward Joseph Goff, Westminster and Westminster Bridge from the River

Two unhappy young people meet by chance on Westminster bridge.

Best known for The Damnation of Theron Ware (1896), expatriate American journalist Harold Frederic (1856-1898) wrote ten other novels before his death in middle age, one of them this brief, light-hearted love story set in London.

“We can thoroughly commend the book as an easily read piece of fancy.” Athenaeum, July 4, 1896

“Mr. Harold Frederic gives the reader of ‘March Hares’ a shock of delightful surprise. . . . he is captivating, amusing, a playful companion.” His characters “are simply human beings flung into the grotesque whirl of such a sequence of situations as only a riotous imagination could devise, but which such a keen intelligence as Mr. Frederic’s finds no difficulty making thoroughly natural. We use the word intelligence, because . . . Mr. Frederic seems to be exercising the mere gymnastical faculties of his mind, whipping along the dialogue with so much animation, so much fun, so much ingenuity, that the effect of the tale is not unlike that of the conversation of original and clever people. . . . It has art of the genuine sort, not mere silly craftsmanship and pretense, but the dignified art which means a quiet mastery of the subject in hand. There are few novelists to-day who could have taken such a gossamer theme as that of ‘March Hares’ and left it so well worked out as it has been in the present case.” New York Tribune, December 20, 1896

Download this week’s novel:

https://archive.org/details/marchhares00fred

Crossword 172: Suburban Sprawl

March 5, 2021 David Bywaters

Thomas Sidney Cooper, Fording a Brook, Suburbs of Canterbury

Having last week endured the city’s seething strife, we flee this week to the sedative sameness of the suburbs—but—oh no!— what’s that right in the middle of everything at 39 Across? Is there no peace on this side of the grave?

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172 Suburban-Sprawl.puz

172 Suburban-Sprawl.pdf

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172 Suburban Sprawl

Novel 172: Catherine Gore, The Banker’s Wife (1843)

March 1, 2021 David Bywaters

A scheming banker has little sympathy for his family.

Here is another excellent novel by Gore (see Novels 012, 072, 118), filled as usual with shrewd social satire.

“A very clever, and what is more, a very readable novel; clear, rapid, fluent, abounding in pointed sentences.” Spectator, September 16, 1843

No living author “possesses greater power in the delineation of character.” Sunday Times, September 17, 1843

“The ‘name’ of its writer, first as that of a woman, and secondly as that of a popular ‘novelist,’ will long keep it out of the hands of those ‘grave and reverend signors,’ who are the chief dispensers of that reputation which they cannot compass for themselves, and who . . . will never be satisfied that a woman has been gifted with faculties of observing . . . nature.” Morning Post, October 1843

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/bankerswifeorcou01gore

v.2 https://archive.org/details/bankerswifeorcou02gore

v.3 https://archive.org/details/bankerswifeorcou03gore

Crossword 171: Inner City

February 26, 2021 David Bywaters

If you’re longing for the hustle and the bustle, the hurry and the scurry, the hurly and the burly, the hub and the bub, of a big city (and don’t happen to live in one), you’ll save a lot in plane fare and hotel fees if you just do this puzzle.

(NB: It’s such a big city puzzle I had to make two extra rows!)

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171-Inner-City.puz

171-Inner-City.pdf

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171 Inner City

Novel 171: Cecil Clayton, Azalea (1876)

February 22, 2021 David Bywaters

Margaret Sarah Carpenter, Lady Harriet Hamilton

A girl, raised to the age of twelve in the Italian Alps by the widowed daughter of a Jewish silk-merchant, is on her mother's death adopted by her English uncle.

About Cecil Clayton nothing is known, except that two novels appeared under this name, Effie’s Game in 1873 and this one three years later. It has some excellent characters, a good style, and a pleasantly untroubled plot, as though the author were too soft-hearted to inflict much pain on her (or his?) creations.

“Azalea is a story which, without having anything new either in plot or characters, is distinctly easy and pleasant to read, in consequence of its thoroughly cultured and well-bred tone.” Academy, September 9, 1876

“People whose nerves have been shaken by overwork or anxiety, people who wish to forget that there are such things as passion and suffering in the world, should read this smoothest of all smooth tales, and enjoy the society of the innocent persons. The worst characters in Azalea are sometimes flippant or a little peevish, but their failings are never allowed to interfere with the tranquil happiness of the hero and heroine.” Saturday Review, September 16, 1876

Download this week’s novel:

https://books.google.com/books?id=o2tTPrSSiosC&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=azalea%20cecil%20clayton&pg=PA7#v=onepage&q=azalea%20cecil%20clayton&f=false

Crossword 170: Beastly Puns

February 19, 2021 David Bywaters

When I test-solved this puzzle, I found I’d clued 35 Across “Jacob’s brother” and 55 Across “Seth’s son.” This seemed like too many Biblical relatives, so I substituted two “hidden-in” clues, which are more fun anyway—not that modified homonym cliché-based animal pun phrases aren’t already more fun than anybody ought to be trusted with.

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170-Beastly-Puns.puz

170-Beastly-Puns.pdf

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170 Beastly Puns

Novel 170: M.E. Braddon, Only a Clod (1865)

February 15, 2021 David Bywaters

A common soldier inherits a fortune from a miserly uncle.

Here is yet another novel by the great Braddon (see Novels 004, 061, 115).

“Miss Braddon . . . tells her story with a brisk straightforwardness, and the working is compact and consistent. And it is no small or common talent to be able to construct an interesting tale, and then to tell it in good language, without affectation or egotism. Several of the characters are very well sketched, but in the beautiful heroine Miss Braddon has done more than draw a mere colourless outline. A good-humoured, simple-hearted, and spoiled young lady is easily drawn, but to change her gradually, and without melodramatic violence of nonsense, into something very different, requires more than mere smartness and ordinary skill”; her growth is “described with great ingenuity and force.” Saturday Review, May 27, 1865

“Only a Clod . . . is a fresh proof of the vigour and fertility of the mind which produced . . . ‘Aurora Floyd’ . . . and ‘The Doctor's Wife’. . . . As a whole . . . the book will be eagerly read as a powerfully written and admirably constructed story.” Manchester Guardian, June 13, 1865

Download this week’s novel:

http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/permalink/f/89vilt/oxfaleph014579096

(Right-click (or control-click, if you have a Mac) on the three “view digitized copy” links to download the novel’s three volumes in pdf form)

Crossword 169: Triple Play

February 12, 2021 David Bywaters

Today’s crossword sets records for this site, in number of entries (80), number of 3-letter entries (39), and number of black squares (54) for a 15 x 15 puzzle. Maybe you’ll agree that the dazzlingly unusual theme is worth it all. Maybe you won’t. In either case, it’s too late to do anything about it now.

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169-Triple-Play.puz

169-Triple-Play.pdf

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169 Triple Play

Blog

A virtuous young lady marries a middle-aged attorney to please her dying mother.

A beautiful, much-admired woman marries so that she may become a society leader.

A man of towering intellect resists the power of love.

A younger son is badly treated by his mother.

An ambitious, intellectual woman seeks to arrange her friends’ lives.

Two unhappy young people meet by chance on Westminster bridge.

A scheming banker has little sympathy for his family.

A girl, raised to the age of twelve in the Italian Alps by the widowed daughter of a Jewish silk-merchant, is on her mother's death adopted by her English uncle.

A common soldier inherits a fortune from a miserly uncle.