Samuel Hopkins Adams (1871–1958)

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-harvey-girls-by-samuel-hopkins-adams/

I found it terribly charming. The three central characters are young women who go out to Arizona from the Midwest and the East to work in one of the Harvey House chain of restaurants in the fictional town of Sandrock. This was a chain where the waitresses were relentlessly chaperoned and had to sign contracts for six months or a year, basically bargaining away their freedom for a steady income and the chance to meet show more lots of potential men in a safe environment.

The tone of the book is affectionately satirical. I think if I had been in a more grumpy mood when I read it, I would have found that annoying, but I wasn’t and I didn’t. The girls have to deal with the standard clichés of prospectors, ranchers, sex workers, the evil judge, an English aristocrat who has somehow got lost, and their own upbringings and expectations; one of them has been brought up in an evangelical cult and is Breaking Free.

'“I wonder what it would be like to be a carnal snare,” she said to herself, and instantly suppressed the frightening and tempting hypothesis.'

It’s a violent book – about a third of the named characters have been killed off by the end, and the threat of coercion lurks ominously in the background. But it’s also a rather cheerful interpretation of the Western legend, by a man but from the women’s point of view. There is a lovely postscript when the survivors get together fifty years later, in the present day (ie the 1940s), making the point to contemporary readers that the Wild West was well within living memory.

Of course the Western genre is thoroughly racist. I think I spotted precisely one black character, and there is a Chinese laundryman in Sandrock (though we are told in the epilogue that his grandchildren have totally assimilated). Native Americans are portrayed only as potential rapists. But it’s also a genre about women’s empowerment, as I have noted before. show less

A delightful collection of short stories that have been novelized. A. V. R. E. Jones - "Average" to his friends - is a rather wealthy young man who is doomed to live in New York for five continuous years, so that he might inherit the millions left by a late uncle. Not knowing what to do with himself, a friend suggests that he investigate advertisements in the papers, rooting out the scams and miscreants. Though Average is dubious of the title his friend gives him, the Ad-Visor, he thinks it show more is a fun idea and goes into business as such. The 11 stories that follow are his adventures in the ad business, which take him all over the place in search of murderers, kidnappers, assassins, and dog-haters. The stories are all told quite humorously, and Average himself is a very engaging character.

This is very much a collection of stories of its time. Originally published in 1911, a time when the newspapers were prevalent, and more than half their pages were ads of various kinds (one of the stories mentions 1600 ads in one daily paper). Fans of Sherlock Holmes will understand the usefulness of these pages and pages of ads, as the great detective himself uses them fairly regularly to assist in solving his most baffling cases. Average makes it his business to keep his eyes peeled for interesting adverts that definitely have a story to tell.

I can see a through-line from Average Jones in 1911 and Lester Leith fifty-odd years later. The characters are nothing alike, but their study and use of ads is the same. It's also a genre of story that is truly over, given the dearth of actual printed newspapers these days, and the lack of classified ads even in the ones that do exist. It's a time that has passed, but readers who enjoy clever characters will enjoy this book.

Sadly, there are no other Average Jones stories to be read. Luckily, these can be read over and over again for continued delight and humor! show less

A mysterious body is found on the beach at Lonesome Cove, handcuffed to a grid and with a head wound. When suspicion falls on Francis Sedgwick, his friend Chester Kent, a professor who undertakes work investigating for the Department of Justice, takes on the case.

This book dates from 1912 and so falls between Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie. The racial stereotyping of Gansett Jim (a mixed race Native American/African American) is the only sour note. Apart from that, it not only gives us a show more picture of its time but is also a very good mystery with an unexpected solution, which the dedication with its hint of a real-life parallel makes even more intriguing. show less

I like the stories, fondly told, rich in language and historical detail, but about half way through the book each new story seemed like something I sort of read before. So I stopped. Somebody should edit this collection for a "Best of" because he's a good writer, overexposed here.