Evidence: | 'You may know that Mrs Humphry Ward is one of my literary bugbears. I have never really read any of her much-lauded works, but from casual glances into one or two of them & the perusal of copious reviews, I have felt instinctively that she was No Good. A new book of hers, a short one, The Story of Bessie Costrell, will appear in three months time & I have been promising myself the pleasure of scalping the woman. The tale runs through Cornhill in three instalments & in order that my onslaught might appear immediately after publication of the book, contemporaneously with the fulsome flatteries which the daily press is certain to shake out, I determined to read the thing carefully in serial form, and prepare a reasoned expos?. I have just returned from the Free Library.
The mischief is, I find the first instalment damn well done. It is beautifully arranged and selected. The writing, without being great, is dignified and decent; and it is perfectly clear that she knows what she is talking about, to wit, village life.'
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Century: | 1850-1899 | ||||||||||
Date: | 10 May 1895 | ||||||||||
Country: | England | ||||||||||
Time: | n/a | ||||||||||
Place: | city: London specific address: 6 Victoria Grove |
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Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Arnold Bennett |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 27 May 1867 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | writer/journalist |
Religion: | Christian |
Country of origin: | England |
Country of experience: | England |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | Mrs. Humphry Ward |
Title: | The Story of Bessie Cottrell |
Genre: | Fiction |
Form of Text: | Print: Serial / periodical |
Publication details: | London: 1895 |
Provenance: | borrowed (public library) |
Record ID: | 12616 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | Arnold Bennett | |
Editor: | James Hepburn | |
Title: | Letters of Arnold Bennett Vol.II 1889-1915 | |
Place of Publication: | London: Oxford University Press | |
Date of Publication: | 1968 | |
Vol: | II | |
Page: | 16-17 | |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Citation: | Arnold Bennett, James Hepburn (ed.), Letters of Arnold Bennett Vol.II 1889-1915 (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), II, p. 16-17, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=12616, accessed: 02 June 2023 |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)