Jane Cable

by George Barr McCutcheon

Excerpt from Jane Cable

Illustrations Frontispiece I knew it was you long before I saw you As a beast I can destroy you and I will.

Genres: Fiction

370 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1906

About the author

George Barr McCutcheon was an American popular novelist and playwright. His best known works include the series of novels set in Graustark, a fictional East European country, and the novel Brewster's Millions, which was adapted into a play and several films.

Reviews

[Phil Syphe]

Set predominantly in Chicago, the basic plot revolves around a woman adopting a foundling, after first speaking to a ruthless lawyer for advice, as she doesn’t want her husband to know the baby girl isn’t theirs.

Twenty years later, in 1898, the woman’s husband has become rich, and the lawyer reappears, leading to blackmail and other unpleasantness.

Having enjoyed several works of fiction by George Barr McCutcheon I was expecting something as good with “Jane Cable”. Sadly, this was a huge disappointment. It was almost as though I was reading a book written by a different author.

The dull third-person narrative read like a poor emulation of one of Charles Dickens’s weakest efforts. Also like Dickens, this tome features a plethora of adverbs and too many characters, several of which seem superfluous to the story, as do certain scenes.

Regarding the characters, there wasn’t one that drew me to them in any way, good or bad. None of them even rose up to be a strong hero or heroine of the piece. The title character remains in the background for the most part.

The author’s earlier books feature engaging characters and entertaining dialogue, both of which are absent here. Only the odd interesting scene kept me reading and from rating this just 1 star.

Had this been the first book I’d read by George Barr McCutcheon I wouldn’t have bothered with any more of his works, but knowing what he is capable of means I’m assuming this is just a bad apple and that his other novels will be of the same calibre as the likes of “The Sherrods” and “Castle Craneycrow”.

[Patricia]

I am so glad I discovered this author. His writing is such a delight to read. I step back in time with each novel. He has enough twists and turns to keep it exciting. His characters are usually among the upper class and rich, yet they are humble and good. This one had a war with which I was unfamiliar, so I also learned some history.

[Caitlyn Unruh]

A good old romance with unusual characters and an unusual plot. It was very enjoyable.

[Rebecca]

The story did not go where i thought it would go, but i enjoyed it

[Rebecca]

This was a bestseller when it was published in 1906, and it is very much of its time. The story relies heavily on lingering Victorian melodrama (Jane's dilemma feels very similar to Mary's in Trollope's Dr. Thorne), but it also tries to promote the radical notion that the child should not be punished for the sins of the father, with the implication that family name and heritage is less important than one's own happiness. It's a wonderful time capsule of a change in social attitudes with some interesting (albeit racist) scenes set during the Pacific campaign of the Spanish-American War. Unless you're a fan of melodrama, I can't say this is a fun read, but if you have an academic interest in social history, this should not be overlooked.