Unquenched Fire, A Novel by Alice Gerstenberg. Boston: Small, Maynard and Company, Publishers, [1912.] 417p.

Jane Carrington, daughter of a Chicago millionaire, becomes dissatisfied with the limitations of Chicago society and decides to try life in the theatre. Success comes to her on the New York stage, bringing with it the problem of coping with her explosive temperament and moods. Only the first portion of Unquenched Fire is set in Chicago, and that portion does not hold the sparkle, the interest, or the insight which becomes apparent as the story progresses.

Book Review Digest, 1912, p. 169.

Jerry Bleeker, or, Is Marriage a Failure? by Robert C. Givins. Author of "The Millionaire Tramp," "The Unwritten Will," "Land Poor," Etc. Chicago: Laird & Lee, Publishers, 1889. 206p. (The Pastime Series Vol. 30, August, 1889)

Phoebe Parry, the prettiest girl in Vincennes, Ohio, impetuously marries the village scoundrel, then lives to regret her mistake. When she seeks the assistance of attorney Jeremiah Bleeker, he aids her in obtaining a divorce. As divorce proceedings drag on, Jerry and Phoebe fall in love, then marry when the divorce is final. Love and suspense sustain reader interest throughout the book, although the author interposes long discourses concerning prohibition and his philosophy of marriage into the action of the novel. Much of the plot takes place in the village of Vincennes and in New York, but an interesting sequence describing the Chicago divorce courts of the 1880s, gives the novel substance beyond the run-of-the-mill moralistic romance of the day.

The Unwritten Will; A Romance by Snivig C. Trebor, [pseud.] Author of "The Millionaire Tramp," "The Rights of the People," "Chicago in 1980," "Past, Present, and Future," "A Weird New Year's Tale," "Barnaby Smith, The Chicago Millionaire," Etc., Etc. Chicago: Rhodes & McClure Publishing Company, 1886. 214p.

Givins' attempts to combine love, adventure, business, philosophy, and morality into one neat package for leisure consumption, result in this rather tedious and transparent story of treachery against the unsuspecting Henry Norwood. Henry is duped, framed, imprisoned, cheated of his rightful inheritance, and refused the hand of his beloved Kate in marriage. Paying his debt to society, he emerges from prison an impeccably honest and wiser man. He moves to Chicago where he regains his self-respect, becomes a lawyer, makes a fortune in land speculation during the building boom of the 1860s, repays his debts with interest, wins his love, and reestablishes his family fortune. This done, he settles down to live out his days in virtue and prosperity.

Brook Evans by Susan Glaspell. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, MCMXXVIII. 312p.

Brook Evans is a novel spanning some forty years and three generations. Developing the theme that each generation must learn from its own mistakes, the author begins with the story of Naomi Kellogg, Brook Evans' mother, whose tragic affair with a neighbor boy results in her sacrificing her own happiness to give her unborn child a name. When Naomi attempts to protect Brook from a similar situation years later, Brook refuses her mother's help and advice, realizing her mother's true intent only after twenty years have passed and the situation is again repeated with a mature Brook acting the role of troubled mother. Susan Glaspell's book is an adequate re-creation of life in nineteenth century Illinois and Colorado and early twentieth century Europe.

Book Review Digest, 1928, p. 304.

The Glory of the Conquered; The Story of a Great Love, by Susan Glaspell. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, [1909.] 376p.

Karl and Ernestine Hubers are quite different in interest and temperament, but their whirlwind courtship and happy marriage prove to the world that they are mature and happy people capable of handling their diverse personalities. Karl, a research professor at the University of Chicago, and Ernestine, a talented artist, pursue personal interests until the time when Karl is blinded by the specimens with which he is working. The loss of his sight drives him into a state of deep depression which Ernestine feels can be alleviated only by his return to the laboratory which he loves. To that end, she gives up her painting to spend untold hours at the university studying his work and the background writing in the field so that, with her assistance, he can go on with his experiments. Karl's death at the moment when Ernestine at last feels competent to work with him comes as a terrible shock to her, but she begins to restructure her life around her work in the same manner that she had earlier built her life around Karl's. The Glory of the Conquered is Susan Glaspell's first novel, bringing her instantaneous success. It has its faults--the nature of Karl's work is vague, his illness is undefined, and the tugs on the heartstrings are wearying. But what the author lacks in medical knowledge and terminology she makes up in her presentation of the intellectual life at the University of Chicago around 1900; and the sentimentality can be overlooked for the goodly portions of beauty in style and imagination in plot which she so adequately displays.

