Penrod, [by] Booth Tarkington. Illustrated by Gordon Grant. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1914. 345p.

Penrod, one of the best-loved stories of a past generation, is based partially on reminiscences from the author's childhood days spent visiting relatives in Marshall, Illinois. The story of eleven-year-old Penrod, culminating on his twelfth birthday, reveals a disarmingly real boy, son of a genteel family, who is, for reasons he cannot comprehend, known throughout the community as the Town's Worst Boy. Penrod quite innocently seems pursued by mischief which inevitably sneaks up on him, just as Tarkington's exquisite sense of humor and decency inevitably manages to slip into the narration. Tarkington's style and philosophy direct the book toward an adult audience, and the details of a late nineteenth century boyhood, from the horrors of Friday afternoon dancing classes to the joys promised by an unsupervised caldron of tar, are more likely to interest today's adults than today's children. After its first publication in 1913-14 in serial form in several magazines, Penrod was published in book form in 1914 and quickly became one of the three best sellers in the country. It has retained much of its popularity through the years.

Book Review Digest, 1914, p. 524.

Penrod and Sam, by Booth Tarkington. Author of "Penrod." Illustrated by Worth Brehm. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, 1916. 356p.

Penrod's pal Sam is believed to have been inspired by one of Tarkington's childhood friends who lived in Marshall, Illinois. This continuation of the adventures of Penrod was first published serially in Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Book Review Digest, 1914, p. 535.

Penrod, His Complete Story; Penrod, Penrod and Sam, Penrod Jashber, by Booth Tarkington. Illustrated by Gordon Grant. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, Inc., [1931.] 590p.

All of the stories in the three Penrod books are included in this volume, but a few chapters have been rearranged in order to enhance the development of the story in this form.

The Charlatans, by Bert Leston Taylor. With Illustrations by George Brehm. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [l906.] 391p.

Princess Hope Winston--by no means royal, but a princess nonetheless to her doting parents--is discovered early to have potential musical genius, and her farm parents are encouraged to send her to the city to continue her education. To this end, the dutiful parents choose the Colossus Conservatory of Music in the City of the Soul, and Hope repairs there with all the enthusiasm that her name implies to pursue an advanced course of musical study. Upon her arrival in the city, Hope is quickly taken to the bosom of the music cult, and soon becomes the toast of the concert circuit. The charlatans of the title are the pseudo-intellectuals and second-rate hangers-on who create their own aura of culture around the concert hall to compensate for their lack of talent and learning. Written by an early twentieth century Chicago author, The Charlatans adheres closely to the structure of the conventional light novel of feminine love and ambition, but carries with it an always subtle, but often biting, satire of the town and the musical enthusiasts who thrive on the genius of others.

Book Review Digest, 1906, p. 344.

Three-Sheet, [by] Tiffany Thayer. Illustrated by Edward Staloff. New York: Liveright, Inc., Publishers, 1932. 316p.

Three-Sheet is the story of two brothers. Reared in the same home, with similar opportunities, Robert is taught to live by the agnostic philosophy of Robert Ingersoll, after whom he is named; Harper, named for the family's minister, is taught the basics of the traditional Protestant doctrine by a doting grandmother. Paradoxically, it is Robert's thoughtful agnosticism that sees the family through hard times. Quitting college shortly before graduation in order to help his financially pressed family, Robert becomes the main support of his widowed mother, and a model citizen of the community. Harper's surface Christianity fails him in times of stress, and he abandons all moral up-bringing for the seamy life of the second-rate itinerate actor; until, sick in body and mind, he returns home to perform one final act of debasement before dying. Set in Freeport in the era following the Spanish-American War, Three-Sheet contrasts the various influences of intellectual agnosticism with traditional religion as they affect individuals in a small-town environment.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 10/16/1932, p. 7.

The Hidden Faith; An Occult Story of the Period, by Alwyn M. Thurber... Chicago: F. M. Harley Publishing Co.; 87-89 Washington St[reet, 1895.] 294p.

A series of mystic experiences occurring at a low period in Edward Thorpe's life lead him and his wife to seek a better life through occultism. When an introduction into The Temple of True Wedlock saves their marriage, and a member of the Royal Legion of Justice is instrumental in getting Thorpe a job, the Thorpes' belief is secured. The author uses the novel as a means of extolling his belief in mysticism, freely giving advice on various phases of life, from marriage to diet, inserting an occasional "true" story with mystical overtones to reinforce his arguments. In all, he presents an interesting case, but it lacks reality. The setting is Chicago, although locale has absolutely no bearing on the plot or theme.

Picayune, 12/8/1895, p. 4.

Quaint Crippen, Commercial Traveler, by Alwyn M. Thurber... Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Company, 1896. 253p.

Quaint Crippen, a traveling salesman with an enchanting gift of gab and a generous heart to match, wins the friendship and confidence of everyone he meets, and as a result, is his firm's best salesman. It is his humanitarianism that draws him to a woman with a small child who is experiencing difficulties in the Hartford Station; but it is fate and need that prolong the relationship until it changes to love. Crippen's association with Eleanor Thorne provides a reason for pondering his philosophy and his religious tenets, as well as a means of reconciling the two in his private life. In addition, his travels in and around Chicago allow for adequate observation and recording of city life during the 1890s.

Bookman (NY), 8/1896, p. 551-2. Independent, 7/23/1896, p. 1007. Literary World, 12/2671896, p. 478.

