George Barr McCutcheon (1866–1928)

Having read the first two books in the Graustark series I expected this novel’s title to be a reference to a king from a fictional place called Truxton. As it happens, Truxton King is the name of a young American man in search of romance and adventure.

I enjoyed this one more than the previous Graustark instalments, mainly because the plot is stronger and there are few mundane passages, though I feel the main characters in this tale are not as strong as those in Books 1 and 2. Some of the show more secondary characters from those novels appear here. Interestingly, the author changes the main players each time. In a way he had to do so to open up new possibilities.

My favourite character was seven-year-old Prince Robin, aka Bobby. I found him both endearing and amusing. The author does a great job of bringing this boy to life, making him likeable rather than a spoilt brat.

As mentioned, I liked the plot, but at times I had to suspend belief. On occasion I found things a little too melodramatic. Some off the dialogue sounded unnatural because the author was conveying information to the reader that should’ve been relayed via the narrative.

George Barr McCutcheon’s works often have a strong patriotic theme, something which is very much in evidence in this book. In fact it’s borderline fanatical, almost preaching that the Americans are the best in everything, like they’re some sort of master race.

Nothing wrong with anyone being proud of their country, but in this instance I felt like the author – or the third-person narrator if you prefer – was forcing “American superiority” down my throat.

In my opinion Mr McCutcheon’s greatest strength is his use of humour. Here he employs it at times to good effect on and off throughout this novel, complementing the large amount of action and romantic interludes.

In short, this was a good read on the most part. show less

I tend to find George Barr McCutcheon's works hit or miss. This is definitely a miss. "The Light that Lies" is quite short, otherwise I would've given up. Just the odd thread of interest kept me going, though I did skip a few of the most boring bits.

In short, this is an American court case story set around the time it was published in 1916. An old man is on trial and his beautiful granddaughter proves a distraction to the members of the jury, one of whom becomes infatuated by her.

The ending show more is quite clever, but on the whole the pages are full of rambling third-person narrative, telling the reader all sorts of mundane facts, many of which may have proved engaging had they been shown by dramatising the events. show less

“The Man from Brodney’s” is the fourteenth book I’ve read by George Barr McCutcheon, but had this been the first, then I would not have gone on to read over a dozen more.

Of the other thirteen that I’ve read to date, only “Jane Cable” was a let-down, thus I didn’t give up on this one when, in hindsight, I should’ve stopped instead of hoping that it’d soon improve.

The main problem I have with this novel is that I didn’t care for any of the characters. None stood out from show more the rest – and there are a lot in this tome; too many, really.

The plot has potential to be better than it is, but this usually talented author does not make the most of the situations given. The reader is introduced to a few English and several Americans who spend time on the tropical island of Japut. The natives are a constant threat, as they are entitled to a great inheritance provided that two of the visitors don’t marry within six months.

The reason for this unusual situation is down to two deceased men who once lived on the island. Their joint will instructed that for their grandchildren to inherit a vast fortune, they must marry within a given timeframe. Problem is, both of them are already married to other people.

Thus we have the situation, yet this isn’t the only plotline. The central characters are an American – the man from Brodney's, who’s on the island as the natives’ representative – and a European princess who’s there visiting friends. They fall in love.

They met previously, so it was an *unbelievable* coincidence that they encounter each other again on this island. The princess is expected to submit to an arranged marriage with a man she hates. This bears a resemblance to Mr McCutcheon’s first Graustark novel, but this is a poor copy.

So there’s a lot going on with little interest to this reader.

Mr McCutcheon is at his best when concentrating on snappy dialogue between amusing characters. Here we have many meandering paragraphs, telling the reader what’s happened/happening, most of which would’ve been better if it’d been heavily edited or brought to life with some character interaction, featuring some of the witty dialogue that this author is so good at.

In short, this book features a good writer on a bad day. show less

Never know what to expect with a McCutcheon novel. They tend to be hit or miss. This one falls somewhere in between.

Yvonne is a lifelike character and the author has crafted her well, whereas the young couple come across as too melodramatic to be believed. Melodrama is, in fact, quite high in this book.

The plot is pretty good on the whole, but drags a lot in parts. Too many rambling third-person narration slows the pace down. The opening is especially long-winded and should’ve been show more considerably condensed.

So worth reading, but only once. show less