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lgpiper's review against another edition
3.0
Well, this was fun. A bit like James Oliver Curwood, but without quite so much of the adolescent male fantasy. But, we do have manly men in the great north woods. In this case, they were in Alberta and were gold miners. It was particularly fun because it came out the year after my father was born. So, I was getting a glimpse of the kind of reading people might have been doing back in those days.
We begin with Walter Ingleby's being asked to play tennis with the "high clahss" folks at a country club in England. He was a good tennis player, so a great help to them, but he didn't have the "clahss" to actually associate with them after the games were over. He's besotted by Grace Coulthurst, daughter of Maj. Coulthurst, but doesn't quite know how he'll ever get rich and refined enough to "have" her.
He's also somewhat under the influence of a professional agitator, Hall Sewell, a man who dispenses democratic ideals to the lower classes. So, he joins Sewell in a protest of sorts regarding a right of way. A pompous ass named Capt. Geoffrey Esmond gets bonked by someone, and folks think perhaps Ingleby did the bonking. Or perhaps it was Ingleby's best friend, Tom Leger.
To avoid difficulties in the bonking of Capt. Esmond, Ingleby, Leger and Leger's sister, Hetty, decide to head off to the new world to seek their fortunes. They find themselves for a time in Vancouver, but eventually strike out for the gold fields in Alberta.
Somewhere along the way, Hall Sewell shows back up, sometimes agitating, sometimes prospecting. Also, Maj. Colthurst shows up to be the local representative of His Majesty's government to keep a tight rein on the gold mining activities. He brings Grace with him. Also Capt. Esmond shows up to head up the local police (or something).
So, Ingleby is sure that if only he finds enough gold, he'll be able to get Grace. He and Tom Leger have some issues keeping their endeavors on track, and are continually bailed out by Hetty, who first made money in Vancouver as a waitress, and then sets up shop baking for the miners. Hetty is not only competent, but rather pretty as well. Ingleby, being a bit of a dolt, doesn't realize this because he's still under Grace's spell. He does, however, have massive fits of jealousy when any of the other folks in the area pay court to Hetty. In particular, one of the local police, Trooper Probyn, gets a bit too fond of Hetty, but then disappears. A day or so later, he is found in a stream with a bullet in his chest.
So, of course, we now have oodles of complications. Some people have to get away to safety because they might otherwise be arrested, mostly for the hell of it, for the murder, or collusion with the murder ... or something. Eventually, things work out ... for the best one hopes.
As I mentioned above, it felt a bit like reading an old James Oliver Curwood book, manly men and comely maidens in the rugged northwest. Only, these guys weren't quite such doofuses as the Curwood heroes (though I must admit I rather liked Curwood back in my "youth", i.e. 20s).
Anyway, it was a fun book (***+, were that possible), and I'll likely read more Bindloss.
We begin with Walter Ingleby's being asked to play tennis with the "high clahss" folks at a country club in England. He was a good tennis player, so a great help to them, but he didn't have the "clahss" to actually associate with them after the games were over. He's besotted by Grace Coulthurst, daughter of Maj. Coulthurst, but doesn't quite know how he'll ever get rich and refined enough to "have" her.
He's also somewhat under the influence of a professional agitator, Hall Sewell, a man who dispenses democratic ideals to the lower classes. So, he joins Sewell in a protest of sorts regarding a right of way. A pompous ass named Capt. Geoffrey Esmond gets bonked by someone, and folks think perhaps Ingleby did the bonking. Or perhaps it was Ingleby's best friend, Tom Leger.
To avoid difficulties in the bonking of Capt. Esmond, Ingleby, Leger and Leger's sister, Hetty, decide to head off to the new world to seek their fortunes. They find themselves for a time in Vancouver, but eventually strike out for the gold fields in Alberta.
Somewhere along the way, Hall Sewell shows back up, sometimes agitating, sometimes prospecting. Also, Maj. Colthurst shows up to be the local representative of His Majesty's government to keep a tight rein on the gold mining activities. He brings Grace with him. Also Capt. Esmond shows up to head up the local police (or something).
So, Ingleby is sure that if only he finds enough gold, he'll be able to get Grace. He and Tom Leger have some issues keeping their endeavors on track, and are continually bailed out by Hetty, who first made money in Vancouver as a waitress, and then sets up shop baking for the miners. Hetty is not only competent, but rather pretty as well. Ingleby, being a bit of a dolt, doesn't realize this because he's still under Grace's spell. He does, however, have massive fits of jealousy when any of the other folks in the area pay court to Hetty. In particular, one of the local police, Trooper Probyn, gets a bit too fond of Hetty, but then disappears. A day or so later, he is found in a stream with a bullet in his chest.
So, of course, we now have oodles of complications. Some people have to get away to safety because they might otherwise be arrested, mostly for the hell of it, for the murder, or collusion with the murder ... or something. Eventually, things work out ... for the best one hopes.
As I mentioned above, it felt a bit like reading an old James Oliver Curwood book, manly men and comely maidens in the rugged northwest. Only, these guys weren't quite such doofuses as the Curwood heroes (though I must admit I rather liked Curwood back in my "youth", i.e. 20s).
Anyway, it was a fun book (***+, were that possible), and I'll likely read more Bindloss.
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