Wych Hazel

Excerpt

“It may well be questioned whether the authors of the Wide,
Wide World have added to their fame by this new novel.  In the
first place, the story it tells is one of no marked merit or
originality, and the way in which it is told is in the highest
degree crabbed and unintelligible.  There is such an air of
pertness about every one of the speakers, and the story is
told almost entirely by means of conversations, that the
reader gets the impression that all the characters are
referring to jests known only to themselves, as if he were
overhearing private conversations.  As may be imagined, this
scrappy way of writing soon becomes very tiresome from the
difficulty the reader has in detecting the hidden meaning of
these curt sentences.  The book tells the love of Rollo for
Wych Hazel, and indulges in gentle satire against parties,
round dances, etc.  The love-story is made obscure, Rollo’s
manners are called Spanish, and he is in many ways a peculiar
young man.  We seem to be dealing much more with notes for a
novel than with the completed product.”