Zelma, the Mystic; or, White Magic, Versus Black, by Alwyn M. Thurber. Author of "The Hidden Faith," "Quaint Crippen, Commercial Traveler," "Royal Hearts," Etc., Etc. With Illustrations by W. L. Wells and L. Braunhold... Chicago: Authors Publishing Co., 1897. 380p.

Donald Treat, a derelict on the streets of Chicago, is rescued from the winter's cold by a man who then introduces him to occultism and is influential in changing Treat's entire life. Quite similar in theme and plot to Thurber's earlier novel, The Hidden Faith, Zelma, the Mystic belabors the theme while offering the reader little for his efforts but didacticism and moralization.

Charley and Eva Roberts' Home in the West. By the Author of "How Charley Roberts Became a Man," "How Eva Roberts Gained Her Education," &c. Illustrated. Boston: Lee and Shepard Publishers; New York: Charles T. Dillingham. [1869.] 285p. (Charley Roberts Series)

Although written expressly for children, Charley and Eva Roberts' Home in the West might best be described as an adult novel written in a childish manner. Twelve-year-old Leland Fern and Kiss, his seven-year-old sister, are orphaned soon after their arrival in Chicago, but the city turns its most charitable visage on the hapless pair, and the major controversy seems not, who is willing to help them, but who can help them the most. Certainly there are obstacles to total happiness--Leland becomes lost in the city; an acquaintance is suspected of theft--but no one can really take them seriously, for the novel is too sentimental, didactic, and unnatural to arouse much concern. Though set in Chicago in the 1860s, the setting has little bearing on the plot, and may be as easily overlooked as the novel itself.

Jake, by Eunice Tietjens. New York: Boni and Liveright Publishers, [1921.] 221p.

Jake Gilroy, a weak but lovable failure, is characterized beautifully by the adoring narrator Ruth, whose occasional glimpses into the tragic life enable her to observe the forces working against the man and to idolize him for his patience and understanding. Jake is the victim of two women--a neurotic possessive mother and a coarse grasping wife--who hate each other far more than either loves him. The conflict leads to his mental and physical collapse and death. Set in the midwest, with much of the story taking place in Nauvoo, Chicago, and various points along the Mississippi River, the novel pays little attention to time and place, concentrating instead on character, which the novelist creates with the skill and insight of a poet.

Book Review Digest, 1921, p. 427.

Horse Shoe Bottoms, by Tom Tippett. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1935. 298p.

Near the confluence of Kickapoo Creek and the Illinois River, old Bill Wantling discovers a rich vein of surface coal in one of the low creek bluffs and decides to stake his claim to the land and start a coal mine and brickyard. Having been a coal miner in England, Wantling has no difficulty initiating his plans; and through his reputation for fair dealing, is able to obtain and hold his employees, among them a young Englishman named John Stafford. Unfortunately, Wantling is unable to maintain his control of the operation, and outside interests begin to draw the wealth from the mines with no concern for the effects on the miners and their families. As conditions begin to decline, John Stafford assumes a major role in organizing his co-workers. Horse Shoe Bottoms is a story of strikes vendettas, armed fighting, and strife. But the author writes with more warmth and sensitivity than most of his contemporaries. The time is the 1870s.

Book Review Digest, 1935, p. 993-4.

God of Might, by Elias Tobenkin. Author of "Witte Arrives," "The House of Conrad," Etc... New York: Minton, Balch & Company, 1925. 272p.

To give his son Samuel a chance to live beyond the shadow of the Russian pogrom, David Wasserman sends the boy to America. Wishing to avoid the ghetto life so familiar to the Jew in Russia, Samuel and his Uncle Jacob choose not to settle in Chicago or New York, but move to Lincoln, Illinois, where they are the only Jews in town. For a time, Samuel lives happily. He grows to manhood ignoring his faith; he establishes a business that thrives; he marries a Christian girl; she bears his children; and life seems ideal. But the Jewish tradition and his early religious training are too firmly ingrained to be easily cast off by Samuel, who, as he grows older, creates his own private ghetto to the exclusion of his neighbors, friends, and his American family. God of Might deals boldly with the question of the Jew in America, and the problems--mixed marriages, prejudice, adjustment--that are inherent in the situation are treated with insight and understanding for both Jew and Gentile.

Book Review Digest, 1925, p. 702.

Witte Arrives, A Novel by Elias Tobenkin. With a Frontispiece by J. Henry... New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company, Publishers, [1916.] 304p.

The Americanization of the Jewish immigrant is the theme of this novel concerning Emil Witte, youngest son of Masha Witkowski, who, with her three sons, flees the Russian persecution of the Jews during the 1890s, and settles with her family near Chicago. Emil, arriving in America at age ten, has a better chance than his brothers to adjust to the American way of life. Seizing every opportunity to better himself, Emil graduates from high school, attends college, obtains a job with a Chicago newspaper, and finally moves on to big-time journalism in New York. But for Emil, success does not always come easy. He struggles to adjust to a strange country and an unfamiliar language; his first job is a poor-paying, thankless position; and the death of his first wife in her youth is a severe blow to him, but he perseveres in the way that he feels is the American tradition. Witte Arrives is a serious and forceful novel concerning Jews in America. But more than the obvious social aspects and problems of adjustment for the immigrant, Witte Arrives is a beautiful treatise on American life and what it can mean to every citizen, whether native-born or naturalized.

Book Review Digest, 1916, p. 546.

Ray Burton, A Chicago Tale, by M. Train. Chicago:[n.p.,] 1895. 128p.

