Novel 261: Charlotte Yonge, Hopes and Fears (1860)

 

James Sant, Mary Fothergill and her children Richard and Mary

 

A woman devotes her life to a former lover’s orphan children.

Here is another novel by Yonge (see Novels 003, 053, 103, 155, 210) who, in the matter of character delineation, is, I will recklessly assert, the greatest of all novelists ever.

“Miss Yonge has . . . been remarkably successful in sustaining to the end the interest of the story, and we do not often meet with a novel in which it is less easy to predict beforehand what will become of each of the principal characters.” Literary Gazette, November 3, 1860

“The union of a chivalrous sense of honor with a keen perception of the ludicrous, and of dainty literary tastes with strictly High-Church principles, and the fondness alike for practical duties and errant fancies, seem as essential to the character of the author of ‘Hopes and Fears’ as to that of the heroine. Novel readers . . . will find the story full . . . of the same quiet humour and the same high moral principles” as all Yonge’s novels. North American Review, April, 1861

A constrasting view:

“Without the help of a genealogical tree, we are completely at a loss to understand the plot of the story, for we are carried through no less than four generations of one family, and are favoured with the history of all their relations, connexions and friends. Moreover . . . nearly every person mentioned in the book is known by a very unfair number of nicknames, which only makes confusion worse confounded. . . . The moral of the story seems to prove (whether intentionally or not we cannot say) that if children are duly instructed in religious principles, and receive a careful education they will probably turn out good-for-nothing, worthless characters; but if sufficiently neglected . . . there is every hope that they may ultimately become praiseworthy and valuable members of society, even, perhaps, zealous, hard-working High-Church clergymen.” Athenaeum, November 3, 1860

Download this week’s novel:

v.1 https://archive.org/details/hopesfearsorscen01yong

v.2 https://archive.org/details/hopesfearsorscen02yong

Crossword 260: Double Duties

 

Edmund Blair Leighton, Duty

 

Duty is an important value with us here at David Alfred Bywaters’s Crossword Cavalcade and Weekly Victorian Novel Recommender, as it was with the Victorians themselves; so this week’s puzzle, which concludes the website’s fifth year, is a cruciverbal Ode to Duty, just like Wordsworth’s, except that it’s a puzzle made up of crossed words rather than a poem..

Are you feeling a dutiful inclination to help support this website?  Now’s your chance!  As at other years’ ends, along with giving you absolutely free two 21 x 21 puzzles (this week and next week), we are offering bonus puzzles to those who donate.  You may click on the button below, or donate through PayPal or Venmo using the site’s email address.  There are four donation levels.  Donate $12 and receive a 15 x 15 crossword which employs only words current during the Victorian era (and, of course, still current today).  Donate $13.50 and receive a large, themed 21 x 21 crossword.  Donate $15 and receive both. 

And again, for a donation of $10,000,000.00 the site will be renamed in your honor. So if your name is, say, Melon Usk, it will henceforth be known as Melon Usk Presents David Alfred Bywaters’s Crossword Cavalcade and Weekly Victorian Novel Recommender.  Why do this?  Well, say you’re a little remorseful about spending 44 billion dollars on a social media platform that’s good for little but abusing one’s enemies and congratulating oneself—wouldn’t you feel much better about things if, for a tiny fraction of the price, you purchased in addition the right to present the world’s premier source of crossword puzzles and Victorian novel recommendations?

Download this week’s crosswords:

260-Double-Duties.puz

260-Double-Duties.pdf

260-Double-Duties (2 pages).pdf

Solve this week’s crosswords online:

260 Double Duties

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A crossword of mine appears today in the Wall Street Journal; another appears Friday, November 18, in the Los Angeles Times.

Novel 258, Mrs. Alfred Sidgwick, The Professor’s Legacy (1905)

 

George Goodwin Kilburne, A Young Woman at a Piano

 

A wealthy English scientist is appointed guardian to his late German collaborator’s beautiful daughter, who is otherwise at the mercy of a scheming aunt.

Here is another novel by Sidgwick (see Novels 082, 142, 200), vivid and well crafted as usual.

“Reticent and light of touch as our author is, you are never allowed to forget how deep are the depths of passion that lie beneath this humorous, shrewd surface-play.  ‘The Professor’s Legacy,’ in fact, is one of the most interesting and well-told novels of the season, and it should be one of the most popular.” Academy, October 28, 1905

“The tale is a good one in its quiet way, told with much humor and much excellent character study.  The scenes too, shifting from a German university town to a country place in England, afford an opportunity for varied pictures of life and manners.” New York Times, November 25, 1905

“Her sharply contrasted and clear-cut portraits of various social types are done with admirable verve.” Spectator, December 15, 1905

Download this week’s novel:

https://archive.org/details/professorslegac00sidggoog

Novel 257: Robert Grant, The Confessions of a Frivolous Girl (1880)

 

William Merritt Chase, Portrait of Miss Frances V. Earle

 

A New York heiress is courted by various young men.

Robert Grant (1852-1940) wrote some fifteen novels, of which the last appeared in 1931.  This was his first, a light-hearted representation of the sad quandaries facing a fashionable young woman of the period.

“Mr. Grant writes without affectation, and appears to know New York society well; his book is decidedly attractive and lively.” Athenaeum, October 29, 1881

“The naïve account which the young lady gives of her triumphs is exceedingly amusing. . . . Very lifelike and amusing are her incidental sketches of the four gentlemen who specially honour her by their preference.” Spectator, November 5, 1881

A contrasting view:

“It is a long time since we met with a book—if, indeed, this is not entirely by itself—which credited our fair American cousins with so much vulgarity and so many little petty intrigues.” Academy, February 26, 1881

Download this week’s novel:

https://archive.org/details/confessionsoffri00gran