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Aug. 9th, 2005 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rosemary_greenAdventures in 19th century novels...
While I was in Minnesota recently, I devoted some pleasant hours to reading two of the several George Manville Fenn books available at the University of Minnesota.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
daegaer has introduced him to us as a prolific author of 19th century boys' adventure stories, but his alter ego is now revealed -- as a writer of three-volume women's novels!
Ned Leger: the adventures of a middy on the Spanish Main (1899)
This was the first book I tried. I found myself rather annoyed with the main characters -- three midshipmen who can't seem to stop sniping at each other long enough to accomplish anything. Ned Leger does have some exciting adventures being left behind on shore and trying to evade capture by the Spanish soldiers, but it's not one that I would go out of my way to read again. Compared to the (admittedly imcomparable) Fix Bay'nets, the self-slashing quotient is very low -- a small bit of hand-holding, but that's about it. These three can't even get along enough to be friends with each other, much less anything else.
The Lass That Loved a Soldier (1889)
This triple-decker novel turned out to be the highlight of my reading adventures in Minnesota. The plot has all the twists and turns your heart could desire. I'm going to give many of these away without compunction because this seems to be a particularly obscure title, even in the world of Fenn. I imagine that this is because, as the Review of Reviews from 1890 informs me, most people checked three volume novels out of circulating libraries rather than purchasing them, so there are not as many copies floating about now. (I will also give the caveat that I'm starting to get vague on the characters' names; if I'd known just how obscure this book was, I would have taken notes!)
Our story starts out with a young woman who is being courted by two cousins, Anthony and Philip. Philip is a dashing cavalry officer, while Anthony is a scholar (although we never see him do much of anything except fish). After Anthony is caught walking out (into the shrubbery) with one of the maids, the young woman (Amelia?) utterly rejects him in favor of Philip (who has also been kissing the maids, but never mind that!). Anthony exits stage left, vowing revenge, and then proceeds to elope with the maid. Philip and Amelia marry and have a son, but when he is still a baby he wanders off and is assumed to have drowned in the river (although the body is never found).
Now we fade to 'some years later', where we meet the son of Anthony and the maid, whose name is Rob. He is fed up with his cruel and uncaring parents, and so resolves to run away and join the army. He leaves home with the family butler, who is secretly an ex-poacher who accidentally killed the gamekeeper and is thus under Anthony's thrall. They both join the first regiment they find, which -- surprise! -- is Sir Philip's cavalry regiment.
Rob then falls in love with Sir Philip's daughter, whose name as I remember it was something like Hulda. Naturally, he cannot possibly pursue her, as he is a mere private (he joined under an assumed name), but can at least spend his every waking moment thinking of her. Meanwhile, Rob is being persecuted by Captain Richards and the Sergeant (whose name was something descriptive like Slump or Slouch), because..well..just because they are wicked and don't like to see anyone with spirit and a spine, apparently. Captain Richards is also courting Hulda, which annoys Rob because he cannot do so as well.
While all this is going on, we meet possibly the best character in the story, Chip (which name just won't stop reminding me of a 1950s sitcom). Chip is a trumpeter and the teenage son of the company laundress. Chip is also a girl. This interesting anomaly came to pass for the following reason: Just before Chip was born, her father (a soldier) died, and her mother was afraid she would have to leave the regiment. One of her friends tells Sir Philip that the baby is a boy, and this inspires Sir Philip to give the mother a place as a laundress (because someday the boy will grow up to join the regiment). The mother keeps meaning to tell the truth, but... So now Chip (named for Chipden, where her father was born) is, say, 15 years old, and still passing for a boy. Chip, naturally, creates a further plot twist by developing a huge crush on Rob and thwarting all his thoughts of a romance with Hulda.
--this is where I give away the end of the story, which if you get hold of the books you will see coming a mile away --
So, matters continue, and everyone works up into a state of despair/rage/fury until the regiment is told to be ready to leave for India. Several men desert, and Sir Philip says that "I would shoot the next man who deserts, even if he were my own son!!" Well, of course that's just him being dramatic, because his own son is dead..yes, of course.