When John Burton turns all of his real property into capital in order to purchase a farm near Champaign, then is murdered before the deal is completed, it is assumed that he has been murdered and robbed. Through the next ten years, Ray Burton, John's son, struggles to support his ailing mother and to get ahead financially. After working his way through school and getting a comfortable job as a court reporter, it is revealed to him that his father's business partner has been using the Burton inheritance to further his own ends. Ray Burton is a strange little novel, written with humor, but serious in intent; hinting at mystery but not building suspense; hinting of love, but keeping it subdued. The theme is not fully revealed until the end of the novel. The setting is Chicago from about 1870 to 1895.

By a Hair's Breadth, by Edith Sessions Tupper. Author of "The Black Diamond Bracelet." New York: Willard Fracker and Company, 1889. 135p. (Prize Story in the Chicago Tribune)

The murder of Chicago millionaire Paul Raymond is blamed on young Jack Morton who is in the room with Raymond at the time of death. Only Bob Fleming, a newspaper reporter and amateur sleuth, believes Morton's protestations of innocence. But Fleming uses every ploy at his command, including clairvoyance, to prove his case. The butler did it.

Against Odds, A Romance of the Midway Plaisance, by Lawrence L. Lynch (E. Murdoch Van Deventer). Chicago and New York: Rand, McNally & Company, Publishers, [1894.] 272p.

Carl Masters and Dave Brainerd, secret service agents, are reluctant to accept an assignment involving the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, but relent when they learn that Greenback Bob and his ring of counterfeiters are moving their operation from Paris to Chicago in order to take full advantage of the crowds attracted by the fair. As Masters and Brainerd stalk their prey among the streets and waterways and through the buildings and amusement areas, they present a glowing account of the fair and the throngs of people who have come to Chicago attracted by the glamor and excitement of the world's greatest show.

Picayune, 6/24/1894, p. 15.

Shadowed by Three, by Lawrence L. Lynch, [pseud.] Ex-Detective. Chicago: Donnelley, Gassette & Loyd, Publishers; Clark and Adams Streets, [1879.] 738p.

Rob Jocelyn, a former New York detective, is in Chicago searching for Madam Elise Schwartz who is wanted for jewel theft and the murder of her husband. While Jocelyn is adjusting to the new city, he encounters Neil Bathurst, a friend and former colleague, and Francis Ferrars, a London detective, who aid in the search while working on a series of other seemingly unrelated crimes. The plot is strained, but the author takes her audience on a thorough tour of the city--into fashionable restaurants, private drawing rooms, crowded streets, and unsavory apartments--in the crime-solving process.

LiteraryWorld, 3/27/1880, p. 111-2.

Love Letters; A Romance in Correspondence by Harold R. Vynne. New York: Zimmerman's; 156 Fifth Avenue, MDCCCXCVIII. 170p. (Zimmerman's Pocket Library)

Mr. Frederick Morton of New York and Miss Helen Merrick of Chicago carry on a lively courtship via the mail and telegraph. As each communication elicits a response and the correspondence grows in volume, the rudiments of a love story begin to emerge, developing slowly through flirtations, jealousies, misunderstandings, quarrels, reconciliations, and finally breaking forth in admissions of love. Although the loving couple don't follow the rules of proper social conduct to the letter, this novel demonstrates, in a small way, the tediousness of the courting process during the nineteenth century.

Literary World, 8/19/1899, p. 268. Picayune, 2/27/1898, p. 17.

The Woman That's Good; A Story of the Undoing of a Dreamer, by Harold Richard Vynne. Author of "The Girl in a Bachelor's Flat, " "Love Letters, " Etc. Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Company, Publishers, [1900.] 473p.

A romantic drama played before an 1893 World's Fair backdrop, The Woman That's Good concentrates on Eustace Gaunt, a young married man who becomes involved in an affair of the heart with a woman other than his wife. Gaunt vacillates between passion and remorse throughout most of the novel, and waits for fate to help him out of his dilemma. Although Gaunt and his friends, both male and female, frequently overstep the bounds of propriety and good breeding, and their story might have been considered daring and naughty by nineteenth century standards, there is not enough plot, character development, social commentary, history, or local color to sustain the interest of a present day reader to the last page.

Light from Arcturus, by Mildred Walker. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, [1935.] 343p.

Three World's Fairs are involved in this novel: the International Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876, the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, and the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago in 1933. The story, excessively saccharine by today's standards, concerns the life of Julia Hauser, wife of a businessman, mother of four, friend to all. Although Chicago scenery appears only at the beginning and end of the novel, there are frequent references to the young city throughout, since the heroine spends seventeen years--the major portion of the book--longing to return there from Nebraska.

Book Review Digest, 1935, p. 1028.

The Land of the Living, A Novel by Maude Radford Warren. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, MCMVIII. 314p.

Irishmen, politics, and machines seem always to go together no matter what the era, particularly if the setting is Chicago, and this turn-of-the-century novel proves no exception to the rule. Big Jim Callahan, boss of Chicago's political machine, maintains his position through friendliness, charm, and willingness to employ any method to achieve his goals. When Callahan picks Hugh MacDermott, a homeless orphan off the streets and attempts to rear him as a son, using the same tactics on Hugh that he uses in running his machine, he is not altogether successful. But Hugh's varied experiences on the streets and at his stepfather's side give him ample insight into the ways of the world which he uses to full advantage in every endeavor from circumventing his stepfather to winning the hand of the girl he loves.

Book Review Digest, 1908, p. 376.

