Walpole's constantly increasing perception of the breadth and dignity of
the world has given to _The Duchess of Wrexe: A Romantic Commentary_ a
spaciousness, a universality which make it apply to the big problems of
today wherever found--yet his ceaseless interest in human nature keep it
a pleasant tale to read, with a surge of power.
It is the story of the second generation's struggle for freedom, for the
right to think and grow and love and form social circles as it wills,
against the tradition which commends them to do as tradition wills. It
is the struggle which is identical all over the world, whether in London
or San Francisco, Paris or Peking. It is the struggle which expresses
itself in feminism, in changing art, in growing rationalism of manner
and speech and thought.
The Duchess of Wrexe is the autocrat of the autocrats; the modern
cavalier; old, shriveled, feeble of body, but keen of eye as ever, with
her cynical wit and sophisticated manner unchanged, who until she is
dead will never give up her fight to keep the race of cavaliers ruling
the nation, to keep the despised race of ordinary people (especially the
_nouveau riche_) in their places. From her darkened rooms, where she
sits in a great chair with grim china dragons on either side, she plots
against the spread of democracy shrewdly, ruthlessly, ceaselessly.
The spirit of the times is proving toe much for the Duchess. But she
fights on. However glad the reader may be of the defeat of all the
tyranny for which the Duchess stands, he cannot but be touched by her
plucky fight and the grim persistence of her cynical wit.
It may be mentioned that Walpole does not, like many writers, draw on
imagination entirely for his pictures of aristocracy and smart society.
Essential democrat though he is, Hugh Walpole is the cousin of the Earl
of Orford, the son of a bishop, and a descendant of the famous prime
minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
"_The Duchess of Wrexe_ is a wonderful piece of creative character
study. There is a maturity, a sureness of touch in the book that marks
the man who knows just what he can do with his medium and does it
enthusiastically and well."--_Book News Monthly_.
"A definite and notable addition to English letters is made when a new
novel by Hugh Walpole is published. His latest book, _The Duchess of
Wrexe_, deals on large elemental lines with the restless, changing
spirit of the time. To the strange medley of modern life the novelist's
powers of invention, description and characterization are highly
addressed. His spirited and finished portrayal of one phase of the
changing social order exemplifies finely and naturally the picturesque
realism of new-century romance."--_Philadelphia North American_.
"_The Duchess of Wrexe_ stimulates thought and encourages reflection.
It contains a multitude of ideas and it also allows the reader to think
for himself. It is energetic and vigorous without being truculent; it
sets forth social conditions without being polemic. It is genuinely a
story, and it is at the same time a suggestive commentary on life. _On
every page it dignifies the art of the novelist_.... With all his
subtlety, with all his restraint, with all his ingenuity in making it a
social study, Mr. Walpole has not made _The Duchess of Wrexe_ any the
less effective as a story. It is a novel that entertains, that charms.
On a single page of it will be found more about mankind and life than is
discoverable in the entirety of many another novel.... He has lavished
upon it ideas, situations, events and characters sufficient for the
lifework of numerous other novelists."--_Boston Transcript_.
"Those who take Mr. Walpole's work as a plain story will find it of
compelling interest. Those who read its message complete will be
impressed by the sense of a great theme thoughtfully and powerfully
presented. There is no flattery in the statement that this book is _one
of the really great pieces of modern fiction_."--_New York World_.
"All the grim, unyielding pride of race of England's old autocracy is
made incarnate in the personality of one aged woman, the ever-dominating
title-character in this admirable study of changing social orders. It
is a heroic picture that the author paints of this grim old head of the
house of Beaminster. She stands out supreme amid the pages, one of the
most notable figures put into a book in a long time."--_Philadelphia
Press_.
"Walpole has strengthened his claim to position by proving that he is
not a man of one book, for _The Duchess of Wrexe_ is without doubt one
of the big novels of the year. It is a novel of extreme
significance."--_Samuel Abbott in The Boston Post_.