This is where the plot really get weird.
Captain Richards then provokes Rob to the point where he strikes Richards and then runs off into the woods, effectively deserting. So the court martial is held, and Rob is sentenced to be shot. But! all the members of the firing squad agree to fire into the air, so he does not die. Sergeant Slump tries to shoot him with his pistol, but is killed by a mysterious shot coming from Sir Philip's house.
Shortly thereafter, Anthony appears on the scene. The butler has written to him, telling him that Rob will be executed and asking him to come and stop the execution. Anthony then reveals the dramatic truth -- Rob is really Sir Philip's own son!! Yes, the child didn't really drown, he was snatched by the ex-poacher and raised in as depraved a way as possible by Anthony, who hoped to torment Philip with the horrible creature his child had become. While he is gloating over the fact that Philip has had his own son shot, Philip points out that in fact Rob is still alive. Anthony is so shocked that he dies shortly thereafter.
By the way, you may be wondering at this point if this is all going to end up like Star Wars -- isn't Rob in love with his own sister? Fortunately, Hulda is actually an adopted daughter, so the path of romance is now clear.
After this point, all the loose ends manage to come flying together in a dramatically rapid way. Captain Richards abruptly transfers to another regiment, and the military officials all decide that since the regiment is leaving immediately for India, they aren't going to bother trying again to execute Rob -- ta da!
And what about Chip? Well, she goes out to India with the regiment, and dies valiantly -- and her secret is never revealed.
Believe it or not, this is only a sampling of the plot twists and wacky minor characters to be found in the three volumes of this book!
While I was in Minnesota recently, I devoted some pleasant hours to reading two of the several George Manville Fenn books available at the University of Minnesota.
daegaer has introduced him to us as a prolific author of 19th century boys' adventure stories, but his alter ego is now revealed -- as a writer of three-volume women's novels!Ned Leger: the adventures of a middy on the Spanish Main (1899)
This was the first book I tried. I found myself rather annoyed with the main characters -- three midshipmen who can't seem to stop sniping at each other long enough to accomplish anything. Ned Leger does have some exciting adventures being left behind on shore and trying to evade capture by the Spanish soldiers, but it's not one that I would go out of my way to read again. Compared to the (admittedly imcomparable) Fix Bay'nets, the self-slashing quotient is very low -- a small bit of hand-holding, but that's about it. These three can't even get along enough to be friends with each other, much less anything else.
The Lass That Loved a Soldier (1889)
This triple-decker novel turned out to be the highlight of my reading adventures in Minnesota. The plot has all the twists and turns your heart could desire. I'm going to give many of these away without compunction because this seems to be a particularly obscure title, even in the world of Fenn. I imagine that this is because, as the Review of Reviews from 1890 informs me, most people checked three volume novels out of circulating libraries rather than purchasing them, so there are not as many copies floating about now. (I will also give the caveat that I'm starting to get vague on the characters' names; if I'd known just how obscure this book was, I would have taken notes!)
Our story starts out with a young woman who is being courted by two cousins, Anthony and Philip. Philip is a dashing cavalry officer, while Anthony is a scholar (although we never see him do much of anything except fish). After Anthony is caught walking out (into the shrubbery) with one of the maids, the young woman (Amelia?) utterly rejects him in favor of Philip (who has also been kissing the maids, but never mind that!). Anthony exits stage left, vowing revenge, and then proceeds to elope with the maid. Philip and Amelia marry and have a son, but when he is still a baby he wanders off and is assumed to have drowned in the river (although the body is never found).
Now we fade to 'some years later', where we meet the son of Anthony and the maid, whose name is Rob. He is fed up with his cruel and uncaring parents, and so resolves to run away and join the army. He leaves home with the family butler, who is secretly an ex-poacher who accidentally killed the gamekeeper and is thus under Anthony's thrall. They both join the first regiment they find, which -- surprise! -- is Sir Philip's cavalry regiment.