The Main Road, A Novel by Maude Radford Warren. Author of "The Land of the Living," "Peter, Peter," Etc. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, MCMXIII. 391p.

Janet Bellamy, sheltered daughter of a not-too-successful Wisconsin farmer, knows little of the world save what she has read in novels, until such time as she enters college at the University of Chicago. But Janet is intelligent, although her early development may have been somewhat retarded, and she learns quickly the lessons that life has to teach her. An unhappy love affair, a season in Chicago society, an interval as an active suffragette, a stint as an activist in the labor movement, and life in a settlement house lead her eventually to self-realization and love. Besides a revealing account of the early women's movement, The Main Road affords views of college life, Chicago society, and social work as they relate to women in the early 1900s.

Book Review Digest, 1913, p. 551.

Never Give All, by Maude Radford Warren. Author of The House of Youth, Carnival Colors, Etc. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1927.] 322p.

Teresa Santley is an intelligent young woman with a promising literary career before her in 1902, when she falls in love with Archibald Lane, a Ph. D. without a job. With vague dreams of marital bliss and parallel literary careers, Teresa ignores the telltale signs of trouble before the marriage, but is made painfully aware of her husband's faults and the realities of day-to-day living over the next twenty years. Teresa voices the early feminist philosophy of the equality of marriage partners, but neither her theory nor her career can stand up under the stress of the greatest of all levelers--love. It is her love for Archie which proves to be her undoing. Chicago is the setting for the bulk of the novel, although by far the most interesting episodes concern World War I, when both Teresa and Archie join the war effort in Europe.

Book Review Digest, 1927, p. 786.

The Seekers, by Stanley Waterloo. Author of "The Wolf's Long Howl," "The Story of Ab," "A Man and a Woman," Etc. Chicago & New York: Herbert S. Stone & Company, MDCCCC. 257p.

The seekers of this novel are those hoards, ill of body, mind, or spirit, who seek miraculous cures for their ailments through Christian Science. Among the Chicago society are Katharine Vaughn who becomes involved through an interest in her ailing sister Narcissa, and John Yule whose interest in Katharine gives the novel some relief from an abundance of moralizing, theorizing, and verbalizing over the pros and cons of faith healing and Christian Science. Little of the Christian Science doctrine is expounded in detail, except where it applies to one of the characters, but the temperament and character of those people most susceptible to the doctrine are cleverly drawn.

Independent, 10/11/1900, p. 2460. Outlook, 3/10/1900, p. 597. Picayune, 3/25/1900, sec.3. p. 5.

Larry Murtagh's Early Career; or, The Counterfeiter's Compact, by Bernard Wayde. New York: Munro's Publishing House; 24 & 26 Vandewater Street, July 13, 1895. 30p. (Old Cap. Collier Library, No. 605)

Larry Murtagh, recalcitrant son of an Irish doctor, shuns his father's profession in hopes of becoming a detective. Venturing to New York in search of an opportunity, Larry meets a government agent who helps him get into the secret service; and within a week he is in Chicago in hot pursuit of the nation's most notorious counterfeiter. Of course, Larry captures his man and most of the accomplices as well, with only minor assistance from his friend, Richard Morton, and a little moral support from Allan Pinkerton, renowned Chicago detective. This early serialized novel is an erroneous depiction of secret service activities and methods of recruiting agents even in the nineteenth century. However, the novel contains a reasonably accurate, though somewhat vague, description of Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, and his efforts in early criminal detection.

An American Family; A Novel of To-Day, by Henry Kitchell Webster. Author of The Real Adventure, The Painted Scene, etc. etc. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1918.] 452p.

The novelist writes in the first person as a biographer covering a few years in the life of Hugh Corbett, favorite son of a wealthy Chicago family, in the years immediately preceding American involvement in World War I. When Hugh first meets Jean Crawford, a relative by marriage, she is a mere sixteen years old, while he is a recognized and talented metallurgist. His serious scientific bent is not understood by his business-oriented family, but they admire him and are fondly appreciative of his sincerity and good nature. When the family business is beset with labor problems, and Hugh takes the side of the strikers, all but Jean are aghast. Worse, he becomes infatuated with a radical strike leader and marries her. The result is a less than happy marriage which steadily deteriorates until his wife is murdered by a war saboteur with whom she has become involved. When the shock of the tragedy has dissipated Jean and Hugh are free to recognize and express their long dormant love. Originally published as a serial in Everybody's Magazine under the title The White Arc, the story has all the emphasis on sentimental romance, honor, and patriotism which might be expected in the pre-war era, and just a hint of more daring topics that have become acceptable since the war. Incorporated into the plot are a brief description of the sinking of the Lusitania and a variety of contemporary opinions regarding the possibility of United States involvement in World War I.

Book Review Digest, 1918, p. 463-4.

The Painted Scene; And Other Stories of the Theater, by Henry Kitchell Webster. Illustrations by Arthur William Brown and Herman Pfeifer. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1916.] 400p.

Light, interesting stories about chorus girls, writers, and other theater people make up this collection of trivia. The last four of the ten stories are set in Chicago in the years just preceding World War I.

CONTENTS: The Painted Scene.--The Spoon Tune.--Brunette Medium.--The Spring of the Year.--The High-Brow Lady.--Heart of Gold.--The Redeemer.--The Only Girl.--The Real Dope.--How to Appreciate Henry.

Book Review Digest, 1916, p. 576.

The Real Adventure; A Novel by Henry Kitchell Webster. Illustrated by R. M. Crosby. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1916.] 574p.

