University of Virginia Library

“Mrs. Clarke has given us one of the most delightful novels we have read for many
a day, and one which is destined, we doubt not, to be much longer lived than the majority
of books of its class. Its chief beauties are a certain freshness in the style in which the incidents
are presented to us—a healthful tone pervading it—a completeness in most of the
characters—and a truthful power in the descriptions.”

“We have found the volume deeply interesting—its characters are well drawn, while
its tone and sentiments are well calculated to exert a purifying and ennobling influence
upon all who read it.”

“The scene of the book is village life amongst the upper class, with village episodes,
which seem to have been sketched from the life—there is a primitive simplicity and greatness
of heart about some of the characters which keep up the sympathy and interest to
the end.”

“The reader cannot fall of being both charmed and instructed by the book, and of
hoping that a pen so able will not lie idle.”

“We fearlessly recommend it as a work of more than ordinary merit.”

“The great moral lesson indicated by the title-page of this book runs, as a golden thread,
through every part of it, while the reader is constantly kept in contact with the workings
of an inventive and brilliant mind.”

“We have read this fascinating story with a good deal of interest. Human nature is
well and faithfully portrayed, and we see the counterpart of our story in character and
disposition, in every village and district. The book cannot fail of popular reception.”

“A work of deep and powerful influence.”

“Mrs. Cowden Clarke, with the delicacy and artistic taste of refined womanhood, has in
this work shown great versatility of talent.”

“The story is too deeply interesting to allow the reader to lay it down till he has read
it to the end.”

“The work is skilful in plan, graphic in style, diversified in incident and true to nature.”

“The tale is charmingly imagined. The incidents never exceed probability but seem
perfectly natural. In the style there is much quaintness, in the sentiment much tenderness.”

“It is a spirited, charming story, full of adventure friendship and love, with characters
nicely drawn and carefully discriminated. The clear style and spirit with which the story
is presented and the characters developed, will attract a large constituency to the perusal.”

“Mrs. Cowden Clarke's story has one of the highest qualities of fiction—it is no flickering
shadow, but seems of real growth. It is full of lively truth, and shows nice perception of
the early elements of character with which we become acquainted in its wholeness, and in
the ripeness of years. The incident is well woven; the color is blood-warm; and there is
the presence of a sweet grace and gentle power.”

“It is a story of New England life, skilfully told, full of tender interest, healthy in its
sentiments and remarkably graphic in its sketches of character. `Aunt Betsy' is drawn
to the life.”

“Farmingdale is the best novel of the season.”

“It will compare favorably with the `Lamplighter,' by Miss Cummings, and the
`Wide, Wide World,' by Miss Warner, and in interest it is quite equal to either.”

“`Farmingdale,' the work to which we allude, in every page and paragraph, is redolent
of its native sky. It is a tale of New England domestic life, in its incidents and manners
so true to nature and so free from exaggeration, and in its impulses and motives throughout
so throbbing with the real American heart, that we shall not be surprised to hear of as
many New England villages claiming to be the scene of its story, as were the cities of
Greece that claimed to be the birth-place of Homer.”

“The story abounds in scenes of absorbing interest. The narration is every where delightfully
clear and straightforward, flowing forth towards its conclusion, like a gentle and
limpid stream, between graceful hillsides and verdant meadows.”

“This is a story of country life, written by a hand whose guiding power was a living
soul. The pictures of life are speaking and effective. The story is interestingly told and its
high moral aim well sustained.”

“`Farmingdale,' while it has many points in common with some recent works of fiction,
is yet highly original. The author has had the boldness to attempt a novel, the main
interest of which does not hinge either upon love or matrimony, nor upon complicated and
entangled machinery, but upon a simple and apparently artless narrative of a friendless
girl.”

“The author studiously avoids all forced and unnatural incidents, and the equally
fashionable affectation of extravagant language. Her style and diction are remarkable for
their purity and ease. In the conception and delineation of character she has shown herself
possessed of the true creative power.”

“A simple yet beautiful story, told in a simple and beautiful manner. The object is to
show the devoted affection of a sister to a young brother, and the sacrifices which she made
for him from childhood. There is a touching simplicity in the character of this interesting
female that will please all readers, and benefit many of her sex.”

“The tale is prettily written, and breathes throughout an excellent moral tone.”

“We have read this book; it is lively, spirited, and in some parts pathetic. Its sketches
of life seem to us at once graceful and vivid.”

“The book is well written, in a simple, unpretending style, and the dialogue is natural
and easy. It is destined to great popularity among all classes of readers. Parents who
object placing `love tales' in the hands of their children, may purchase this volume without
fear. The oldest and the youngest will become interested in its fascinating pages, and
close it with the impression that it is a good book, and deserving of the greatest popularity.”

“The book is well written, and its fame will be more than ephemeral.”

“The story is interesting and finely developed.”

“A lively romance of western life—the style of the writer is smart, inteliigent, and
winning, and her story is told with spirit and skill.”

“An excellent work, and its sale must be extensive.”

“The whole is relieved by a generous introduction of incident as well as by an amplitude
of love and mystery.”

“A delightful, well written book, portraying western life to the letter. The book
abounds in an easy humor, with touching sentences of tenderness and pathos scattered
through it, and from first to last keeps up a humane interest that very many authors
strive in vain to achieve. `Tempest' and `Sunshine,' two sisters, are an exemplification
of the good that to some comes by nature, and to others is found only through
trials, temptation, and tribulation. Mr. Middleton, the father of `Tempest' and `Sunshine,'
is the very soul and spirit of `Old Kaintuck,' abridged into one man. The book
is worth reading. There is a healthy tone of morality pervading it that will make it a
suitable work to be placed in the hands of our daughters and sisters.”