The Lure of the Mask

by Harold MacGrath

1908. With illustrations by Harrison Fisher and Carl Anderson. MacGrath, a prolific writer, wrote for newspapers until 1890 when he published his first novel Arms and the Woman. The Lure of the Mask begins: Out of the unromantic night, out of the somber blurring January fog, came a voice lifted in song, a soprano, rich, full and round, young yet matured, sweet and mysterious as a night-bird's, haunting and elusive as the murmur of the sea in a shell: a lilt from La Fille de Madame Ango, a light opera long since forgotten in New York. Hillard, genuinely astonished, lowered his pipe and listened. To sit dreaming by an open window, even in this unlovely first month of the year, in that grim unhandsome city which boasts of its riches and still accepts with smug content its rows upon rows of ugly architecture, to sit dreaming, then, of red-tiled roofs, of cloud-caressed hills, of terraced vineyards, of cypresses in their dark aloofness, is not out of the natural order of things; but that into this idle and pleasant dream there should enter so divine a voice, living, feeling, pulsing, this was not ordinary at all. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1908

About the author

Harold MacGrath (September 4, 1871 - October 30, 1932) was a bestselling American novelist, short story writer, and screenwriter.

Also known occasionally as Harold McGrath, he was born in Syracuse, New York. As a young man, he worked as a reporter and columnist on the Syracuse Herald newspaper until the late 1890s when he published his first novel, a romance titled Arms and the Woman. According to the New York Times, his next book, The Puppet Crown, was the No.7 bestselling book in the United States for all of 1901. From that point on, MacGrath wrote novels for the mass market about love, adventure, mystery, spies, and the like at an average rate of more than one a year. He would have three more of his books that were among the top ten bestselling books of the year. At the same time, he penned a number of short stories for major American magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Journal, and Red Book magazine. Several of MacGrath's novels were serialized in these magazines and contributing to them was something he would continue to do until his death in 1932.

In 1912, Harold MacGrath became one of the first nationally-known authors to write directly for the movies when he was hired by the American Film Company to do the screenplay for a short film in the Western genre titled The Vengeance That Failed. MacGrath had eighteen of his forty novels and three of his short stories made into films plus he wrote the story for another four motion pictures. And, three of his books were also made into Broadway plays. One of the many films made from MacGrath's writings was the 1913 serial The Adventures of Kathlyn starring Kathlyn Williams. While writing the thirteen episodes he simultaneously wrote the book that was published immediately after the December 29, 1913, premiere of the first episode of the serial so as to be in book stores during the screening of the entire thirteen episodes.

Reviews

[Dorcas]

I'm a contrary person. It was a very negative review of this book that made me want to read it. Harold MacGrath isn't Tolstoy but he isn't bad either, most of his books are a solid three stars for me. This book is more romance than mystery which strikes a change for him. It IS about a hundred pages too long, in my opinion.

The story begins one night when Hilliard hears a woman singing in Italian under his window. He is so enraptured that he runs outside to find her but is unsuccessful. In desperation he turns to the agony columns and surprisingly gets a response. They agree to meet under one condition: he is blindfolded on leaving his lodgings and entering hers. On arriving he finds her masked. The next day she disappears. Who is she? And why the subterfuge?

Their paths next cross in Italy where she is in the company of a traveling musical company. When the musical nosedives and the company is out of work, she invites the group to an empty villa owned by a friend of hers, a princess. And this is where the mystery develops.

There is a a scarred military man, an old Italian with a grudge, and a fancy ball planned at the villa by no one in the company...

[Tessa]

This is one of the worst books I've ever read.* I picked it up at a $.25 book sale because I liked the title and I'm a sucker for old books.

But there are good old books and there are bad old books and this one is one of the latter. It was the most melodramatic, ridiculous, sappy, insta-lovey thing I have ever read and I wouldn't recommend it to my worst enemy.

ETA: I forgot to mention the extreme predictability. I guessed the rest of the book at about page 30 and I was right about all of it. I'm not a person who guesses the end every time either.


*I read the first half and then the end.

[Rosemary]

“The Lure of the Mask” follows Hillard and his friend Merrihew, two American gentlemen in love with women playing the cat-and-mouse game of teasing love. For Merrihew, it is Kitty; a pretty woman of vibrant spirits and placating kindness. For Hillard, it is La Signorina; a mystery woman come out of a foggy night singing opera with a beautiful voice, who rebuffs him at every chance but likewise entices and subtly encourages him on. Across New York, then into native Italy, the two men chase their prospective couples—on the way disentangling webs of poverty, past heartbreak, and running afoul of an evil militia man.

It is one of the most popular books of 1908, and very easy to see why! With sumptuous descriptions and a world-hopping story of illustrious set pieces, the book relies on the central cat-and-mouse romance of Hillard and his mysterious singer, which does carry it tremendously! The lack of a fifth star is simply modern sensibilities; through no fault of the book, it is slightly overlong towards the 3/4 mark by modern tastes, and the romance does have a lovely old-timey feel of extremely heightened DRAMATICNESS that doesn’t play the same almost 120 years later. Still, what a wonderful book!

[Jbrockley]

Romance, mystery, Italy travelogue and a delightful perspective on early 1900 romance written by a man. Surprising the strength of the woman given the time period in which this book was written. Jack

[Patdbooks]

A lovely read. Did not know what I was getting into and much about the author. The story the characters the places all magically written and developed. A wonderful read.