For Rose and Rodney Aldrich, the real adventure is their adjustment to marriage. The task is far more difficult for Rose, for her love is all-consuming and she tries to make her marriage the same; while Rodney recognizes the seriousness of the vows, but attempts to devote equivalent time to his marriage and his business. Unhappy over her partial exclusion from his life, Rose makes inroads into his business associations, but never fully succeeds in becoming a part of Rodney's life away from home. Only after a lengthy separation, during which Rose builds a life and business of her own, are the two finally able to live harmoniously together. Webster probes into the psychology of marriage and the early women's movement in this novel of love with feminist overtones. The early 1900s setting is basically Chicago with interludes in New York.

Book Review Digest, 1916, p. 576.

The Thoroughbred, by Henry Kitchell Webster. Author of The Real Adventure, The Painted Scene, etc. With illustrations by W. B. King. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1917.] 258p.

Alfred and Celia Blair are typical wealthy Chicagoans living as tradition and society dictate, until financial reverses bring about the loss of the Blair fortune. Unable to support her as he has in the past, Alfred suggests to Celia that she return to her father's home until he can regain financial stability, This brings out the latent strength in Celia's character, and the two agree to see the crisis through together. Neither is fully aware of the magnitude of the necessary readjustments, and grave misunderstandings threaten the venture. But through Celia's determination to make it work, the couple weld a stronger marriage out of what might have been a failure. The Thoroughbred examines the nineteenth century interpretation of the role of husband and wife in the marital pact and finds it wanting; then builds a love story based on concern for changing the woman's role in marriage.

Book Review Digest, 1917, p. 590-1.

The Education of Ernest Wilmerding; A Story of Opening Flowers, by Edward Chichester Wentworth. Chicago: Covici-McGee Co., 1924. 268p.

During the winter of 1879, Ernest Wilmerding, son of a wealthy Chicago family, travels to San Antonio, Texas, for his health's sake. The months of resting and basking in the warmth of the southern sun vastly improve his physical well being, but bring him into contact with two gentlemen who exert considerable influence on his mental and emotional state, and seriously alter his religious ideas. Giving up his traditional beliefs, Wilmerding adopts new socialist doctrines which he is enabled to put into practice by a convenient inheritance following the death of his grandfather. The result is Wilmerding's return to Chicago and the establishment of a settlement house known as the Walt Whitman Brotherhood based on his newly formed beliefs and representing another noble experiment in communal living. The Education of Ernest Wilmerding is a dull, oversimplified, and long socialist tract thinly disguised as fiction. Similar to other socialist literature of the period, the novel expounds theory with no regard for human differences and frailties--factors which have killed hundreds of similar experiments.

The Russells in Chicago, by Emily Wheaton. Illustrated by Fletcher C. Ransom. Boston: L. C. Page & Company, MDCCCCII. 257p.

Alice Russell, Boston bred socialite who admittedly knows more of Europe than of her own country west of the Alleghenies, is distressed at the prospects of moving to Chicago, but acquiesces to her husband's desire, resolving to make the best of a bad situation. Approaching Chicago society with the legendary New England reticence and aloofness, she works her way gradually into the confidences of the city's best families only to realize that she has grown to love the place and its people. Reprinted from the Ladies Home Journal, The Russells in Chicago is ordinary fare typical of the fiction serialized in the women's magazines of the early 1900s. Yet, vivid descriptions of places, people, and events in turn-of-the-century Chicago, coupled with photographs of Chicago landmarks, enhance an otherwise insipid story.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/21/1902, p. 427.

Differences, [by] Hervey White. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1899. 311p.

Genevieve Radcliffe, daughter of a wealthy Chicago clergyman and recent graduate of Wellesley College, has been taught since infancy to be philanthropic to the poor; but Genevieve goes a step beyond the Ladies Aid Society activities of her mother by taking up residence with the poverty stricken in a nearby settlement house. There she is able to experience firsthand the poverty, sickness, unemployment, ugliness, ignorance, filth, and dejection surrounding the lives of the laboring classes. There she meets and marries John Wade, day laborer and widowed father of two small children. As a study of social conditions among the working classes of Chicago, Differences is a huge success, for the author has carefully created environmental conditions and meticulously described character traits which could only be known through firsthand experience or extensive study. However, as a love story the quality of mercy is strained despite Genevieve's tenets.

Bookman (NY), 12/1899, p. 383-4. Independent, 11/22/1900, p. 2813. Literary World, 3/3/1900, p. 69. Outlook, 11/4/1899, p. 605. Sewanee Review, 1/1900, p. 119.

Her Infinite Variety, by Brand Whitlock. Author of "The 13th District." With Illustrations by Howard Chandler Christy. Decorations by Ralph Fletcher Seymour. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1904.] 168p.

The fight for women's rights has been long and hard, and suffered numerous setbacks, many of them dealt by women. In Her Infinite Variety, Brand Whitlock details a battle in the Illinois Senate over the issue of women's suffrage, lead by Morley Vernon, a bright freshman senator from Chicago; and a plot by a female contingent, including Vernon's fiancee, to thwart his efforts. Of course, with five staunch matrons to present their objections to the senate while Vernon is distracted by the fair, young Amelia, the resolution is soundly defeated. But not without benefit, for Vernon learns two worthwhile lessons from the incident--one concerning politics, the other concerning women.

Independent, 4/7/1904, p. 795. Literary World, 4/1904, p. 107. N. Y. Times Book Review,3/19/1904, p. 189.

