Author of "Nathan Burke," "The Rise of Jennie Gushing," "The Boardman Family," etc.
The hero of Mrs. Watts' new story is a young man belonging to a very wealthy family, who has had every sort of luxury and advantage and who, upon entering his father's office after leaving college, finds that the huge fortune founded by his grandfather was mainly made by profiteering on the grandfather's part during the Civil War. The question is what is this young man of the present day to do? He is high-minded and sensitive and the problem is a difficult one. What, too, is his own father to do--also a man of sterling character, though of a sterner type. The theme which grows out of this situation is one of singular interest and power and involves a moving crowd of characters.
Among these is the hero's sister, who marries a German attaché at the embassy in Washington; and another sister, who marries a young man of the same social set--and things happen. There is a drunken scalawag of a relative--who might be worse, and there are one or two other people whom readers of Mrs. Watts' books have met before. The dates of the story are from 1911 to the present year.
"Never has Mr. Wells spread for such a gorgeous panorama ... a living story ... a vivacious narrative imperturbable in interest on every page, always fresh and personal and assured.... This is not a novel--it is a library. It is everything that one needs to know about the public life of the significant classes in England for last twenty-five years."--_The Dial_.
"Mr Wells, at his highest point of attainment.... An absorbingly interesting book ... consummate artistry ... here is Wells, the story teller, the master of narrative."--_N.Y. Evening Sun_.
"A big novel--a book that will profoundly affect the thoughts and the feelings of the many who will read it.... Behind this chronicle lies the secret of the next fifty years of American history. The fruit of this book will be an awakening of the sleeping consciences in many men and a glimpse of what it is to live in America to-day."--_N.Y. Sun_.
"A great work. In its scope it is one of the most comprehensive American romances ever written.... An intensely dramatic story.... We have seen no truer nor more vital portraiture of distinctive and important American types."--_N.Y. Tribune_.