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JEROME, A Poor Man, A Novel
JEROME, A Poor Man, A Novel
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As reviewed by "Book Reviews: A Monthly Journal Devoted to New and Current Publications," May 1897:
We take off our hat to Miss Mary E. Wilkins. Her new book, "Jerome, a Poor Man," places her in the first rank among the three or four great living English novelists. And when we have named Meredith and Hardy, who is there left to compare her with? It would be ridiculous to mention Mr. Henry James in the same breath with her. "The Amazing Marriage" and "The Well-beloved" are the only stories of the last three years which afford a comparison, and then it must be remembered that the second of these is in Hardy's older manner and so is not typical of the period.
Just as some persons don't like Whistler, so there are some persons who have not liked the previous work of Miss Wilkins. They have complained about what they called its sadness. As a matter of fact they did not appreciate the fact that what bothered them was simply a matter of tone. But the gray background of '' Jane Field" and " Pembroke" is absent in "Jerome." Here we have the very color of life, the vivid reds of youth and the brilliant gold of autumn, in the treatment of character, as well as in the descriptions of the countryside.
One of Kipling's short stories affects one like a glass of brandy. "Jerome" leaves the gentle glow of a bottle of good Burgundy. It is a book that you feel to the tips of your ringers and your very toes. But there are no brutal assaults on the sensibilities in this writer. Not for a single moment when she brings the mist before your eyes and the choking feeling in your throat do you lose the sense of the exquisite workmanship, the fine reserve, the light touch and the masculine strength of it all.
We take off our hat to Miss Mary E. Wilkins. Her new book, "Jerome, a Poor Man," places her in the first rank among the three or four great living English novelists. And when we have named Meredith and Hardy, who is there left to compare her with? It would be ridiculous to mention Mr. Henry James in the same breath with her. "The Amazing Marriage" and "The Well-beloved" are the only stories of the last three years which afford a comparison, and then it must be remembered that the second of these is in Hardy's older manner and so is not typical of the period.
Just as some persons don't like Whistler, so there are some persons who have not liked the previous work of Miss Wilkins. They have complained about what they called its sadness. As a matter of fact they did not appreciate the fact that what bothered them was simply a matter of tone. But the gray background of '' Jane Field" and " Pembroke" is absent in "Jerome." Here we have the very color of life, the vivid reds of youth and the brilliant gold of autumn, in the treatment of character, as well as in the descriptions of the countryside.
One of Kipling's short stories affects one like a glass of brandy. "Jerome" leaves the gentle glow of a bottle of good Burgundy. It is a book that you feel to the tips of your ringers and your very toes. But there are no brutal assaults on the sensibilities in this writer. Not for a single moment when she brings the mist before your eyes and the choking feeling in your throat do you lose the sense of the exquisite workmanship, the fine reserve, the light touch and the masculine strength of it all.
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