The 13th District; A Story of a Candidate, by Brand Whitlock. Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, [1902.] 490p.

The counties included in this fictitious congressional district--Dewitt, Logan, Mason, Moultrie, Piatt, Tazewell, and Polk--a combination which has never existed in districting history, might well represent the mid-state political scene at the turn of the century. Jerome Garwood, promising young candidate for Congress, and Emily Harkness, daughter of the president of the local bank in Grand Prairie, appear to be destined for a happy marriage with a bright political career in store for Jerome. But Jerome turns out to be not quite the man of integrity Emily had hoped for, and when he makes too many political promises, Emily has some disappointments with which to contend. The plot is weak and moves slowly, and the characters are heavily laden with the sentimentality typical of the era. However, the novel does shed some light on the way political careers were made in the days before the direct primary.

Bookman (NY), 7/1902, p. 463-5. Dial, 6/1/1902, p. 389. Independent, 6/19/1902, p. 1490. Nation, 6/12/1902, p. 470. N. Y. Times Book Review, 5/17/1902, p. 336.

Who Killed Doctor Cronin? or, At work on the Great Chicago Mystery, by Old Cap. Lee. Author of "$1,000 a Day; or, A Detective's Fight for Five Lives," "What? or, Forty-Eight Hours of Mystery," etc. New York: Frank Tousey Publisher; 34 & 36 North Moore Street, June 15, 1889. 21p. (The New York Detective Library, No.341)

The murder of Doctor P. H. Cronin in Chicago attracts the attention of his old friend detective Tom Fox Senior of Philadelphia. Determined that the murder should be avenged, but physically unable to complete the deed himself, the Senior Fox sends his son, Tom, Jr., to seek out the murderers. Working with information supplied him by his father and additional clues gathered on his own, the younger Fox pieces together an account of Cronin's activities as an Irish agitator, and determines that the case has political implications. Eventually the murderers are cornered and killed in a gun battle, but the real power behind the plot remains free to strike again. Who Killed Doctor Cronin? was issued together with number 342 of the series, a story entitled Chasing the James Boys, by D. W. Stevens.

The Little Brother; A Story of Tramp Life, by Josiah Flynt, [pseud.] Author of "Tramping with Tramps," "The World of Graft," Etc. New York: The Century Co., 1902. 254p.

The Little Brother is a melodrama about an eight-year-old runaway who becomes a hobo's companion, and his mother, who masquerades as his sister and becomes the victim of malicious gossip. This weak and sentimental story is set in Tonarga, a fictitious village near Jacksonville, and in unidentifiable hobo camps in Illinois and Wisconsin around the turn of the century.

Chautauquan, 12/1902, p. 340. Dial, 6/1/1902, p. 390. Independent, 8/14/1902, p. 1964. Literary World, 5/1/1902, p. 77. N. Y. Times Book Review, 4/19/1902, p. 269.

Uncle Bob and Aunt Becky's Strange Adventures at the World's Great Exposition, by Herschel Williams. Trip from Skowhegan through many cities to the goal of their ambition, the marvelous event of the century. Quaint old couple leave home in ox-cart, return in automobile--Uncle Bob's inspiration to see the world--A journey of exciting experiences bubbling over with sparkling fun--How they witnessed the gorgeous sights, and wonderful displays--The most remarkable discussion of actual scenes and incidents ever recorded--Fascinating and charming romance of Ruth and Tom. 105 striking pen and ink sketches especially drawn for this work. Chicago: Laird & Lee, Publishers, [1904.] 358p.

The 1904 World's Fair held in St. Louis is the event around which this fictionalized travelogue is built, but Uncle Bob and Aunt Becky Springer, with daughter Ruth, see more of the United States than of the fair, after Uncle Bob mortgages the family farm in Skowhegan, Maine, for the purpose of taking the trip. A large portion of the novel is set in Chicago, where Uncle Bob treats a lady of the streets to an elegant meal, loses $300 in a bucket shop near the Chicago Board of Trade, visits the stockyards, and admires the University of Chicago. Amazingly, at each point of interest to the tourists, they encounter a well-versed and talkative individual who fills them in on history and current data concerning the attraction.

N. Y. Times Book Review, 7/9/1904, p. 471.

The Boss of Little Arcady, by Harry Leon Wilson. Author of "The Spenders," "The Lions of the Lord," "The Seeker," etc. Illustrated by Rose Cecil O'Neill. Boston: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co., [1905.] 371p.

The Boss of Little Arcady is a whimsical story, unusually charming and philosophical, which occasionally abandons plot to lapse into dreamy prose. While the author employs the same old-fashioned formality of style and the same brazen use of coincidence as other authors of this era, he also demonstrates a surprising freshness and cleverness of wit, which puts this little romance into a special category. After losing an arm in the Civil War, Major Calvin Blake returns to Little Arcady and becomes an observer of village life, which he relates with tender affection and with special attention to some of its beloved, if sometimes exasperating inhabitants. Among the many colorful examples are J. Rodney Potts, the town ne'er-do-well, whom the townspeople try to hoodwink into moving west; Billy Durgin, the boy detective who dons a conspicuously false beard while working on a case; and J. R. C. Tuckerman, the ex-slave whose devotion to his former mistress requires that he not only remain with her but provide her with an income. The long-anticipated romance at the end of the book seems to come as an anticlimax following more diverting events. The locale is stated simply as Little Arcady, Slocum County, the Little Country, but two contemporary reviewers state flatly the story is set in Illinois.

Book Review Digest,1905, p. 388-9.

