the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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W.B. Maxwell : The Devil's Garden

'You shock me. Not by liking "The Way of all Flesh", but by liking "The Devil?s Garden" and "Fortitude" . . . . it is not excusable to lose your head about badness or mediocrity. About "The Devil?s Garden" there is nothing to be said, it simply does not exist. "Fortitude" is by a man who has written one real book ("Mr, Perrin & Mr. Traill") , but "Fortitude" is undoubtedly a failure.'

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Arnold Bennett      Print: Book

W.B. Maxwell : Spinster of this Parish

'I wrote a fatherly letter to Hughie & told him the error of his ways & also that I didn’t like 'The Cath'. well enough even to say anything about it to him at all. . . I had the happy idea of reading the McLauchlin trial, one of the most captivating of the Hodge series, & found it full of small useful ‘sordid’ details of daily life in a small house. The old grandfather (87) trying to get into bed with the servant, & refusing to go away when she wanted to make water (after he’d tried to murder her). A1 stuff. . . . Look here, I’ve exchanged books with W. B. Maxwell, & read 'Spinster of This Parish'. The opening of it is a masterly exposition of narrative - the sort of thing Hughie would like to do but can’t. '

Century: 1900-1945     Reader/Listener/Group: Arnold Bennett      Print: Book

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