Book Review Digest, 1909, p. 172.

The Visioning, A Novel by Susan Glaspell. Author of "The Glory of the Conquered." ... New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, [1911.] 464p.

Katie Jones, living on an army post in the Mississippi River valley with her officer brother, takes her regimented, carefree life for granted until she foils a young woman's suicide attempt, then begins to probe the girl's psyche for motives. As the girl's mental state improves, she tells Katie of her past life in Centralia and Chicago, reveals the reason for her despondency, and together the two find a greater awareness of the meaning of life. The life style as described in The Visioning is unconventional and exciting for 1910, but seems pretty tepid by today's standards; and the philosophies which the two girls construct have appeared before and since in stories penned by romantic idealists. Still, the story is pleasant and offers a different concept of middle western life although vague references to locale are annoying.

Book Review Digest, 1911, p. 183.

Miss Mordeck's Father, by Fani Pusey Gooch. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, Publishers, [1890.] 288p.

A case of mistaken identity leads to the discovery of a prominent Chicago businessman's double life, two families, and mental malfunction. Browne Mordeck attributes Shreves Chilson's strange behavior toward her to mental derangement, until she discovers that his fiancee is her exact double. Investigation reveals that the girls are half sisters, with a common father whose split personality coupled with frequent and lengthy disappearances from each household--for business reasons, he says--enables him to maintain two homes, two families, and two lives simultaneously. The father's miraculous cure, brought about through the wonders of advanced nineteenth century medicine, is only slightly more amazing than the author's hasty solution to the question of bigamy which raises its ugly head about midway through the novel. Miss Mordeck's Father is a slight novel worthy of little notice except for the perceptive presentation of nineteenth century attitudes toward morals and mental illness.

Catholic World, 5/1890, p. 263-5. Independent, 7/10/1890, p. 967. Literary World, 5/10/1890, p. 155.

A Devout Bluebeard, by Marie Graham. New York: The Abbey Press, Publishers; 114 FifthAvenue, [1900.] 300p.

Richard Maxton, the Bluebeard of this tale, is far less colorful than the original, for Maxton's sins are more often acts of omission rather than commission. Yet, in each case, through staunch convictions which masquerade as religion, he aids and abets death. His first wife, Harriet Newell Raynor, dies in childbirth while doing missionary work in Africa. The second Mrs. Maxton, Petronella Van Boom of New York, tries hard to meet Harriett's standards, but fails to break into religious society and is prematurely taken to her reward, again through childbirth. The third, the former Lulu Fields, has few religious convictions, but becomes so engrossed in socializing, organizing, directing, and otherwise working for the church that she dies in service. Only the fourth, Parthenia Revere, outlives Maxton and causes him to realize that he and his former wives have mistaken theology for religion. A Devout Bluebeard is a biting satire of organized religion and the society of superficial Christians who mold and twist the church for personal gratification. Although written in 1900 concerning post-Civil War Chicago. A Devout Bluebeard contains universal truths written in a style which many modern readers will enjoy.

If the Devil Came to Chicago; A Plea for the Misrepresented by One Who Knows What It Is to Be Misrepresented Himself ... by Austyn Granville and William Wilson Knott. Illustrated by F. Holme, Painter to his Satanic Majesty. Chicago: The Bow-Knot Publishing Co., 1894. 352p

Written as a rebuttal to William T. Stead, whose book If Christ Came to Chicago, paints an unholy and unhealthy picture of the city, this novel relates the experiences and impressions of I. Beelzebub as he maneuvers about Chicago, dodging shadows of churches, avoiding clergymen on errands of mercy, noting the hospitals, libraries, orphan asylums, charities, and thousands of good people, while searching for the sin which Stead so avidly describes. Checking out the sweat shops, charities, theaters, red light districts, and other topics on which his adversary reports so glowingly, the Devil concludes that as a city of sin, Chicago is vastly overrated. Lengthy appendices at the end of the volume list Chicago's existing churches and schools in 1894.