The Kenworthys, by Margaret Wilson. Author of "The Able McLaughlins," Pulitzer Prize award, 1924; Winner Harpers' Prize Novel Competition, 1923. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1925. 385p.

The Kenworthys is a sentimental romance, maudlin by today's standards, set for the most part in a small town somewhere in Illinois during the first two decades of the twentieth century. When Emily's romance with the young lawyer, Jim Kenworthy, breaks up because of a misunderstanding, Jim marries a wealthy Chicago heiress, and Emily, believing she has forgotten him, marries his brother Bob, a garage mechanic. But neither Emily nor Jim has forgotten, and through the years, through trials and tragedies, they struggle, honor bound, to avoid disclosure of their true feelings.

Book Review Digest, 1925, p. 765.

Abducted at Midnight; or, The Dude Detective's First and Last Trail, by Will Winch [pseud.] New York: Munro's Publishing House; 24 & 26 Vandewater Street, August 27, 1892. (Old Cap. Collier Library, No. 451)

The abduction of Eudora Burnand and her nurse, Dorcas Greene, appears to be a plot to collect ransom, but the absence of a note baffles authorities completely, until Nick Parley, the dude detective, comes on the scene. Besides some unconventional detection methods and a logical conclusion to the case, Nick Parley introduces romance to the plot, for Jig Howlett, Parley's sidekick, thoroughly entrances Eudora's father, Stephens Burnand, before revealing that she is really Nick Parley when out of disguise.

Kinduke, The Daring; or, A Midnight Mystery of Chicago, by Will Winch, [pseud.] New York: Munro's Publishing House; 24 & 26 Vandewater Street, June 20, 1896. 30p. (Old Cap. Collier Library, No. 654)

A beautiful lady, rescued from a watery grave in the Chicago River by Captain Miles Kinduke of the pleasure craft White Dove, is implicated in her uncle's murder; and efforts to help her are hampered by the police who are looking for the White Dove's engineer and two of the yacht's crew. But Captain Kinduke proves his mettle by overcoming the obstacles and tracking down the assassins, risking the loss of his yacht to accomplish the feat. Kinduke, the Daring is typical nineteenth century serial fare.

The Marine Detective; or Tracking the Ship-Insurance Swindlers, by Will Winch, [pseud.] New York: Munro's Publishing House; 24 & 26 Vandewater Street, March 19, 1892. 48p. (Old Cap. Collier Library, No. 428)

The disappearance of a merchant vessel in Lake Michigan and the subsequent reappearance of one of the ship's crew members seem strange to Stuart Southing, particularly in light of a series of similar unexplained lake mysteries. Working as an accounting clerk for the company of Montgrave and Storms, a maritime insurance firm which is in dire straits because of an excessive number of claims stemming from these disasters, Southing volunteers to investigate the disappearances of the ships. Southing's investigative techniques are unconventional, but produce results, for not only does he break up the band of swindlers responsible for the shipwrecks and expose its ring leaders, but he wins the love of the boss' daughter as a bonus for his efforts.

The Girl from Sterling, Who Is She? A Romance of Two Cities, Sterling, Illinois and Clinton, Iowa, by D. H. Winget. Clinton Iowa: [n. p.,] December, 1909. 98p.

The author's forward declares that this romantic and improbable story is "true in every particular." In it, a young man, friend of the author, falls in love with a beautiful girl he sees one time on a train going to Chicago. Unrelated to this incident, the author meets a tramp, befriends him, and gives him a job. When the tramp makes good, a series of coincidences leads the author and his friend to the beautiful girl seen on the train so long before.

Swift Walker; A True Story of the American Fur Trade, by Winifred E. Wise. Author of "Jane Addams of Hull-House." Illustrated by Cameron Wright. New York: Harcourt, Brace andCompany, [1937.]288p

See No. 238.

Gospel Four Corners, [by] Frances Gilchrist Wood. New York [and] London: D. Appleton and Company, MCMXXX. 300p.

The local newspaper editor in Carthage, Illinois, courageously fights for his ideals in big and little issues--licensing saloons, improving roads and schools, healing old wounds in a local church. The editor, crippled in childhood by a horse thief, is a determined man, and his strength shows through despite the author's rough, choppy style. Many historical references to national, state, and local events are included in this novel of the last half of the nineteenth century.

Book Review Digest, 1930, p. 1142.

Every One His Own Way, by Edith Wyatt. New York: McClure Phillips and Company, 1901. 291p.

Members of the common herd--a saloon keeper's daughter, an office boy, a gossip, a traveling salesman--are the central figures, if not the heroes, of these twenty-one short stories representing a cross section of Chicago's citizenry. Sympathetically, subtly, paradoxically, each story defends, or at least explains, the unconscious and irrational acts of ordinary people in being themselves.

CONTENTS: Two Citizens.--Limitations.--A Failure.--Still Waters.--The Chatter-Box.--The Fox and the Stork.--Jack Sprat.--A Matter of Taste.--A Compulsory Hero.--The Parent's Assistant.--The Joy of Life.--Beauty and the Beast.--Trade Winds.--The Peacock's Tail.--A Question of Service.--Many Men of Many Minds.--Queen for a Day.--A Paradox.--Daffy-Down-Dilly.--The Story of a Way Side Inn.--The Brave Tin Soldier.

Critic, 10/1901, p. 375. Dial, 7/1/1901, p. 32. Independent, 7/25/1901, p. 1747. N. Y. Times Book Review, 6/1/1901, p. 382. North American Review, 5/1903, p. 735-9.

