Description

In Volume Two we have much the same personnel as in Volume One; the vicar and his sister Miss Pimpernell; Lady Dasher and her two daughters; Miss Spight and Mawley the curate; Min and Mrs. Clyde; Catch the dog. Having set the scene in Volume One, Hutcheson goes on to weave a beautiful story round the love-affair between the hero, Lorton, and Min, she with the admirable grey eyes. We will not tell you how it fared—you must find that out for yourself.

While I think the story was well-written, and it makes a very good audiobook to listen to, Hutcheson is still up to his tricks. Just to prove how brainy he is, he quotes extensively from French, German, Italian, Latin, and even in one place, Greek. In these days when our educations have been so dummed down, I find this unhelpful. To read a quotation from a good English poet is a joy and a pleasure, so why go elsewhere for a poetic quotation, except it be to show off.

As in Volume One, Hutcheson sometimes invents words never seen elsewhere, but for which there is a good word in current use, but spelt slightly differently. And his punctuation is weird, too. I particularly dislike the dashes in his speech paragraphs, something like the following:

“Hello,”—said the vicar;—“what a nice day it is.”

I have left these in, though I’ve corrected the novel spelling whenever possible.