Harold Bindloss (1866–1945)

I have generally liked the Harold Bindloss books I've read previously, some eight of them so far. But this book was a bit tough. The problem, mostly, was that the book was hideously, and unremittingly racist. Instead of the Pacific Northwest, where many of Bindloss books are set, this one is set along the coast of Western Africa, and it's chock full of racial characterizations of native Africans. But it goes beyond that, we also have racial characterizations of Iberians, Latins, even Anglo Saxons. Everyone, apparently, acts according to the dictates of his or her "blood". How did I manage to read the whole thing?

While I fave it 3*, it should really have a minus appended, 3*-.… (lisätietoja)

Alison Leigh had some problems in England, so decided to emigrate to Canada. She'd lined up a job in Winnipeg. But when she got there, she found the company had gone out of business. She decided to head a bit further west to see if she could stay with a woman with whom she had been friendly back in England. It wasn't completely clear the woman would be glad to see her: Alison's mother and the woman had had some "issues" back in the day.

At the nearest train station to where her friend, Florence Hunter, lived, she asked how to get out that way. There was no particular public transportation, but an itinerant peddler, Maverick Thorne (aka Leslie), would be going that way in a day or so. Alison hunted up Mav Thorne and they soon set out together. It turned out that Mav was a bit of a character, but basically nice and he didn't try to make any improper moves on Alison.

They had to stop along the way at the Farquhar household. Mrs. Farquhar told Alison that she would be welcome to live (and work a bit) with them if things didn't work out at the Hunters'. That turned out to be the case. Florence Hunter was an entitled princess type, unfit for pretty much anything save vapid social interactions. She spent a good part of her life away from her husband, spending his hard earned money in the cities.

So, Alison lives with the Farquhar's. Mav drifts in and out, and eventually decided to give up itinerant peddling and become a proper farmer. He does this because he's decided to hook up with Alison if she'll have him. It takes quite some time for him to get straightened out. Along the way, we have a devious character, Nevis, trying to defraud the locals out of their farms and money. Mav helps foil the scoundrel and, eventually, the good guys live happily ever after.

I rather liked this book, and will continue reading more by Bindloss in the future.
… (lisätietoja)

Well, this was kind of fun. We're in the early days out on the prairie. Although Bindloss is best known for books taking place in Canada, this one is most decidedly American. Lots of talk about American virtues and so forth. I'm thinking perhaps up in Montana, near Alberta, because late in the book there's talk about some characters fleeing to Canada. That wouldn't have come up had we been in southwestern Kansas or Colorado.

Anyway, we're all about the cattle barons. These guys leased land from the government and raised cattle and got rich as all get out. So, they begin to think the land is actually theirs and they get a bit pissy when the government opens up the land to homesteaders, people who will plow the prairies to grow crops and people who will put up fences. But, I'm getting a bit ahead.

We begin, actually, with a cattle Baron's daughter, Hetty Torrance. She's on a train platform in England. A young man comes up, Larry Grant. Grant is an old friend from the prairie. He and Hetty grew up together and are great friends. But Hetty, for some weird reason, isn't sure she "loves" him. Anyway, they have a nice chat and Larry goes his way.

Next up on the train platform is Capt. Jackson (Jake) Cheyne. He's in the U.S. Calvary, so I've no idea what he's doing in England. Whatever, he shows up and proposes to Hetty. She demurs, perhaps because having just seen Larry, she might be beginning to realize there's some "chemistry" with Larry (In those days, 100 years ago, I'm not sure "chemistry" was a thing between young men and young women. Likely it had a different name.).

Well, off she goes with her friend, Flora Schuyler, with whom she's staying. Flora is perceptive and can tell there's something about Larry to which Hetty can't admit, but it's there just the same.

After a bit, Hetty and Flora head off to the prairie and settle in at Cedar Ridge, Hetty's father's spread. Well, there's all kinds of hooha going on. It seems that homesteaders are moving in. The cattle barons, for the most part, won't have it. So, they begin trying to take the law into their own hands so as to drive the homesteaders out.

Here's where the trouble starts. Larry, who is a rancher himself, realizes that the homesteaders have the better legal claim, and he works to help them get settled, and tries mightily to get the cattle barons to see the legal, and also "just" course of action.

Well, next thing you know, there are "agitators" shipped in from Chicago or some such place to try to create chaos, while pretending to side with the homesteaders. Larry tries to keep them in check. Then, one of the cattle people, somewhat of a bounder named Clavering (either Reginald or Richard, both used), tries to stir up some acts of sabotage himself, but done in such a way that the homesteaders will be blamed. Clavering also develops a thing for Hetty and even gets Torrance's blessing on his attempt to secure his daughter.

Well, Hetty is conflicted, as time goes on, she realizes that Larry is on the more just side, but she can't seem to cross her father. Fortunately, she has the good sense to keep Clavering at arm's length.

So, anyway, y'all will have to read the book yourselves to find out who wins out in the end, and whether or not Hetty and Larry finally get together. It was a pretty fun book all in all. While I rated this as ***, it's really *** .
… (lisätietoja)

This was pretty fun. Jimmy Farquhar is a junior officer on a boat traveling from Japan to Seattle. He strikes up a friendship with Ruth Osborne, the daughter of a rich man. But on Farquhar's arrival, he is dismissed, and is reduced to finding various laboring jobs. With such prospects, he figures he's lost all chance of ever getting to know Ruth better.

He hooks up with a couple of pals, Hank Moran and Bethune. They've heard about a wrecked ship in the "north" that allegedly has rather a large shipment of gold in its hold. They head up and begin a salvage operation. But, the first thing they find is a box full of lead bricks. Apparently, someone was scamming the insurance company by substituting lead for gold. The winter closes in, and they have to head back to civilization to avoid being entrapped by ice. They'll head back the next summer to check for gold in other containers. So, it's back to laboring.

Meanwhile, we have Ruth being courted by Aynsley Clay, the son of Ruth's father's sometimes business partner, Devereux Clay. Clay senior is known for some rather sketchy business dealings in his time. Clay junior appears to be a nice young man, but rather an idle one. His father puts him in charge of a saw mill, in hopes of settling him down. Anyway, Anysley wants Ruth and the fathers of both approve of such a match. Only Ruth isn't so sure. Anysley is a nice enough young man, but her heart is still pining for the nice young seaman she met on the cruise back home from Japan, i.e. Jimmy.

Somehow, Clay senior gets word of the salvage operation up north and seeks to put a stop to it. One way is to keep Jimmy and his pals from getting jobs and thereby saving up enough capital to fund a second trip north. They even work for Clay junior's saw mill for a while, before being discovered by Clay Sr. and dismissed.

Well, anyway, they do head back north, as does Clay senior. So, it's a race sort of to find out if there's real gold on the boat, or to destroy some evidence of a bit of hanky panky a number of years previously, and also a race to see who eventually manages to secure Ruth's heart. I won't divulge the details, of course. This is a good enough read that you ought to find out for yourself.

This deserves 3½ *s, were it possible.
… (lisätietoja)