The Invisible Gods, a Novel by Edith Franklin Wyatt. Author of "True Love," "Everyone His Own Way." New York and London: Harper and Brothers Publishers, MCMXXIII. 433p.

The Invisible Gods is a quietly probing, literate chronicle of a prominent Chicago family between 1882 and 1921. Jo and Maisie Marshfield and their cousin, Hancock, grow up together under the fond and generous care of Judge and Mrs. Elijah Marshfield. The close ties that develop between them in childhood remain in their adult lives as they go their separate ways: Jo to become a brilliant surgeon and builder of the Chicago City Hospital; Maisie to marry an ill-tempered artist who mistreats her until his death four years later; and Hancock to acquire fame as a literary figure. Building slowly, the plot develops from their early dreams and successes to their bitter disappointments and eventually, in tragedy, to a message of hope for the world through the lives of visionaries such as Jo. In spite of a gratuitous coincidence here and there, the novel maintains a realistic tone which gives it the effect of an impressive biography.

Book Review Digest, 1923, p. 574-5.

True Love, A Comedy of the Affections, by Edith Wyatt. New York: McClure, Phillips & Co., MCMIII. 288p.

With tongue in cheek, the author has presented a double love story concerning two young ladies and their suitors. Emily, unaffected and sincere, wins the shy young Dick Colton, a man of modest background who is respected because of his outstanding personality and integrity. Emily's cousin Inez, always overly concerned with appearance, is attracted to Norman Hubbard, a priggish sort, whose gravely-intoned platitudes impress her until, fortunately, his true mettle is tried and found wanting. With sly humor developed through skillful character exaggeration, True Love might be a commendable period piece were it not for the added story of Fred, whose suicide does not fit in with the romantic tone of the book. The fictional Illinois town of Centreville shares with Chicago the setting for this turn-of-the-century romance.

Critic, 10/1903, p. 381. Literary World, 4/1903, p. 74. N. Y. Times Book Review, 3/14/1903, p. 168. North American Review, 5/1903, p. 735-9.

"Chet," by Katherine M. Yates. Author of "On the Way There," "At the Door," "Cheery and the Chum," Etc. Illustrated by H. S. DeLay. Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., 1909. 345p.

The ideal thirteen-year-olds of a bygone era are portrayed with a light and humorous touch in this thinly disguised religious tract. Chet and his best chum next-door-neighbor Bess anticipate the worst when they find out that another thirteen-year-old is coming to live with Chet's family. But Bess, having been introduced to Christian Science, uses its concepts to help both of them prepare to welcome the stranger with love. Two visits to Chicago bring Illinois into this story of an Ohio community, and the wonders and complexities of public transportation in Chicago, a boy's first automobile ride, and a boat trip on Lake Michigan make this little volume an insightful excursion into the past. A surprise ending adds to the fun.

Book Review Digest, 1909, p. 483.

Luck in Disguise; Written in Good Faith, by William J. Yexter. Revised and Punctuated by L. P. Culter. Sole Proprietor of the Winchester News Depot. A Romance of Love and Travel into the Far West near Chicago. New York: John W. Lovell Company; 150 Worth Street, Cor[ner] Mission Place, 1889. 229p.

A book intended to inspire goodness and clean living, Luck in Disguise, with its contrived plot and temperance lectures, merely bores. Focusing on the activities of the Means family of Chicago, the author tells of their charitable efforts toward a needy family in the ghetto; then moves on to detail efforts to steer their own son, Henry from a life of depravity by sending him to live with an uncle on his Nebraska farm. Settings are plainly indentified on the title page and in the text; still, Luck in Disguise could have been written without the author's ever having seen either Chicago or Nebraska; and indeed, may have been, considering the lack of geographic and cultural references in the novel.

Give Us This Day, by Louis Zara. Author of Blessed Is the Man. Indianapolis [and] New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Publishers, MCMXXXVI. 422p.

Charles Alexander Brabant, descended of a long line of bakers, follows the path of least resistance throughout most of his life. He chooses to apprentice in his father's bakery rather than break tradition; he chooses to marry, although unready, rather than shirk his duty toward the girl he loves; he makes excuses for doing nothing when his wife is unfaithful; he accepts as his lot the blindness of his only child. During the Depression, he loses the family business, takes a job as foreman in a commercial bakery involved in a labor dispute, is beaten, and suffers a nervous breakdown. Set in Chicago from 1900 to 1935, Give Us This Day presents views of the working classes on issues contemporary to that era--taxes, World War I, the Depression, strikes--but never in great detail, and only as they effect the Brabant family.

Book Review Digest, 1936, p. 1076-7.

Light a Little Lamp, by Elsie Reif Ziegler. New York: The John Day Company, [1961.] l91p.

Mary McDowell, Angel of the Stockyards, is the subject of this short biographical novel set in Chicago at the time of the fire of 1871. Mary, a teen-ager in the teeming, wicked city of Chicago, is torn between two life-styles. Her mother would have her meet young people of prominence in the city, with an eye toward an eventual wealthy marriage. But Mary gravitates toward missionary work, encouraged by her friend Herta, whose mother is an active feminist. For a short period, Mary attempts to compromise by doing social work in the stockyards area of Chicago's south side, while making her debut into society. The Great Fire of 1871 provides a fitting climax to the novel, while serving to point the heroine in the direction which her future should take. Elsie Reif Zieg ler has recreated a credible picture of the young Mary McDowell, and of the events of the few crucial days which influenced her life and work for the next sixty years.