The Great Cronin Mystery; or, The Irish Patriot's Fate, by A Chicago Detective.... Chicago: Laird & Lee, Publishers, 1889. l99p. (The Pinkerton Detective Series Vol. 28, June, 1889)

Through a seemingly unimportant marital case, a prominent, unidentified Chicago detective becomes involved in the disappearance and murder of Dr. P. H. Cronin, a staunch Irish Nationalist and worker for Irish independence. In a curt, journalistic style, the narrator builds a case involving a suspicious husband and an unfaithful wife, then implicates the pair in the Cronin murder. As a novel, The Great Cronin Mystery is a disappointment, for the mystery is not solved, and the narrator as much as admits, on the last page, that he has been on the wrong trail. The murder which is an actual case from police records, is set in Lake View, but the investigation lures the detective to Montreal and Toronto temporarily before settling in on the Chicago suburb.

Six of One by Half a Dozen of the Other; An Every Day Novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, Adeline D. T. Whitney, Lucretia P. Hale, Frederic W. Loring, Frederic B. Perkins, and Edward E. Hale. Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1872. 245p,

Six authors and six main characters explain the unusual title of this work, first published serially between December, 1871 and June, 1872, in Old and New, a popular quarterly of the 1870s, edited by Edward Everett Hale. The group of writers originally planned this joint effort in the summer of 1871. It was to be a romance about three young lady friends and their suitors, and the story would have contained little to distinguish it had it not been for the Chicago fire in the fall of that year. When the authors' setting for the finale was devastated by flames, they wrote the fire into the final chapter with detailed and vivid, if sentimental, descriptions.

Honor Divided, by Grace D. Hall and Ernesto G. Merlanti. New York, London and Edinburgh: Fleming H. Revell Company, [1935.] 224p.

Mario and Albert Torchiani, sons of Sicilian immigrants, choose opposing roads to wealth and success, leaving family conflict and heartache in their wakes. Mario, the elder, becoming discouraged with factory work, begins living by his wits on the fringe areas of Chicago's underworld, and eventually rises to prominence in the illegal liquor traffic during the prohibition era. Albert, with financial help from his brother, studies law and becomes a judge. The inevitable conclusion is reached when Mario is arrested and tried in Albert's court, and each brother is forced to justify his life to the other and to himself. The authors have created two credible people and placed them in a detailed and believable setting. However, the plot, particularly the climax, is highly unlikely.

Book Review Digest, 1935, p. 425.

The Skipping Hillies, by Mabel Hall. Illustrated by Stanley Leland. Boston: Bruce Humphries, Inc., Publishers, [1933.] 143p.

The Skipping Hillies is a fictionalized memoir of the author's childhood set in a southern Illinois community, probably Murphysboro, on the Big Muddy River. It is not a novel, but rather a series of anecdotes, humorous stories, and pleasant remembrances focusing on the author's parents; her brother, Will; her sisters, Margaret, Frances, Helen, and Ruth; and Katie, the cook. Mrs. Hall is candid, in a humorous way, concerning her family and childhood friends. Yet, she deals with each individual lovingly, being careful to preserve the dignity and pride of each as she pokes gentle fun at their foibles.

Chicago Side-Show, by Albert Halper. [New York: The Modern Editions Press, 1932.] 22p. (Pamphlet Series One, No. 6)

Recollecting Chicago during the four seasons of the year, Halper reminisces about his hometown in a manner which seems more autobiographical than fictional. From a sleeping room off New York's Eighth Avenue, he remembers the farm boy from downstate Illinois standing in the Salvation Army line waiting for a warm meal and a night's lodging as the winter winds cut through his trousers; he remembers the summer band concerts in Union Park where he and George Hurrel tossed navy beans at the brass instruments; he remembers peeping through the back windows of Healy's and seeing painted women smoking cigarettes and entertaining different men each evening. He remembers the raw, slangy Chicago of his youth through a series of incidents and impressions which he fashions into a collage forming as perfect a description of the town as has ever been written.

