University of Virginia Library

“This is a novel of absorbing interest, the author possessing a power of fascinating
the reader by his skill in connecting and developing the main incidents of his story.
The scenes are life-like, and the moral excellent. Sometimes a good novel is found
the very best medium for conveying a useful lesson when other means fail. Mr. Bennett
has succeeded in giving his story this character, for it cannot be read but with
profit. Three editions have been published.”

“Mr. Bennett is a novelist of undoubted ability. In the present work, the plot is
well arranged, the incidents natural, and the dialogue easy, sparkling and unaffected.
Accustomed as he has been of late, to select his principle characters from among the
fiery, impulsive, and half-lawless inhabitants of the South and South-west, or from those
hardy, brave, but reckless pioneers, who form the first waves of advancing civilization
in the gradually receding wilderness, we were no less surprised than gratified to find
his delineations of domestic scenes within the narrow but more polished sphere of a
city, as skilfully executed as the ruder and more salient characteristics which attach to
the life of those who people, at wide intervals, the forest and the prairie.”

“The Forged Will; or, Crime and Retribution. Mr. Bennett is a native author,
and lays the scene of this novel in New York. The interest of the plot commences
with the first chapter, and is maintained throughout—villainy gaining temporary success,
but virtue and justice in the end being triumphant. The story is quite fascinating,
and will increase Mr. Bennett's popularity as a writer.”

“`The Forged Will,' by Emerson Bennett. The publisher has issued a very beautiful
edition of this popular work. In point of elegance and beauty of finish, it will vie
with the finest of the holiday works; one edition of it being printed on fine paper, and
most beautifully bound. The story is one of the most popular brought before the public
in many months, and promises to have a sale second only to Uncle Tom's Cabin.' The
cheap edition is sold at fifty cents per copy, and will be sent to any part of the Union,
free of postage, on receipt of that sum.”

“A story of absorbing interest, and one that will have an immense sale. The author
seizes the reader's attention in the very first chapter, and triumphantly retains it until
the very last. Mr. Bennett is always successful in his fictions, but he has never, we
think, been as successful as in this. It is published in a handsome style. A cheap
edition is in paper covers, and one bound in cloth extra at a higher price.”

“This book is one of the most thrilling native productions that we have ever read,
and yet the incidents are so true to nature, so life-like, that the reader can scarcely
realize the fact that he is reading fiction. The sketches of the `Abode of the Unfortunate,'
and of the interview between the `Betrayer and his Victim,' possess the most
absorbing interest.”

“Emerson Bennett is not only the most readable writer in the west, but he ranks as
well among the most industrious. Within the past several years he has manufactured
five or six right readable productions, that in Cincinnati and the western valleys have
made him distinguished as a writer of fiction The work before us bears unmistakable
evidence of the skill in working up characters with dramatic effect of the author; and
we have no doubt that the `Forged Will' will be a favorite with those who have leisure
and inclination to read romance, when clothed in the drapery of modest language.”