Novel 366: Sarah R. Whitehead, The Two Families (1852)
Two families, one rich, one religious, are contrasted.
The Scottish author Sarah Robertson Whitehead (1817-1875) wrote five novels: three in the 1850s, two in the 1870s.
“The incidents flow, rather than arise, one from out the other; the origin of the hero of the first ‘family’ is well conceived-working his way, stealthily and steadily, with a very, very little leaven, to leaven the selfishness and cunning which is part and parcel of himself, and yet cherishing one humanizing influence in his heart. The author reads human nature keenly, and correctly, and with a kindly spirit; sorry for its flaws, its mistakes, its corruptions; while for the sake of that truth she (?) never violates, tracing them with unerring fidelity; but her heart expands, and her style improves, when she displays the workings, the strength, the truth, the purity, of the Christian struggling with adversity and sorrow, and triumphing in the end--as only Christians can triumph.” Sharpe’s London Journal, January, 1852
“The delineation” of main characters “is very well done. . . . The novel, in point of execution, belongs to the new and quiet school, or rather to an old school revived. The persons and incidents are those of everyday life, told in a congenial spirit; though the art of the describer may give more pleasure than the reality possesses.” Spectator, January 17, 1852
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