The Golden Watch, by Albert Halper. Illustrated by Aaron Bohrod. New York: Henry Holt and Company, [1953.] 246p.

Set in pre-World War I Chicago, The Golden Watch is the story of a youth growing up on the west side: helping out in his father's grocery store, observing his sister's anticipation over her first date, experiencing the emotion of his older brothers' leaving home, and preparing for his own high school graduation surrounded by the myriad minor incidents which together form a day, a week, then a lifetime. Dave tells his own story in a humorous, down-to-earth, and nostalgic manner, omitting much that is unpleasant, and dwelling on the happy times, much as a kindly patriarch might in reviewing the past for the entertainment of his grandchildren and his own personal gratification.

Book Review Digest, 1953, p. 398.

On the Shore; Young Writer Remembering Chicago, [by] Albert Halper. New York: The Viking Press, MCMXXXIV. 257p.

In fifteen loosely connected autobiographical sketches, Albert Halper gives his impressions of the stockyards, his father's grocery store on Lake Street, the Randolph Street wholesale market, his mother's immigrant Uncle Feyder from Lithuania, the lake shore, Eddie and Danny Ryan, Union Park, and dozens of other reminders of the Chicago of his youth.

CONTENTS: A Herring for My Uncle.--My Aunt Daisy.--A Parting in the Country.--The Penny-Divers.--The Race.--Going to Market.--Winter Evening.--Farm Hand.--My Mother's Uncle from Lithuania.--Hot Night on the West Side.--On the Shore.--The Feud in the Rotunda.--White Laughter.--Young Writer Remembering Chicago.--My Brothers Who Are Honest Men.

Book Review Digest, 1934, p. 404.

Sons of the Fathers, by Albert Halper. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, [1940.] 431p.

Saul Bergman, a Russian Jew who immigrates to the United States to avoid conscription into the Russian army, encounters a similar conflict in his adopted country. After a peaceful twenty years, his idyllic life as a Chicago neighborhood grocer is disrupted by the entry of the United States into World War I, at a time when he has two sons of draft age. One son, Milton, rejects his father's anti-war, isolationist doctrines and enlists. The other becomes a draft dodger. Sons of the Fathers was an unpopular novel when it appeared in 1940. Written in 1937 when the United States was emerging from a period of isolation, the novel reflected the attitudes of that era. The three-year interval between writing and publication saw a complete about-face in attitudes toward war and the nation's position in the world, rendering the book passe before it ever appeared on library and book store shelves. Sons of the Fathers is not Halper's best work; neither is it his worst. Its major fault was an error in judgment by author and publisher.

Book Review Digest, 1940, p. 393.

All Their Children Were Acrobats, by Harry Hamilton. Author Of Banjo on My Knee. Indianapolis [and] New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1936.] 308p.

The Flying Donovans of vaudeville fame supply the background for this biographical novel which begins in Sentinel, Illinois, but spans the United States. Steve, Hilda, and Nick Donovan begin their joint careers quite accidentally by practicing tumbling and acrobatics for fun in the Sentinel High School gymnasium. A summer vacation spent performing on The Water Witch, a Mississippi River showboat, introduces them to the world of entertainment, and infuses in them a love for performing which binds each inextricably to the stage. Other interests occasionally interpose, temporarily breaking up the group, but always the straying member returns to the family fold and to the stage. Hamilton recalls the Donovans' lives with considerable love and candor, but in a style which falls short of the reader's expectations, considering his earlier novel, Banjo on My Knee.

Book Review Digest, 1936, p. 433.

An Anarchist Woman, by Hutchins Hapgood. Author of "The Autobiography of a Thief," "The Spirit of Labor." New York: Duffield & Company, 1909. 309p.

Through a character study of a young woman from the slums of Chicago, Hutchins Hapgood draws conclusions about the personal qualities and environmental conditions which breed anarchy. Born and reared near the stockyards on Chicago's west side, Marie is exposed early to poverty, alcoholism, promiscuity, and sordidness. At eleven, she quits school after completing only two years, and takes a job with a wholesale house on South Water Street; and at age fifteen she goes into domestic service. Throughout her youth, Marie harbors a rebellious temperament which defies restraint. This characteristic is heightened when she meets Terry, an alcoholic ne'er-do-well who introduces her to the socialist and labor movements of the 1890s and early 1900s, before succumbing totally to dissipation, drink, and dope. An Anarchist Woman is a harsh story which falls short of its mark, for despite her rebellious nature and expert tutelage, Marie's relations with the anarchist movement are minimal, and when removed from Terry's daily influence, she gives up her revolutionary activities for the tasks of day-to-day life.

