previous next

[1394]

No name (second) series: baby Rue.

One peculiar charm of the ‘No Name’ novels is that they are really light reading, in the best sense of the term; bright and clever stories, which are really entertaining, because they are neither dull nor harrowing to the feelings of the reader. This is the kind of reading the American people need; especially in the summer season, as means of relaxation to over-taxed brains, and as helps to the rest of over-worked bodies. ‘ Baby Rue ’ is just a book of this sort. It is cleverly written, and deals with characters and events always of interest to American people, gathered from the military life on the Western frontier forty years ago; and it deals also to some extent with the ‘Indian Question,’—that very large question to which, in those forty years, we have been able to give so very small an answer.

Penn Monthly.

In turning over its pages, the thoughtful reader cannot help feeling that the author had something more than the simple story in view. He has given what seems to be a thoroughly impartial view of the Indian question, and showed the natural result of the faithless and treacherous policy followed by the government in dealing with the savage tribes. He shows that in warfare soldiers and savages are alike cruel, and that nobility of character is not confined wholly to the white race. All in all, ‘Baby Rue’ is a notable book, and one that will have more than a momentary popularity; full of vivid descriptive passages, strong in character drawing, and touching with equal skill the springs of pathos and humor. It will be read to be remembered.

Boston Transcript.

The book is one of great earnestness and beauty, of exceeding interest and undeniable power. In all fiction we recall no more touching incident than the friendly Indian's bringing, in his folded blanket, about a squire foot of damp, sandy earth, bearing the imprint of the little lost child's foot, which proves her to be still alive. He must be, indeed, a hardened reader of fiction who can read without moist eyes, how the young officer stooped to kiss the footprint of his Baby Rue, and offered a hundred dollars to the man who would carry it intact to the child's mother at the fort.

The Critic.

The novel of incident is almost an unknown thing to the present generation of fiction readers; and, therefore, it is a positive relief to turn from books which are in the main mere studies of character clothed in epigramatic dialogue, to a work which recalls the days when a story had color and movement, and did not remind us of the scientist who would ‘peep and botanize upon his mother's grave.’ Not that the novel of the present day has not its merits, but because it wearies with minute dissections, when we are in the mood to read a story for itself alone, and not for any analytical power which an author may display. Having these ideas in mind, we have found genuine pleasure in reading ‘ Baby Rue,’ the latest addition to the ‘ No Name Series.’ . . . The descriptive passages are done with a facile pen, and show that the author is thoroughly familiar with his ground, and the reproduction of negro dialect and peculiarities is very happy.

Boston Courier.

One volume. 16mo. Green Cloth. Price, $1.00.

Our publications are to be had of all booksellers. When not to be found, send directly to the publishers.

Roberts Brothers, Boston.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
Rue (5)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: