The Ways of the Hour

by James Fenimore Cooper

A novel intended to draw attention certain injustices in the American judicial system.

Genres: American

332 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1999

About the author

James Fenimore Cooper was a popular and prolific American writer. He is best known for his historical novel The Last of the Mohicans, one of the Leatherstocking Tales stories, and he also wrote political fiction, maritime fiction, travelogues, and essays on the American politics of the time. His daughter Susan Fenimore Cooper was also a writer.

Series:
* The Leatherstocking Tales
* The Littlepage Manuscripts
* Afloat and Ashore
* Homeward Bound

Reviews

[Mary Ronan Drew]

In the late 1840s James Fenimore Cooper, he of the Leatherstocking Tales, became increasingly upset at the corruption in politics and the law in the state of New York. And the new state laws and legal code made things so much worse!

For example, it became clear to him that public opinion was of great importance to the outcome of a trial, because both prosecutors and judges were elected and had their ear to the ground all the time. This was made worse by the routine bribing of jurors.

But equally upsetting to poor Cooper were the laws that allowed for bankruptcy rather than jail for debtors. And most infuriating was the loosening of divorce and the legal rights of a woman to control her own money.

The major character in this, Cooper's last (and I might say least) novel, in a woman trying to escape her husband, who married her for her money, of which she has a great deal. When she is charged with murder she can afford to buy a set of keys to the jail, decorate her cell with carpets and antique furniture and a harp, keep a large and luxurious carriage, and let herself out at night to visit New York City.

The last quarter of the book is her trial and at this point the novel veers off into fantasy with the defendant breaking into her lawyer's cross examinations to ask her own questions. Even more unreal is a scene out of Erle Garner. After the jury has found her guilty and the judge has sentenced her to death by hanging, a surprise witness appears who overturns the decision.

I had fun with the book, but as with the rest of Cooper's work, it's not something I would ask anybody else to plow through. Well, perhaps a 12 year old boy might like The Spy and The Pilot and the adventures of Natty Bumpo. And we will not forget soon the Last of the Mohicans. But the last word on the once wildly popular author is that of Mark Twain in Fenimore Cooper's Literary Offenses: http://twain.lib.virginia.edu/project...

[Kate]

Can't really rate this because I didn't finish it. I think there may be an interesting mystery in there somewhere (who did commit the murders and arson and why?) but I got about a third of the way into the book and couldn't face any more of the author's lectures on the American constitution, the American judicial system, and why trial by jury is wrong and unjust in a democracy. Hey, I'm not American. Though to be fair, the author did say in his preface that the book was meant to draw attention to the evils of the jury system. And here we are nearly 200 years later and we still have trial by jury.

[Patricia Lanzilotti]

A fun read for true Cooper fans.

The story has an engaging, yet predictable, plot. It is full of Cooper's stock character types -- models for us all in feminine demeanor. You'll get a kick out of the "insanity" of these new independent women. Also enjoyable is the blatant glimpse (oxymoron intended) into his political views. It's quite interesting to see how long some of our problems with our legal system have been around.