Book Review Digest, 1909, p. 190.

Old Search in Chicago; or, "Piping" a World's Fair Mystery, by Major A. F. Grant, [pseud.] New York: Munro's Publishing House; 24 & 26 Vandewater Street, October 1, 1892. 47p. (Old Cap. Collier Library, No. 456)

Captain Sam Search of New York, visiting Chicago for the opening of the 1893 World's Fair, becomes involved in the murder of a Danish government agent in Lincoln Park. Through his activities on behalf of the murdered man's daughter, Old Search successfully manages to distract the murderers and thwart their activities, while promoting a love affair of considerable magnitude. The story is long, predictable, and tedious to an extreme. Even in the Old Cap. Collier Library there are similar titles of higher quality and interest level.

The Bomb, by Frank Harris. New York: Mitchell Kennerley, MCMIX. 329p.

Frank Harris' fictional account of the Haymarket Affair of 1886 focuses on Rudolph Schnaubelt, a German immigrant whose socialist background, discontent with his chosen country, and hatred for authority lead him to join the Chicago anarchists during the labor unrest of the 1880s. When strikes at the Pullman and McCormick plants and discontent among the stockyard employees and other workers throughout the city culminate in public demonstrations and riots which Chicago police attempt to control, it is Rudolph Schnaubelt who sets off a bomb killing eight policemen and injuring sixty people at a rally in Haymarket Square. The story is told in the first person, as seen through the eyes of Schnaubelt, who escapes to Bavaria where he watches closely the events which follow in the wake of his action. The Bomb is a depressing book on an ugly subject. Even an attempt by the author to relieve the demoralizing influence of the novel through the addition of a romantic sub-plot does little to alleviate the total starkness of the story and the writing.

Book Review Digest, 1909, p. 194.

Mr. Lincoln's Wife, [by] Anne Colver. New York [and] Toronto: Farrar & Rinehart, Inc., [1943.] 406p.

See No. 153.

Humpty Dumpty, by Ben Hecht. New York: Boni and Liveright, Publishers, 1924. 383p.

A novel quite similar in plot and theme to Hecht's earlier literary effort, Erik Dorn, Humpty Dumpty received little notice when published, and has since been termed nothing more than a rewrite of the earlier work. The novel concerns Kent Savaron, a young man with literary ambitions, who leaves his Wisconsin home for the plethora of opportunities available to him in Chicago. Savaron's friendships, marital difficulties, career, professional activities, and personality closely approximate Hecht's.

N Y. Times Book Review, 11/16/1924, p. 8.

The Common Lot, by Robert Herrick. Author of "The Web of Life," "The Real World," Etc. New York: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1904. 426p.

Jackson Hart has studied architecture at an eastern technical school, at Cornell University, and at the Paris Beaux Arts, compliments of his uncle, Powers Jackson, a wealthy Chicago bridge builder. At his uncle's death, he inherits only $10, 000 of the vast fortune the old man has accumulated, while the rest of the estate is left in trust to educate the children of local working men. Inspired by anger, Hart joins Chicago's most prominent architectural firm, and appears to have a brilliant career before him. But greed, ambition, and a desire to get away from the common lot soon lead him into unscrupulous practices and threatened legal action. The Common Lot is a thought provoking analysis of the attitudes and methods of Chicago's super rich during the years prior to the turn of the twentieth century.

Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 164-5.

Homely Lilla, by Robert Herrick. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, [1923.] 293p.

