Mary Midthorne

1911, Curtis Publishing edition
George Barr McCutcheon
Mary Midthorne
Bought used (of course) for unknown
Hardcover with stains, worn corners and broken spine
B-

This is the first and perhaps only time I've seen a book with the copyright on the front cover, under a picture of the title character.  Mary is not actually the main character, since that's her brother Eric.  The two orphans are brought up by their aunt and uncle, who are convinced that the young people bear the curse of heredity from their murderer father and adulteress mother.  Meanwhile, cousin Chetwynd is a lying, lecherous brute who makes the Midthornes' lives miserable.  Before the novel is half over, Eric accidentally kills Chetwynd, and covers it up, with the help of detective Adam Carr, who's got his own soap-opera subplot going.

Despite all the melodrama, the book has a surprising amount of humor, from the occasionally Lemony-Snicketish narration to the character of Uncle Jabe, with his tales of fighting pirates and his life of fighting squirrels.  Every time there's a bit about the mischievous "quadrapeds," I smile. 

Of course, the book is mostly about Eric's various moral struggles.  He's in love with Joan, the judge's daughter, but is afraid she'll find out he's a murderer.  Before the crime, the two spend an innocent night shipwrecked on a local reef, although some are scandalized that she took off her (drenched) shoes and stockings.  There's a scene in Automobile Girls Along the Hudson where the title characters go wading and then have to hide their naked feet when a boy comes along.  Even in a novel like Mary Midthorne, dealing surprisingly frankly with such subjects as adultery, murder, and illegitimacy, young ladies mustn't undress their feet in front of young gentlemen.

The story is about redemption, not just Eric's, but that of his uncle and aunt, and eventually the entire town.  It's a dated novel of course, but it also looks ahead to more tolerant times than those of the Victorian period that it begins in.  I won't be keeping it because of the condition, but it is back in print.