Talk:The Castle by the Sea

Reviews

 * The Bookman (UK) 1909 Oct
 * The owner of the castle, Sir Gilbert Norray, conceives the brilliant idea of residing secretly in the neighbourhood and even in the castle itself, in order to avoid his duns. This naturally perplexes the tenant, who has come down from London to finish a book. The book, “Studies in Earth,” does not come into the story. Mr. Brabazon, the tenant, has other matters to study, including the heart of a charming young lady named Perdita, but the romance ends with a melodramatic imprisonment of Sir Gilbert Brabazon, and Perdita in some caves connected with the castle, where they study the earth to some purpose. The prisoners not only escapes, but escapes with the knowledge of a copper mine, which puts Sir Gilbert on his feet financially. An American heiress turns up also, with an accent which is not too pronounced and a fortune which is not fictitious. She and Sir Gilbert pair off. So do Perdita and Brabazon. Whether the latter ever published his book or not, Mr. Watson does not say. He had to look after Perdita's affairs, for that young person turned out also to be rich. From which it will be gathered that Mr. Watson believes in the good old habit of ladling out happiness all round to his deserving characters. It is a pleasant, if not an heroic, method of fiction. Those who take up this novel will find that it contains a brisk, entertaining modern narrative, with rumours of a ghost and a burglar, a kidnapping, and a love-plot. Brabazon’s experiences as an amateur detective are amusing enough, and Mr. Toosey turns out a more capable person than his name would suggest. The printing of Heine’s “Lorelei” on page 222 has gone wrong, by the way, but that does not spoil a pretty love-scene on the water.