Robust, thirteen, and tomboyish, Lilla Vance is dismayed when her father's death enables her New England bred mother to transport the family from their spacious Wyoming ranch to the confines of a suburban Chicago housing development. Lilla tries to conform to the social patterns prescribed by her new environment--she dresses well, attends church, graduates from high school, enrolls in college--but her restlessness and country manners show through her facade. An early marriage only compounds her unhappiness, until World War I provides the means for her delivery. Homely Lilla is a novel written in the Herrick style, with all the precision and attention to detail that a professional writer and professor of English can give. It is direct, simple, entertaining, and readable. From a lesser novelist, such a work would receive plaudits from every camp, but Homely Lilla, when compared with The Web of Life, The Common Lot, and The Real World, displays less of the greatness apparent in Herrick's earlier works.

Book Review Digest, 1923, p. 235-6.

The Memoirs of an American Citizen, by Robert Herrick. Author of "The Web of Life," "The Real World," "The Common Lot," Etc. New York: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1905. 351p.

Edward V. Harrington's rags-to-riches story, set in the turbulent years from 1880 to 1905, is a perfect mirror image of the social and economic conditions existing in Chicago during that time, which made possible the phenomenal rise of many common people to positions of wealth and power. A poor boy who leaves home to seek his fortune in the city, Harrington first appears to the reader as an accused pickpocket in the Chicago Police Court. From Police Court to driver of a grocery wagon to meat packer to United States Senator, Harrington fights his way to prominence, using fair means whenever possible, resorting to devious methods when the need arises. Writing in a first-person, autobiographical style, Herrick immerses himself completely into the character of Harrington to present a history of the times and of the man in intimate detail.

Book Review Digest, 1905, p. 165.

The Web of Life, by Robert Herrick. Author of "The Gospel of Freedom," "The Man Who Wins," "Literary Love-Letters and Other Stories." New York: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., 1900. 356p.

Focusing on the life and activities of Howard Sommers, a highly competent young surgeon, Herrick paints a vivid portrait of society and social conditions in Chicago during the post-World's Fair depression, starting in 1894. Millionaire merchant Colonel Hitchcock provides Sommers' introduction into Chicago society, and Louise Hitchcock assures his position by encouraging him as a suitor. At the other end of the social spectrum, Alves Preston, wife of a derelect, part-time laborer, becomes Sommers' patient, and provides his introduction to the world of abject poverty, the rebellious laboring classes, and the contented small business and professional man. Sommers' love for Alves, his courtship and marriage to Louise, his work at the hospital, and his political activities expose him to a variety of social conditions, and enable Herrick to write at length on all phases of Chicago society.

Bookman (NY), 9/1900, p. 90-1. Critic, 12/1900, p. 551-2. Dial, 9/1/1900, p. 124. Literary World, 9/1/1900, p. 72. N. Y. Times Book Review, 7/14/1900, p. 470. Saturday Review, 9/15/1900, p. 337.

Plots and Penalties, by William H. Hinrichsen. Fully Illustrated. Chicago: Rhodes & McClure Publishing Company, 1902. 458p.

Thirty-five short stories founded on incidents occurring in Illinois politics in the latter half of the nineteenth century capture revealing moments public and private, indicating how legislative decisions are made on the state and local levels.

CONTENTS: How the Senator Was Elected.--Love and Politics.--John Ward's Pardon.--How John Hallett Became a General.--The Lobbyist's Victim.--Nominating a Judge.--Milly Morrow in Politics.--A Legislative Temptation.--Why Cigarettes Are Still Costly.--His Faith in His Friend.--The Effect of Spring Water.--In the Early Days.--Paying a Note.--The Political Juggernaut.--The Election of Watson.--A Minister in Politics.--A Revenue Reformer.--The Evolution of a Great Man.--A Township Election.--How Lucy Elented [sic] Her Sweetheart.--Securing an Appointment.--Miss Carlin's Position.--The Making of a Statesman.--For a Widow.--A Change of Public Sentiment.--The Evolution of a Reformer.--The Appomattox Club.--Paying a Political Debt.--The Work of the Machine.--Making an Appointment.--The Ebb and Flow.--A County Seat Contest.--For the Public Good.--The Almighty Office.--A Frontier Campaign in the Pioneer Days of Illinois.

The Cage, by Charlotte Teller. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1907. 340p.