Rob then falls in love with Sir Philip's daughter, whose name as I remember it was something like Hulda. Naturally, he cannot possibly pursue her, as he is a mere private (he joined under an assumed name), but can at least spend his every waking moment thinking of her. Meanwhile, Rob is being persecuted by Captain Richards and the Sergeant (whose name was something descriptive like Slump or Slouch), because..well..just because they are wicked and don't like to see anyone with spirit and a spine, apparently. Captain Richards is also courting Hulda, which annoys Rob because he cannot do so as well.
While all this is going on, we meet possibly the best character in the story, Chip (which name just won't stop reminding me of a 1950s sitcom). Chip is a trumpeter and the teenage son of the company laundress. Chip is also a girl. This interesting anomaly came to pass for the following reason: Just before Chip was born, her father (a soldier) died, and her mother was afraid she would have to leave the regiment. One of her friends tells Sir Philip that the baby is a boy, and this inspires Sir Philip to give the mother a place as a laundress (because someday the boy will grow up to join the regiment). The mother keeps meaning to tell the truth, but... So now Chip (named for Chipden, where her father was born) is, say, 15 years old, and still passing for a boy. Chip, naturally, creates a further plot twist by developing a huge crush on Rob and thwarting all his thoughts of a romance with Hulda.
--this is where I give away the end of the story, which if you get hold of the books you will see coming a mile away --
So, matters continue, and everyone works up into a state of despair/rage/fury until the regiment is told to be ready to leave for India. Several men desert, and Sir Philip says that "I would shoot the next man who deserts, even if he were my own son!!" Well, of course that's just him being dramatic, because his own son is dead..yes, of course.
This is where the plot really get weird.
Captain Richards then provokes Rob to the point where he strikes Richards and then runs off into the woods, effectively deserting. So the court martial is held, and Rob is sentenced to be shot. But! all the members of the firing squad agree to fire into the air, so he does not die. Sergeant Slump tries to shoot him with his pistol, but is killed by a mysterious shot coming from Sir Philip's house.
Shortly thereafter, Anthony appears on the scene. The butler has written to him, telling him that Rob will be executed and asking him to come and stop the execution. Anthony then reveals the dramatic truth -- Rob is really Sir Philip's own son!! Yes, the child didn't really drown, he was snatched by the ex-poacher and raised in as depraved a way as possible by Anthony, who hoped to torment Philip with the horrible creature his child had become. While he is gloating over the fact that Philip has had his own son shot, Philip points out that in fact Rob is still alive. Anthony is so shocked that he dies shortly thereafter.
By the way, you may be wondering at this point if this is all going to end up like Star Wars -- isn't Rob in love with his own sister? Fortunately, Hulda is actually an adopted daughter, so the path of romance is now clear.
After this point, all the loose ends manage to come flying together in a dramatically rapid way. Captain Richards abruptly transfers to another regiment, and the military officials all decide that since the regiment is leaving immediately for India, they aren't going to bother trying again to execute Rob -- ta da!
And what about Chip? Well, she goes out to India with the regiment, and dies valiantly -- and her secret is never revealed.
Believe it or not, this is only a sampling of the plot twists and wacky minor characters to be found in the three volumes of this book!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-08-10 08:24 am (UTC)I must find this book! I must!
Poor Chip! Poor sister-loving Rob! Evil fishing Anthony!
Good Lord, Mr Fenn.
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Date: 2005-08-10 01:52 pm (UTC)Apparently Mr. Fenn has written a number of other three-volume novels. I'm seriously thinking of compiling a bibliography of his writings; I found an obituary of him which said that he had also written over 1000 short stories for magazines!
I'm still on the trail of someone who is selling The Lass that Loved a Soldier -- the closest library to me only has it on microfilm (ick).
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Date: 2005-08-12 07:50 am (UTC)