_Quicksand_ is a strong argument against a certain condition which the
author believes exists too generally in American society, and is, in
effect, an appeal for the freedom of the individual in family life. It
is a powerful tragedy, developing very naturally out of the effects of
the interference of parents in the lives of their children, and of
brothers and sisters in the affairs of each other. It becomes
therefore, not only the story of an individual, but the life history of
an entire family, the members of which are portrayed with astonishing
vividness and realism. The hero of the book also illustrates, in his
sufferings and failures, the unfortunate effects of a too narrow
orthodoxy in religion, coupled with his family's interference with his
growth out of this environment. Offsetting the tragedy of the story is
"Hiram," the "hired man" of the family in its earlier New England days,
in whom, particularly, the reader's interest will centre. Patient,
kindly, faithful, and uncomplaining, he is indeed the real "hero" of
the tale, the only one free from the unfortunate environments of the
other characters, yet forced indirectly to suffer also because of them.
It is the every-day life of the every-day family that is drawn; and
this fact, together with the boldness and fidelity of the drawing,
gives the story its power and impressiveness.
"Hervey White is the most forceful writer who has appeared in
America for a long generation."--_Chicago Evening Post._
"We cannot remember another book in which lives, thoughts,
emotions, souls, and principles of action have been analyzed with
such convincing power. Mr. Hervey White has great literary skill.
He has here made his mark, and he has come to stay.... He is the
American George Gissing, and as such some day he will have to be
taken into account."--_Boston Herald._
"It should insure Mr. White a permanent place in the critical
regard of his fellow-countrymen.... Few characters as strong as
that of Elizabeth Hinckley have ever been drawn by an American
author, and she will remain in the mind of the most assiduous novel
reader, secure of a place far above that held by most of the puny
creations of the day."--_Chicago Tribune._
"It is wrought of enduring qualities. Few novels are so sustained
on an elevated plane of interest."--_Philadelphia Item._
"It is a novel that takes hold of one, and is not the sort of
book that, once begun, can be laid down without being finished."
--_Indianapolis News._
For sale by all booksellers, or sent, postpaid, by the publishers
on receipt of price.
Small, Maynard & Company,
PIERCE BUILDING
COPLEY SQ., BOSTON
TUSKEGEE ITS STORY & ITS WORK
By MAX BENNETT THRASHER
_With an Introduction by BOOKER T. WASHINGTON_
12mo, cloth, decorative, 248 pages, 50 Illustrations, $1.00
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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