One of the few good economic novels from the turn-of-the-century era, The Cage concerns Dr. Hartwell, an influential Chicago minister who gives up his pastorale for religious social work in Chicago's lumberyard district, and his daughter whose life and emotions become inextricably tied to the workers of the area. The novel is set during the years preceding the Haymarket Riots, when poverty, hunger, unemployment, poor wages, and long hours were taking their tolls on the working classes of America, and socialism and anarchism were gaining popularity with every passing day. To this scene, Mrs. Hirsch brings an attitude of sympathetic detachment which elevates her novel far above the rank and file of the economic tract with which The Cage would otherwise be classed.

Book Review Digest, 1907, p. 432.

One of the McIntyres, by Amelia Weed Holbrook. [Chicago:] American Youth Dep[artmen]t; Printed and published by the Chicago Waifs' Mission and Training School, Copyright 1896. 58p.

Robert McIntyre, the precocious and pampered only child of the wealthy McIntyre family of New York, becomes the darling of all who meet him during the seven years of his short life. Becoming passionately interested in religion and social welfare at age six, Robert requests and is granted permission to visit the Chicago Waifs' Mission, where he charms old and young alike. Returning home, he is taken ill with an incurable malady and dies. But Robert requests with his dying breath that the family build a comfortable home for the boys at the Chicago mission. The story is based on fact, and is intended as a tribute to the donors of the home for the Chicago Waifs' Mission, but the virtues of the child in the novel are so exaggerated that they become totally unbelievable and ridiculous.

Hubbard's Trail, by Alfred Hubbard Holt. Chicago, Ill[inois:] Eric Press--Publishers; 30 N. LaSalle St[reet, 1952.] 320p. (Books of Character)

See No. 157.

The Marriotts and The Powells, A Tribal Chronicle, by Isabella Holt. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1921. 328p.

The Marriotts, an influential family in Chicago society, are embarrassed and resentful when their poor relatives, the Powells, move to the city. However, under the kindly influence of Edgar Marriott, the Powells begin to prosper, the two families grow to accept one another, and eventually Diantha and Edgar seal the bond for all time. Isabella Holt's theme is time worn but satisfying; her style is light and humorous; her development of time and character beyond reproach.

Book Review Digest, 1921, p. 203-4.

The Long Straight Road, by George Horton... Illustrated by Troy and Margaret West Kinney. Indianapolis: The Bowen-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1902.] 401p.

Marriage is the theme of The Lone Straight Road, and the details of Harry and Nellie Chapin's union are carefully examined and analyzed in light of the marriages of their friends. A carefree, stylish real estate agent before his marriage, Harry Chapin realizes soon after the wedding that his moderate salary is hardly enough to keep his socially aware wife clothed much less content. In contrast, Harry's friends, Edward and Dorothy Crissey, have wealth, social position, a comfortable home, and children; yet, his indifference and her jealousy make their marriage a prime target for a rival political faction which hopes to discredit his reputation. For contentment, Harry seeks the comfort and peace of the Roth household, where love counts for more than material possessions. Chicago supplies the background for this novel, and the author is thorough in his descriptions. But certainly Chicago has no monopoly on the tedium of married life for the theme is universal, and none who travel the long straight road can escape paying the toll.

Bookman (NY), 12/1902, p. 375-6. Critic, 12/1902, p. 582. Independent, 2/5/1903, p. 329-30.

The Man Next Door, by Emerson Hough. Author of "The Magnificent Adventure," "The Mississippi Bubble," "54°-40° or Fight," "Out of Doors," "Let Us Go Afield," Etc. Illustrated by Will Grefe. New York [and] London: D. Appleton and Company, 1917. 310p.

Curly, a stereotype of the illiterate lovable cowpoke encountered in books and on film but seldom in reality, relates the story of Bonnie Bell Wright in her search for culture, happiness and a suitable husband. After growing up on a Wyoming ranch with a doting father and a host of admiring cowboys, beautiful Bonnie Bell is transported to Smith College to "... be made a lady of " then to Chicago where her father and Curly have adjourned to live out their lives in style. Bonnie Bell's introduction to society and ostracism at the hand of Chicago's wealthy and elite make entertaining, though somewhat less than essential, reading for the fiction enthusiast.

Book Review Digest, 1917, p. 274.

Monte the French Detective in Chicago, by Police Captain Howard. Author of "Monte the French Detective," "Monte the French Detective in New York," etc., etc., etc. New York: Frank Tousey Publisher; 34 & 36 North Moore Street, December 17, 1887. 27p. (The New York Detective Library, No. 263)

The sudden disappearance of Henry Gawtry, a Chicago banker, leads his stepson to seek first the assistance of the Chicago police, then Monte, the French detective, in the search for his missing father. Monsieur Benard, chief of the Paris police, who is in Chicago in pursuit of a French fugitive, joins forces with Monte after determining that they are working on different aspects of the same case, and together they succeed in apprehending the criminals, determining the location and ownership of a lost gold mine in Utah, and untangling a mesh of confused family ties. The pieces of this puzzle fall too readily into place to be credible to the discriminating reader; yet, Monte in Chicago ranks far above most early detective stories for clarity and style.

Spoon River Homestead, [by] Elizabeth E. Eggleston. New York, Washington [and] Hollywood: Vantage Press, [1960.] 281p.

Mary Winthrop marries William Tazewell in 1874, and the two begin the drudgery of carving a living out of the Illinois prairies. The only daughter of doting parents, Mary has difficulty adjusting to the rigorous duties of the pioneer woman, but learns to accept life as it comes her way. The birth of her children, the move to the new farm, the struggle to educate her boys, the death of the baby, and the necessity of teaching her family the meaning of love and beauty in the harsh relentless land, weigh heavily on Mary, but fail to break the spirit of the valiant lady. Spoon River Homestead is a beautiful, rather sentimental portrait of the area near Peoria made famous by Edgar Lee Masters' Spoon River Anthology. Yet, the story is similar to any one of a dozen other farm life stories set in the midwest prior to 1900.

Jack Racer, by Henry Somerville, [pseud.] Decorations by Anne Goldthwaite. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., MCMI. 430p.

Slow paced as the small-town life it portrays, this romance of horse-and-buggy days in Pekin reveals much concerning customs and sentiment of the time. Jack Racer is a dashing but controversial figure among the sedate inhabitans of Pekin. When he qualifies for the bar, he becomes the talk of the town; and when he runs for political office, the town responds enthusiastically. But when his romantic relationships are misunderstood, he suffers nobly in the hands of a community of gossips until, by chance, the truth is discovered, and the townspeople again love him when his image is purged and his engagement to the right girl is made known.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 11/23/1901, p. 870.

Racer of Illinois, by Henry Somerville, [pseud.] Author of Jack Racer. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., 1902. 432p.

A sequel to an earlier novel by Mary Gay Humphreys Racer of Illinois continues the story of Jack Racer, young Pekin lawyer, and the city's favorite son. When Racer decides to run for the Illinois Legislature, he combines native charm with calculated effort to obtain his ends. Having won, he continues employing the same techniques as he builds his reputation with his fellow legislators and works to get his favorite legislation passed. Racer of Illinois is a slow-moving chatty novel filled with unnecessary and uninteresting dialogue but it projects, to some degree, a picture of the political deals personal vendettas, and private pressures which influence the lawmakers of Illinois.

The Gay Gnani of Gingalee; or, Discords of Devolution, A Tragical Entanglement of Modern Mysticism and Modern Science, by Florence Huntley. Author of "Harmonics of Evolution" and "The Dream Child." Chicago: Indo-American Book Co., 1908. 206p. (Harmonic Fiction Series, Vol. II)

A frivolous tale of science and magic, The Gay Gnani of Gingalee focuses on two young men, Bill Vanderhook and Alonzo Leffingwell, inseparable friends since infancy, who vie for the affections of the same woman. When it appears that Vanderhook has fairly won the hand of the lady, Leffingwell deserts his home in Kankakee for India, in order to study Theosophic Philosophy firsthand. The study results in Leffingwell's sending his astral body to Kankakee where the flirtatious spirit creates havoc with the newly married Vanderhooks, until a modern scientific method is found to counteract the magic of the ages. The novel shows a thorough familiarity with both philosophy and scientific thought, and mixes the two in a manner intended to satirize those people, scientists and philosophers, who seek to discredit the ideas of others without investigation and proper consideration.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 2/27/1909, p. 115.